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From now on, it was assumed, most nations, if not all would strive to adopt the model of Western liberal de- mocracy and its foundation of universal human rights. This vision did not materialize. Instead, countries like Russia and China today openly oppose the concept of Western values and declare them to be inconsistent with their own civilizations and traditions. Vladimir Putin even presents himself as the antipode to the West and Russia as the “go-to country for all those unhappy with global U.S. dominance.” Islamic extremists in- cluding ISIS and Boko Haram stun the West with their simple proposition: When barbarism rules, human rights do not exist. The Transatlantic alliance has always stressed that it is not just based on common interests or the presence of a common enemy but also on shared values. But this consensus seems to crumble. There is increasingly talk of European values, mainly in contrast to American values in order to establish presumed geographic- cultural differences and to distance the Old from the New Continent. After the Iraq war, at the end of the Af- ghanistan mission, faced with the precarious outcomes of the Arab Spring and Putin showcasing the limits of Western power by changing Ukraine’s borders, many wonder where Western values have gone. Democracy promotion seems to have had the opposite effect, the track record of humanitarian interventions (Rwanda, Lybia, and Syria which did not happen) highly disputable. Moreover, Western economic policy was based on the assumption that economic interdependence significantly diminishes the possibility of aggression. Now, 25 years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Cur- tain, this assumption is taken into question. With geopolitical tensions simmering, those dependencies seem to pose more of a risk. But Western values are not only challenged by external powers but also from within. Western commitments to its own principles have seriously been shaken up as the attacks in Paris and Copen- hagen have shown. Populist movements are on the rise, often funded by Russia. The combination of domestic and foreign policy challenges is spreading insecurity and undermining Western self-confidence and thereby weakening the West’s ability to act. The conference will discuss and search for ways, how the West can restore credibility and promote the strength and attractiveness of its values and ideals without betraying them.