Rebuilding the world
Hope
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Let’s talk about
Rebuilding the world and hope
I managed to jet off to Bratislava this week, PCR tests and multiple entry forms (tech glitches meant the Slovaks had a few) in hand to host Globsec’s three day annual summit. I’ve gone for years, finding their cross sectoral conversations between the folks in global security, businesses with cross Atlantic dealings, NATO and leaders from the EU and US policy circles, deeply enlightening about the state of the world. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect to talk realistically about the future. The G7 had just wrapped up their seaside picnic on the Cornwall coast, after all.
Most of us were meeting for the first time in-person after many, many months. The few who couldn’t make it, joined online. The weather was gorgeous, testing to enter the venue mandatory, the organisers were anal about masks, social distancing and double vaccinations. And the excitement to build relationships again, to share ideas, concerns, learnings and opinions in person, was palpable. I’ve never been so happy to be handed a visiting card.
The policy stance
Ok first off, let’s get the obvious out of the way. Everyone was excited to NOT be talking about Trump. A high-powered kick-off featured a man closer to God than most of us. The Pope and Presidents of three countries laid a conversation foundation that was at times candid, deep, funny, and full of hope for the future.
But the path to that future is where there was divergence.
Zuzana Caputova, President of Slovakia set the tone. She emphasised the pandemic had brought home the need to take stock of the deep structural changes needed across the world. And the strategic conversations that would make it possible. She was echoed by the Pope, who pointed out the clear, worrying, and widening divide between the haves and have nots that Covid has only exacerbated.
But the message diverged with the Presidents of Poland and Croatia who were focussed on the shorter term: internal politics, and the decision to turn to whomever could help in their moment of need, be it Russia or China and damn the consequences.
The one thing that did get consensus were the positive signs coming out from the EU-US Summit happening in parallel. Everyone seemed a bit relieved that business could start getting back to normal. And that the critical importance of vaccines making their way (as promised) to the developing world had finally hit home. The two sides seemed to be actually addressing the key ‘irritants’ of trade cooperation, such as aircraft subsidies, tariffs on steel and aluminium, as well as standards on cyber technology and green and emerging technologies.
Tech on everyone’s mind
It was honestly acknowledged that the US and EU are divergently different in their approach to tech. But it gave me heart to hear that US techies and policy makers are starting to realise the value of some regulations on tech and data. The events of Jan 6th on Capitol Hill seem to have shifted hearts and minds.
Frances G. Burwell (who likes to go by Fran), Senior Director, McLarty Associates & Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, Marta Poslad, Head of CEE & Transatlantic Public Policy at Google Warsaw, Anna Fielder, President, European Digital Rights, and Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou, Vice-Chair, International Trade Committee at the European Parliament talked about a new EU-US data agenda centred around various topics connected to digital infrastructure, machine learning, tech regulation, digital policy and artificial intelligence. They even honed in on what the main priorities of the new Transatlantic Trade and Tech Council should be.
In a more candid and intimate conversation with youth leaders, I asked Fran how realistic it was for Europe and the US to find a middle ground? This is after all an area of business the two regions approach in diametrically opposite ways. From data gathering to regulation, AI’s future role, to raising capital. She just as honestly responded, “innovation is about doing the next cool thing. If you regulate it, you give it direction.” She added she was buoyed by Lina Khan’s confirmation as FTC Chair, and hoped it would drive the agenda for the world to find a positive way to work together on tech.
What about climate change?
Cecilia Malmstrom, former EU Trade boss and now professor at the University of Gothenburg reiterated the need for Europe to work with China on climate issues. She said frankly, there was no way around that little hurdle.
Laurence Tubiana, the CEO of the European Climate Foundation stressed the important role the UK presidency has, ahead of COP26 and the need to start by showing developing countries solidarity and offering serious investment packages in order to build trust. But Jennifer Morgan the Executive Director of Greenpeace International hit the nail on the head. She said, “the vagueness of the discussions does not match the urgency.”
An interactive poll though really brought it home. Attendees were asked to answer how confident they are in their countries, and the world reaching net zero by 2050. The pessimism was loud and clear. Almost 100% of results said, “not at all confident” or “somewhat confident”.
What’s the world worried about?
China
Full stop. The G7’s concerns were echoed across stages and coffee meet ups. The influence and investment peddling of China, under the Belt and Road initiatives had Americans and Western Europeans jumpy like nervous bed bugs. But their Eastern European counterparts weren’t as concerned. China’s investments they pointed out are a lot more flash and bang, than anything with real substance. They highlighted the example of Chinese promises of massive investments that get made, which rarely if ever come to fruition.
In a tinderbox of a discussion, I asked EU foreign ministers, what do you do about a problem like the Western Balkans? China has been jostling with Russia for power in Europe’s backyard in recent times, especially now with NATO allies preoccupied with Covid.
Their diplomatic answer? China was a friend to the region, but if the EU wanted to ensure their influence, they need to speed up membership and investments for the 6 Balkan countries.
But a youth leader from Kosovo wasn’t having any of the platitudes. He passionately summed up the frustration of the Western Balkan youth, essentially saying, ‘We’ve met every criterion (EU membership), so why won’t you acknowledge us? Why should we believe in you (the EU/US) and not the people who come to help us get jobs, and live good lives (Russia, China, Turkey, Saudi, UAE)?’
A young Serbian woman, who won an award to attend the summit, approached me later. She told me how touched she had been by the Kosovan’s question and plea. Putting aside the rhetoric of Serbian-Kosovan hate, her big concerns as a student were the same as her Kosovan counterpart - Jobs, the economy, access to the west and brain drain. It just shows how much work is ahead if Europe’s neighbourhood is to stay close to it.
Russia, Putin & Navalny
Russia did loom large though for those worried about influence peddling and cyber-attacks on businesses, governments and individuals. Rule of law, freedom of speech, Infowars and democratic transitions were all expectedly on the agenda, though Putin probably wouldn’t have enjoyed taking secondary place to the Chinese.
In a private chat Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović , the former President of Croatia told me Covid trapped her, like all of us in her apartment but finally gave her the time to think about the implications of democratic distribution of healthcare and vaccines. Her tips for a fruitful conversation for Biden and Putin, would have probably helped the two men’s tense summit. There is a way to talk to Putin she said, if you want results. Too bad they weren’t around to hear it! The newest member of the IOC is hopeful though, that the summer Olympics will help the world find common ground, despite the lack of Russians, spectators or interactions.
On the heels of the Biden-Putin summit in Geneva, I also caught up with Alexei Navalny’s chief of staff, Leonid Volkov. He was doing the rounds of Washington D.C at the time. Leonid has been based in Lithuania since Navalny’s organisation was labelled an extremist one in Russia. He may have steered clear of the topic of Belarus’ hijacking of a Ryanair plane and the country’s political prisoners, but Leonid was neither impressed with Biden nor Putin’s conversation, nor was he worried about Navalny’s future, or Russia. He said he had not lost hope in the Russian youth. Nor in their determination to force a democratic transition, no matter the face and name leading them.
The hopeful flight home
Buoyed with hope for the future, the burgeoning of resilience, inspired by the youth I met, prepped with my passenger locator, and three quarantine tests booked I returned to London with a brain brimming with ideas. Locking myself away in quarantine, two bits of news though have left me torn between hope and cynicism.
The hope comes from reports that ministers will look to remove U.K. quarantine requirements for those fully vaccinated. This will open the door for business, trade and travel to start inching to normal. We do need to bounce back not just from the pandemic but Brexit too, remember?
But then I read Dido Harding has stepped away from U.K. Test and Trace, putting her hat in the ring for being the boss of NHS England. Everyone, BUT No.10 Downing Street and the cabinet is confounded how she even qualifies for the top job in English healthcare? I guess, somethings will never change.
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Caught my eye
Foot in mouth disease
The WHO hasn’t been having a great couple of years. The past two has shown them to be weak and ineffective in warning, or controlling a global pandemic. So, to flex their muscles this week they decided to pick on women in the child-bearing age (12/13 to 45/50?) across the world. They announced a new draft action plan that indicated all women of childbearing age should be prevented from drinking (see page 17 in the report).
The reaction around the world was swift and brutal. From accusations of the WHO setting back women’s rights by generations, to the tone deafness of classifying all women as birthing carriers regardless of choice. I specifically loved the strong words of Clare Murphy, CEO of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. I’m guessing this WHO draft will die as a draft.
It’s HHUUGE!
Feel like treating yourself after a long lockdown indoors? Well, if you can afford it, Botswana claims it has discovered the third largest diamond ever found in the world. Debswana diamond company announced it has mined a 1,093 carat diamond. The diamond, measures 73 by 52 by 27mm, roughly the size of a very large chicken’s egg.
Debswana is a joint venture between Anglo American’s De Beers and the Botswanan government and was hit hard by the pandemic. Looks like the discovery is coming at just the right time for the diamond industry as the world economy slowly returns to normal.
Supply chain dominance
Gartner’s latest study 'The Women in Supply Chain Survey 2021’ highlights that 41 per cent of the global supply chain workforce in 2021 is now comprised of women. That is up from 39 per cent last year. But the study points to something we all know, and every industry has said is a critical problem - 54 per cent of the survey’s respondents say retaining mid-career women is an increasing challenge.
"Lack of career opportunities is the top reason that mid-career women left a supply chain organisation or provider. The second-most selected option was development opportunities." - Gartner
Be a sport
Wimbledon loss
No strawberries and cream for Naomi Osaka this year. The tennis player who rocked the ATP circuit after refusing to do media interviews and finally pulling out of Roland Garros, has decided to not compete at Wimbledon. Instead, she will be taking a self-care break, choosing instead to spend time with her family and friends. The teen tennis star will be back in time for the summer Olympics.
Despite the initial criticism levelled against her, Naomi’s decision to stand her ground has highlighted that even if you are competing at the highest global level, mental health is as critical as physical health.
The artsy stuff
Misogyny in the name of art
Chinese artist Song Ta probably thought he could get away with calling his rating of women from ugly to uglier, art. The OCAT Shanghai gallery probably thought they’d get some publicity from it all. The latter at least was right. After all, bad PR is still PR.
Song Ta, featured about 5,000 images and videos of women in real life on a university campus. He then ranked them according to how attractive he found them. The gallery had to shut it all down after a social media outcry, and the realisation that the misogynistic artist had also committed copyright infringement. Ironically, the exhibit was actually created in 2013 and has done plenty of rounds in the arts circle. It’s only in 2021 that anything was done about it.
New Channels & woke wars
Sitting at home in my travel quarantine, I’ve been catching up on the U.K.’s latest and controversial, right leaning channel GBTV which launched this week. It’s always fun to figure out what people of different ilk are thinking, and why (plus twitter angst on both sides made it a must watch).
Once I got over the poor production, tech faux pax, pranks, edit formats, awful lower thirds, presentation, sets, lighting and writing, I could focus on the content itself. One topic that seemed to get the goat of GBTV commentators was, authors of the past being cancelled for the thoughts they put down on paper, decades ago (think of the controversy that kicked off with statues being pulled down).
English author Enid Blyton’s (1897-1968) books have been highlighted as being problematic. Even English Heritage has now labelled her work as racist and xenophobic. GBTV was quite apoplectic about it all. On this topic, I can see why. I loved Enid’s books and even Rudyard Kipling’s (1865-1936) as a child. But as an adult I could also identify with the problems in their writing. Typical of their time, they were racist for sure. You can see the trend continue in Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi’s (pen name Hergé) ‘Adventures of Tintin’ too. My two cents are if kids today want to (and they should) read these authors, how about as parents and adults we let them know the context of what to expect. It is better than denying or forgetting Europe and the U.S.’s colonial and racist past. And maybe we’ll all learn something.
Where GBTV confused the heck out of me was taking umbrage at the ‘Tolkien Society’s Summer Seminar 2021’. Ahead of various television and big screen adaptations of JRR Tolkien’s (1892-1973) works earmarked for the coming months and years, the academically inclined seminar is planning to focus on ‘Tolkien and diversity.’ GBTV commentators thought they were going too far. And it looks like other right leaning organisations agree that the society is bending to woke culture. They don’t seem to understand how, or why the Tolkien Society (where one of the heads is the author’s daughter Priscilla Tolkien) would want to focus on topics like, ‘The Invisible Other: Tolkien’s Dwarf-Women and the ‘Feminine Lack.’ The society on the other hand, very sensibly says:
“Spurred by recent interpretations of Tolkien’s creations and the cast list of the upcoming Amazon show The Lord of the Rings, it is crucial we discuss the theme of diversity in relation to Tolkien. How do adaptations of Tolkien’s works (from film and art to music) open a discourse on diversity within Tolkien’s works and his place within modern society? Beyond his secondary-world, diversity further encompasses Tolkien’s readership and how his texts exist within the primary world. Who is reading Tolkien? How is he understood around the globe?”
If you’re a Tolkien geek, like to understand different perspectives, and want to get into the nitty gritty of it all - the seminar will be held on Zoom on July 3rd and July 4th. It will also be live streamed to The Tolkien Society’s YouTube channel.
On the move
In the U.K.
Joanna Munro, currently global chief investment officer of HSBC Asset Management (AM), will lead the new combined unit called HSBC Alternatives, reporting directly to chief executive officer Nicolas Moreau. HSBC AM is bringing together its existing alternative asset investment capabilities under a single business unit, HSBC Alternatives, with a 150-strong team and combined assets under management of $53 billion.
Becky Taylor is DHL Supply Chain’s new CFO, UK&I making her the first woman to hold the post. She has 19 years of experience in financial management gained from various roles within the DHL business.
In Switzerland/France
Andrea Debbane has been appointed Global Head of Sustainability at Kuehne+Nagel. She joins after a short stint as CEO at Flocert since November 2020. Prior to that she spent 17 years at Airbus. She will start at Kuehne+Nagel in July.
In Netherlands
Anne Hustinx is making an internal move at Dutch airport management company Royal Schipol Group, leaving her post as General Counsel and stepping into a new role as Director of Procurement and Contracting.
In Hong Kong
Edith Chan has been rehired by UBS Global Wealth Management as the Swiss bank’s Greater China head of direct investment group distribution, effective June 21. Edith re-joins the Swiss bank after having previously serving in a similar role at the company as its Greater China head of private markets distribution from 2014 to 2018. She then worked at JP Morgan Private Bank and other institutions.
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