The "All Under Heaven Forum" (天下论坛), co-hosted by the PKU Institute of Area Studies (PKUIAS) and PKU's School of Government and Centre for European Studies, was held at Yingjie Exchange Center from October 13 to 14, 2018. Headlined "Populism, right-wing politics and the future of Europe," the conference was attended by approximately 50 well-known Chinese and foreign experts coming from prestigious universities or academic organizations, including Professor Jan-Werner Müller from Princeton University, Professor Jürgen Gebhardt from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Professor Haig Patapan from Griffith University, Professor Dario Castiglione from Exeter University, Professor Yves Sintomer from Paris 8 University, and Professor Marco Tarchi from University of Florence.

Professor Li Qiang, director of the Center for European Studies at Peking University, gave the opening ceremony speech. He said that in recent years, populism, especially right-wing populism, has been increasingly influential in many European countries, which has not only impacted the traditional political environment in these countries but also created uncertainty in Europe’s future development. Therefore, discussions over related topics have both academic and practical significance.

Professor Qian Chengdan, director of PKUIAS, sent a congratulatory letter to the conference. He said in his letter that PKUIAS is an internationalized academic platform and thinking space. Although only newly established, it shoulders major tasks, including the conducting of academic research, the cultivation of talent, serving as a think tank, and hosting international academic exchanges. He expressed his confidence that the conference would serve to collect knowledge from all over the world and boost the academic influence of area studies in Europe.

During the two-day conference, the scholars debated and expressed their opinions on eight topics: (1) What is populism? (2) Populism in Europe. (3) European right-wing politics. (4) Populism and European political change. (5) Democracy and populism. (6) Populistic politics. (7) Comparative analyses of European populistic politics. (8) European political change and China-Europe relations.

They opined that the rise of European populism can be attributed to the public’s severe dissatisfaction with the meritocracy. European populism mainly opposes economic globalization, European integration, and the policies arising out of refugee and immigration problems. Under current circumstances, populism in Europe will not be temporary but will continue to exist for a long time in the future; it will become an important factor that will affect political patterns in major European countries at least throughout the upcoming five to ten years.

Experts and scholars also analyzed how European political changes influence China-Europe relations and gave suggestions on how to cope with such changes. During the Q&A session, the presenters answered questions from the audience.

The "All Under Heaven Forum" is a regular important academic activity of PKUIAS. By inviting domestic and foreign experts and scholars to participate in in-depth discussions over the world's major issues, hot topics and regional situations, the conference aims to push forward academic advances in the field of area studies as well as provide the most up-to-date research achievements and information for teachers and students.