CONCLUSION
All those who participated felt that the inaugural conference was an important first step in realizing the vision embodied by the Democracy Forum: that of creating strong and vibrant democracies in East Asia. Towards this end, the conference was successful in achieving its three goals. First, the participants offered useful themes for future workshops and ideas for networking, as well as concrete ways of promoting mutual exchange between scholars and practitioners of democracy from within and outside the region. Second, the participants brought to bear their expertise and practical experience with democracy by highlighting the key dimensions of democratic progress and major challenges in their countries and by raising new critical issues for inquiry and discussion to further democracy in the region. Third, the participants at the inaugural conference have formed the nucleus of what will become an expanding network of distinguished scholars and practitioners of democracy from Asia and the United States committed to the development of democracy in East Asia. As befits the theme of this conference, the "give and take" aspect of the round table made for informative and stimulating discussion, with active participation from the floor. Finally, due to the historical significance of the conference, along with the great public interest generated by it and the spirited participation by all, the inaugural conference has provided us with the critical momentum to propel the future activities of the Democracy Forum.
|
