IEET Fellow Mike Treder reports: Tonight I am flying from New York to Rhodes, Greece, to attend and participate in the World Public Forum’s “Dialogue of Civilizations,” an annual event that brings together experts, politicians, public and religious dignitaries from all the continents of the world.

I have been asked to deliver a report broadly based on nanotechnology and globalization. The title I have chosen is: “From ‘top down’ to ‘bottom up’—in technology, economics, and geopolitics.”

Here is the mission of the World Public Forum:

World Public Forum is a deliberative-consultative body that unites various public organizations, members of organs of government, representatives of intellectual, cultural, spiritual, business and political elite from different countries, representatives of various cultural traditions, people that strive for contribution in dialogue among civilizations.

Key objects of the Forum are the following-uniting of efforts of world community for protection of spiritual and cultural values of humankind, organization of the space of constructive dialogue among the main civilizations of the modern world. Activities of the Forum aimed at elaboration, development and spreading of dialogue culture, cultivation of collaboration and understanding spirit in everyday life.

World Public Forum is aimed at the creation of effective and democratic instruments of solving of global problems and realization of evolutionary changes in the structure of modern society.

I look forward to meeting and exchanging ideas with the event’s esteemed participants.

During my travels, I’ll try, if possible, to maintain some blogging, but I can’t be certain how much time and how much online access I’ll have.