In early April, 13 young TFAS alumni from countries across Europe participated in the three-day “Liberty from Locke to Hayek” conference in Athens, Greece. The conference was led by professors Dr. Stephen Davies of the Institute of Economic Affairs, a think tank based in Westminster, London and Catherine Marshall from the University of Cergy-Pontoise, a French university in the Academy of Versailles. During the conference, held in partnership with the Liberty Fund, select alumni spent the weekend discussing key concepts of a free society and individual responsibility.
The alumni, representing 12 countries, grappled with the ideas of authors like John Locke, Adam Smith, Friedrich Hayek, John Stuart Mill and Frédéric Bastiat. They explored the texts during six discussion sessions that focused on economic and governmental implications of each authors’ writings and questioned how their ideas affect real world policy.
Two participants, Desislava Konstantinova (AIPES 09) and Liatifa Ibragimova (AIPES 14), described the weekend as a discussion “of the highest quality” where “opposing ideas were shared and explored with intellectual vigor and rigor.”
Conference alumni participants included: Aliaksandr Aleshka (AIPES 13), Juraj Antal (AIPES 06, CSS 07), Christiana Artenie (IIPES 09), Lukasz Dabros (AIPES 14), Anthony Elghossain (IIPES 07), Lia Ibragimova (AIPES 14), Desislava Konstantinova (AIPES 09, IIPES 10), Davor Kunc (AIPES 02, IIPES 04, ICPES 05), Alfred Nurja (AIPES 06), Laura Nurmela (AIPES 13), Julie Tegho (IIPES 07, CSF 08), Antonija Vidakovic (AIPES 14) and Victoria Vlad (AIPES 10, CSF 11).
To view more photos from the conference, please visit TFAS.org/photos.