ABSTRACT
The Epilogue illustrates the recommendations of the book in a practical way. Though the overall argument does not stand or fall by a single example, the Epilogue outlines a possible European regional process – an ‘agora for Europe’ – reflecting the criteria for new frameworks of engagement developed in Chapter 6. During the ‘Helsinki plus 40’ process, which ended in 2015, many participating states of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were open to the idea of a summit, an all-European conference at the level of heads of state and government. In 2017, UN Secretary General Guterres launched a ‘Plan of Action for Religious Leaders and Actors’. This document includes a proposal for ‘a world forum of religions and beliefs’ with regional hubs. In spring 2020, the member states of the European Union, the European Commission, and the European Parliament are considering (under difficult circumstances) the convening of a ‘Conference on the Future of Europe’, to run to summer 2022. There is a potential convergence between, respectively, the unfulfilled potential of the Atlantic, European, and Eurasian space, as represented by the OSCE; the UN Secretary General’s interest in a values-led process to underpin and take further the Sustainable Development Goals; the European Union’s preparations for a conference on Europe, which could include preparations for a subsequent conference with wider participation; and the priorities of religious leaders. The participants in multilayered, all-European consultations would include the US, Canada, the states of the former Soviet Union, and Turkey – the whole region from Vancouver to Vladivostok. The Epilogue comments on the modalities and possible outcomes of such a process. Exploratory talks should work towards a dialogue in five ‘strands’, covering, respectively, the principles of political legitimacy, three broad areas for enlarged cooperation (‘baskets’), and the development of interregional partnerships. In spanning cultural and religious differences, and different models of government, the all-European conference could inspire parallel initiatives in neighbouring regions: the Mediterranean, Africa, the Middle East, the Silk Road, and East Asia. It would therefore represent a step towards the ‘Axial Age’ for an interdependent world which this book advocates.
