When thinking about conferences, we most often discuss academic conferences. However, throughout the twentieth century, the conference was an important meeting format for politicians and diplomats as well as academics. Some of the most important historical events of the century involved conference meetings which had a huge impact on national and international policy. One such key conference was the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993, which was the first human rights conference since the end of the Cold War and which was instrumental in specifying universal human rights.