Archives des Global Governance - Page 3 of 16

Hydrodiplomacy : International Rivers as Peace Enablers – experiences and solutions from river basin organizations

Posted on 25 October 202225 October 2022 by the_bridge_tank

Water has long been a resource taken for granted. As its flow and presence seemed endless, neighboring states sharing access to rivers and lakes often chose to approach water in a utilitarian and competing manner.

But as the deterioration of ecosystems and the effects of climate change increasingly became apparent on this resource thought to be immutable, the realization that water needed to be managed sustainably slowly took hold.

While the UN (Transboundary and International) Water Convention adopted in Helsinki in 1992 currently only gathers 47 countries, its acceptance by the global community ought to be accelerated. Additional to the Convention, and in the age of coalitions, is the need for a Blueprint for “Shared River Basins Peace” through the promotion of sustainable management, tools, and institutions for shared rivers, or, in other words, a renewed and enlarged practice of Hydro-Diplomacy.

Concerning international river basins management, rivalry over access to the resource is the basis of international law. However the very sustainability of the resource implies cooperation across actors, which is paradoxically often domestically implemented within countries that externally fight each other.

Water, and more specifically international rivers and their management should no longer be limited to the single dimension of the quantity of water needed by a country, but addressed in a more holistic way by taking into account the whole river basin in terms of territory, actors and activities from upstream to downstream – something that some river basin organizations are already doing well, a fact that is seldom showcased.

The Senegal River Development Organization (OMVS – Organisation de Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Sénégal), an international organization which has for decades worked towards the peace of river basins across Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, offers as an apt illustration of hydrodiplomacy put in practice.

Read our full Policy Brief here.

On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, The Bridge Tank contributes to diplomatic, civil society and business events.

Posted on 30 September 202230 September 2022 by the_bridge_tank

After two years of global pandemic, the United Nations General Assembly resumed in September 2022. As it is traditionally the case, this very active week will see the gathering of heads of state and government in New York, as well as numerous events organized by the diplomatic, civil society and business communities. On this occasion, The Bridge Tank was present and contributed to these three exchange mechanisms.

Active with the diplomatic community, The Bridge Tank has taken part in a number of events.

As an observer member of Liberal International (LI), The Bridge Tank, represented by Dr. Joël Ruet, President, attended the official high-level event co-organized by LI and “The Alliance of Her” on the theme: Women’s political rights and leadership – the key to tackling the greatest global challenges of our time. The Alliance of Her is a platform dedicated to promoting women’s political leadership and equal representation in Europe, a round table that included our board member, Hakima El Haite, President of LI.

Ahead of this roundtable, Hakima El Haite presented the 2021 Liberal International Freedom Prize to Dr. Sima Samar, Former UN Rapporteur and former Minister of Women’s Affairs of Afghanistan. Throughout her career, Dr. Samar has consistently championed the cause of women and girls and promoted the inclusion of Afghan women.

Participants included: Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister, Kingdom of Belgium, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament), Lithuania, Meryl L. Frank, American Diplomat and Board Member of the United States Holocaust Memorial and Juli Minoves, former President of LI.

The Bridge Tank also participated in a closed meeting organized by the Estonian Permanent Mission to the United Nations on the theme: “Crisis in Belarus: implications for regional and global security” around Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the democratic opposition Belarusian, who was able to exchange with various diplomatic representations at the United Nations. The Bridge Tank was alongside, among others, the Swedish, German, British, United States representations, the European Union to the United Nations and the Microsoft Foundation and the PEN Foundation for this meeting chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Estonian foreigners.

Thanks to its network and its actions, The Bridge Tank allowed the meeting between our board member, Hakima El Haité, President of the Liberal International and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition.

With civil society, The Bridge Tank joined meetings in favor of the fight against climate change, in particular on the question of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), being one of the key subjects of this 77th General Assembly. United Nations. This year’s “SDG Moment” is an opportunity to refocus attention on the SDGs of the UN’s 2030 Agenda, a blueprint for a fairer future for people and the planet.

Joël Ruet particularly contributed his expertise during a lunch debate organized by Diplomatic Courier. These exchanges allowed reflection around the following questions: are we on the right track to achieve the SDGs by 2030? How has the pandemic accelerated or derailed solutions? How do our goals (individual and organizational) align with the SDGs? How to create extraordinary collaborations? Global Goals in Action 2022 will bring together leaders from the private sector and international organizations to leverage their experience, market access and resources to achieve the SDGs. Thus, the participants agreed to conclude on “the need for transformational change [of our societies] to make progress on the SDGs”.

In a continuation of the discussions on the SDGs, Joël Ruet took part in the annual Concordia 2022 Summit, which was, according to the organizers, the largest gathering on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. It aims to bring together the world’s biggest players to spark dialogue, promote collaboration and collectively pave the way to a more equitable and sustainable future around the themes of: environmental sustainability; global trade, manufacturing and supply chains; human rights and social progress; and financial inclusion.

On these topics and around the Nobel Peace Prize, The Bridge Tank participated in a meeting organized by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The Bridge Tank has also been involved in the business world, first of all by participating in the “Invest Africa” forum, where its President, Joël Ruet, was able to meet a number of investment actors in Africa, in particular in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Namibia – two countries in full transformation which deserve a very attentive scrutiny. He also attended a reception organized by Microscoft’s representation at the United Nations to discuss the evolution of the economic world.

Analysis – Where has the Chinese COP 15 disappeared ?

Posted on 22 September 202222 September 2022 by the_bridge_tank

By Joël RUET & Malaurie LE BAIL – After being half-postponed four times due to the pandemic, half-launched through a heads of states level online event on October 2021, the COP 15 on biodiversity should have finally happened started on April 25, 2022 in Kunming, China. Is is now being postponed to the end of 2022 in Montreal, Canada for logistical and sanitary reasons, while China will still hold the Presidency. With little media coverage throughout and only few academic and journalistic analyses, the COP 15 is the great absentee from the international news as ecosystems reach their limits. The responsibility lies with a host country not very involved: China.

China’s COP 15 missed a major diplomatic opportunity in visibility and in environmental themes advancement. China’s communication was blurred from the beginning with the half-postponing, half-keeping of the COP 15. The October 2021 virtual meeting largely saw the promotion of a “Kunming Consensus” that could only be really negotiated by March 2022 in Geneva. What became a “pre-COP” appeared only sparsely in the Western media. Infused with much of rhetoric, the “pre-COP” turned into an empty shell.

Was the opportunity just missed as China decided to focus on propagating Xi’s ideas on “ecological civilization”, a concept so far yet to be informed by tools and measures? Or is there a larger shift away from China? On this ground China’s quasi-absence from the COP 26 had already not gone unnoticed. It is one of several countries whose top leader did not attend in person, alongside Brazil, Russia, and Turkey. Instead, China was represented by special climate envoy Xie Zhenhua, touching briefly on the country’s continued commitments to cutting carbon without making any new declarations, alip service putting into question the legitimacy and dedication of the country in the global fight against climate change. The overall deadline for revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) has been pushed from the COP26 to the COP 27 largely due to China having not filled its contribution in an ambitious way, many observers agree.

Being host to a global conference has its share of reward and any hosting country has its publicity, western style, or propaganda, dirigiste style. However, with this low tone commitment of China on climate, doubts have arisen as to whether China, one of the world’s greatest emitters of C02 and plastic, will be capable of upholding its responsibilities as host country for the COP 15. China has yet to sign the Global Methane Pledge, a pledge launched by the United States and the European Union during COP26, along with 103 countries representing 70% of the global economy, to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees within reach.

Glasgow observers, as they prepare for the COP 27 in Egypt, contend China continues to isolate itself further and further from the international sphere. The lack of information and transparency regarding the biodiversity COP 15 only reinforces what was said by the observers of the climate COP 26. Moreover, the COP 15 is the first major global conference within the United Nations system officially labeled under the concept of “ecological civilization”.

The European Union has been setting ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions by 55% by 2030 and becoming carbon neutral by 2050. For Europe, both the COP 15 and the COP 26 have largely been seen as mere continuations from the IUCN World Conservation Congress, which took place in September 2021 in Marseille, France and culminated in the “Marseille Manifesto,” also referred to as a ‘roadmap’ to international negotiations, calling governments to commit to ambitious plans for the conservation of nature.

The COP on biodiversity lacks an equivalent of what the “Paris agreement” is to the COP on climate change. China had a role to play in supporting this event. As a sign of China’s self-centeredness, the communication, upstream and downstream of the Kunming COP event, is more than poor. The Chinese low profile has contributed to aggravate the lack of awareness and communication to the general public on biodiversity issues on the international stage.

In this international calendar, The Bridge Tank has positioned itself on the topic and has written a report. Read our further analysis here.

AUKUS – The Bridge Tank in Conversation with Frank Wisner

Posted on 8 July 20227 June 2023 by the_bridge_tank

Ambassador Frank Wisner, former USA under Secretary of Defense, puts AUKUS in context: a technological grouping of like-minded nations in front of China’s assertiveness, while remaining open to dialogue with China and to collaboration with Europe, India and others.

The discussion addressed recent tensions between France and AUKUS, geopolitical shifts since the launch of AUKUS, including nuclear preoccupations, and possible avenues for a larger technological cooperation between AUKUS and France, AUKUS and India-Japan.

This conversation was conducted following a webinar, co-hosted by The Bridge Tank and the Maritime Research Center.

Rewatch the conversation:

The Bridge Tank at Liberal International’s 75th anniversary congress in Sofia

Posted on 5 July 20221 June 2023 by the_bridge_tank

From June 30 to July 3, 2022, Liberal International held its 75th anniversary congress in Sofia, Bulgaria. Joel Ruet, President, The Bridge Tank, attended the congress, our think tank having been elected an observer member of Liberal International in 2021.

As President of Liberal International, our Board Member Hakima el Haité declared open this year’s congress. In her address to the delegates, Hakima el Haité pointed to the current times of challenges for democracy and the liberal order, freedom and equality. She however stressed the importance of LI’s efforts, with leaders and experts from all over the world fighting against the destruction of democracy, responding to the food crisis triggered by Russia’s war and working to protect the environment.

Over the following days, Russia’s attack on Ukraine was an ever-present issue, with Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration joining the Congress remotely to address Russia’s manipulation and blackmail of the food crisis to put an end to the war in its own terms.

Another highlight of this year’s congress was a session on facts-based understanding of the human rights situation in Afghanistan with the participation of Dr Sima Samar, former Minister of Women’s Affairs of Afghanistan and 2022 recipient of Liberal International’ Prize For Freedom.

Joel Ruet also attended a session discussing security issues in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Gilbert Noel Ouédraogo, President, Africa Liberal Network highlighting that without securing peace in Africa and organising the continent through liberal principles in regional cooperation, migration crises would continue to be a challenge in the years to come.

As a non-partisan think tank and an observer member of LI, The Bridge Tank does not participate in the vote of resolutions. Our mission is to engage with political leaders to “bridge out” consensus where possible.

European tour OMVS – The Bridge Tank for the promotion of hydrodiplomacy

Posted on 27 June 202219 September 2022 by the_bridge_tank

The Bridge Tank has partnered with the OMVS (Senegal River Development Organization) for a European tour to promote hydro-diplomacy which took place from June 9 to 24, 2022 in Geneva, Oslo, The Hague, Paris and Brussels. Hamed SEMEGA, High Commissioner of the OMVS and member of the Board du Bridge Tank, and Joël RUET, President of the Bridge Tank, met with many interlocutors to discuss topics related to hydrodiplomacy: the international law of international water resources, sustainable hydro-development, peace built by the shared management of cross-border basins, or even the preservation of the headwaters of major rivers.

The Bridge Tank and the OMVS have decided to organize a workshop on these issues next fall with all the actors with whom they have exchanged and by extending it to many political leaders and associations.

This tour follows the joint work carried out during the World Water Forum 2022, in which The Bridge Tank was associated. The OMVS was then honored with the Hassan II Grand Prize for water. According to the jury, the West African organization based in Dakar, which brings together Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Guinea, was distinguished for its action in favor of the “achievement of water and food security” of the greater basin. cross-border, but also for its action for “peace, prosperity and territorial development” of its member countries. Hydrodevelopment and hydrodiplomacy have indeed been at the heart of the organization’s model. The OMVS has, in fact, operated for more than 50 years independently of national or international tensions in the region it covers; it served as a model for the revitalization of its sister organization for the Gambia River, and the organization regularly receives visits from river organizations from all over the world, including Central Asia.

Water issues, in particular those around basins, are generally tackled in a utilitarian approach, i.e. through access to water. This vision is consensual within international organizations and at international events. However, the pessimistic evolution of aquifer ecosystems impacted by climate change raises the question of the sustainability of these resources.

It is in this perspective, rooted in international and UN legal aspects, that the delegation began its tour in Geneva during the conference “Lessons and perspectives on water cooperation for Africa and Europe: from the Forum from Dakar in 2022 to the United Nations Water Conference in 2023 at the Palais des Nations. Mr. Semega thus presented the work and the potential of the OMVS, which is often recognized as a model organization, on the organizational, political, legal and investment levels.

To deepen the subject, the delegation then met Professor Mads Adenaes, specialist in international law at the University of Oslo in Norway. This exchange was an opportunity to discuss the perspectives of international water law. They insisted on the fact that water must be approached in a holistic way, as a common good, that is to say that water must no longer only be an object of rivalry between powers, but be a good vital common to share. This is what basin organizations seek to advocate, which do not focus on the state scale, but on the resource scale.

In terms of hydrodevelopment, water is a major element of ecosystems, societies and economies, which is why it is necessary for their proper development. Mr. Semega had the opportunity to discuss with actors from the world of development, in particular Mrs. Marie-Noëlle Reboulet, President of GERES and Mr. Pierre Jacquemot, President of the Initiatives Group, whose core business is energy solidarity, Climate and Social Affairs and Mr. Lars Andreas Lunde, Head of the Nature and Climate Section of the Norwegian Development Agency, NORAD. These structures have made it possible to draw the following conclusion: a multitude of solutions exist on the ground, with a strong bottom-up dimension, which requires greater knowledge, consultation and coordination to act and share know-how.

The discussions were fruitful to the point of organizing a new meeting with GERES and the Initiatives Group of which the OMVS is a member, in the coming weeks. These discussions were also able to continue thanks to the organization of a side event in Brussels, by The Bridge Tank and the OMVS, during the “Africa Energy Forum” on the theme “Water-energy infrastructure for peace in the Sahel”, in the presence of Minister Amal Mint Maouloud, former Mauritanian Minister of Equipment and Transport, Mr. Abdoulaye Dia, Managing Director of SEMAF/OMVS and Mr. Romain Cres, Economic Development Specialist within GERES.

The actions of the OMVS are carried out in favor of peace, since according to the High Commissioner “whoever knows how to share water, can share everything”. This message was repeated many times during the European tour, in particular during the meeting with the Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, President of Leaders for Peace.

Mr. Raffarin and Mr. Semega agreed on the importance and role of basin organizations in contributing to hydrodiplomacy and peace in the world. Hydrodiplomacy has a more global dimension than hydropolitics, which remains reserved for States. Hydrodiplomacy underlines the idea that the management of water and basins is no longer the business of the States, but of everyone around a resource within the territories.

On this subject, The Bridge Tank was at the initiative of a working lunch between the High Commissioner and Mr. Erik Orsenna, President of the Initiative for the Future of the Great Rivers (IAGF) in the presence of influential personalities in the field around the situation of natural resources in West Africa and hydrodiplomacy in the Senegal River Basin, on the occasion of which our Board Member Ambassador Stéphane Gompertz and Me Jean-Claude Beaujour were present.

Last but not least, the delegation held working meetings with the Norwegian Cooperation Agency, the Ministry of International Cooperation in The Hague, IOWater and the International Network of Basin Operators and the STOA infrastructure investment fund in Paris.

On its own continent, the OMVS has been entrusted, within the International Association of River Basin Operators, with the technical secretariat of the association bringing together its active members on the African continent. As peace goes through development but also through democratic decisions, the OMVS has set up a committee of river basin users, an original body for open consultation with civil society. Aware of its responsibilities, the OMVS, an organization which was created in 1972, is today engaged in a forward-looking reflection on its future, and on the future of its contribution to Africa and to the world.

In this context, the exchange tour with peers, experts and leaders from all areas of society in all the capitals of peace and the areas of river innovation, nature conservation and in particular source river ecosystems, aims to share the results of this success story with stakeholders from the United Nations GA, the African Union, the academic and civil society communities, work with which The Bridge Tank is associated.

How can we continue to work with China?

Posted on 16 June 202226 June 2023 by the_bridge_tank

How can we continue to work with China? This was the question addressed by a working group convened by The Bridge Tank on 3 June 2022, which brought together leading figures from the world of think tanks, diplomacy, the national press, the defence industry and former general officers.

“The truth is that, in principle, working with China is not an option but an inevitability. China is obviously unavoidable. But in terms of how to do so, it has to be said that the task has become much more difficult in recent years than it was before: the country has spectacularly cut itself off from the outside world and is tending to withdraw towards its immense domestic needs; the inevitable internal debates, which we suspect will be particularly acute, are shrouded in great opacity; and in this tense atmosphere, Western reactions could make things even more dangerously tense.

The participants agreed on this disenchanted diagnosis. All the more reason to refine a strong and persevering European position.”

Read the issue brief by Ambassador Philippe Coste (in French)

Our board member Stéphane Gompertz discusses Africa-Europe relations in Vienna

Posted on 14 June 20221 June 2023 by the_bridge_tank

On June 7, 2022, our Board Member Stéphane Gompertz, former Ambassador to Austria & Ethiopia, and former Director for Africa at the French Foreign Office took part in a panel discussion on the current state of relations between Europe and Africa and the potential for future partnerships. The event organised at the Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue in Vienna, Austria, was the result of a cooperation between the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (CFA/ÖFZ), the French Embassy in Austria, the Institut français des relations internationales (ifri), and The Bridge Tank.

Relations between the EU and Africa have been deteriorating in recent years, characterized by the absence of mutual trust and understanding, which has weakened the ability to build stable, future oriented, and mutually fruitful cooperation. Africa has increasingly looked to other partners for trade, investments, and security, most notably to China. The seminar held in Vienna aimed to discuss how the relationship and its prospects are perceived by both sides and what is going to be needed to overcome the manifold obstacles in order to achieve a significant paradigm shift.

How realistic is a new partnership between Europe and Africa?

The session was opened by Ambassador Gilles Pécout, Ambassador of France to Austria, and Dietmar Schweisgut, Secretary General, Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe, followed by an interview of Toni Haastrup, Senior Lecturer International Politics at University of Stirling, Co-Editor of “Routledge Handbook on EU-Africa Relations.”

The panel discussion moderated by Georg Lennkh, Member of the Board, Bruno Kreisky Forum for International Dialogue, gathered:

Thierry Vircoulon, Associate Research Fellow, Sub-Saharan Africa Center, IFRI
Ambassador Stéphane Gompertz, Board Member, The Bridge Tank
Ambassador Irene Horejs, former EU-Ambassador to Niger, Mali, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Peru
Margit Maximilian, Journalist, ORF Austria

An initial assessment of current dynamics between the EU and Africa revealed a common conclusion among the session’s participants, including our board member Stéphane Gompertz, namely that the status quo is no longer an option. The war in Ukraine has contributed to this shift. For the first time, the African Union offered to provide mediation to Europe, as Senegalese President and African Union Chairman Macky Sall met with Russian President Putin in Sochi on June 3, 2022.

Noting the growing influence of China in Africa, Thierry Vircoulon, Associate Research Fellow, Sub-Saharan Africa Center, IFRI, noted that all majors powers with aid programs in Africa also have conditionalities. In the case of China, the conditionality is for African countries not to recognize Taiwan.

Ambassador Irene Horejs, former EU-Ambassador to Niger, Mali, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Peru, pointed out that after the Treaty of Lisbon, the EU’s development action in Africa became not only increasingly politicized but also over-bureaucratic. In addition to being too focussed on security, the EU’s policies toward Africa suffered similar problems over the last decades. Financial instruments dedicated to migration and security have been too heavy, too slow, and over-bureaucratic for disappointing results, Ambassador Horejs argued. All these factors contributed to the current “Europe fatigue” on the African continent.

Ambassador Stéphane Gompertz provided an overview of Africa’s new partners and described the motives of these new actors taking hold on the continent. He thereby questioned China’s goals and whether its presence could become military. Further, he noted India’s strategic interests in Africa and pointed out Turkey’s support for regressive mosques on the continent. Russia’s hostility to the French presence in Mali but also the Russia-Cameroon military agreement have reshaped relations between Africa and the EU. Ambassador Gompertz acknowledged mistakes in the French armed forces’ strategy in the field, as France and the EU should have been more careful in their approach. They notably should have avoided having talks with some djihadist factions or giving directions on what a good regime is.

Future paths of action

According to Ambassador Gompertz, 6 avenues are to be explored on the front of Africa-EU relations:

More solidarity with Africa in light of the crisis and war in Ukraine, especially with regard to African refugees and food security;
More realism with insurgent movements and in negotiations with them;
More realism with military regimes based on what they deliver, while also avoiding double standards;
More emphasis on the private sector, particularly on small & mid-sized companies run by women;
Enhanced support for NGOs;
A clear communication policy towards African youths, using all the apps and artistic forms the youth follows.

“Europe should defend, not impose its values in Africa,” Ambassador Gompertz concluded.

The Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe was established in 1978 by President Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Bruno Kreisky.

To rewatch the full session:

The Bridge Tank joins the Think 7 in Berlin

Posted on 1 June 202218 September 2022 by the_bridge_tank

The Think7 Summit, which took place on May 23-24 2022 in Berlin, is organized by the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) and the Global Solutions Initiative (GSI), as think tanks mandated for the Think7 process during the German G7 presidency in 2022. It is organized in partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and the Aspen Institute Germany. More than 300 participants attended this event, mainly in-person.

Dr. Joël Ruet, President, The Bridge Tank was among the participants, notably on the first day, where the task forces in which The Bridge Tank is active were discussed: Climate and Environment, Sustainable Economic Recovery and International cooperation for the global common good.

In the presence of the German Federal Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the event was organized around the recommendations developed in the T7 communiqué, which are the following:

Strong alliances for a sustainable planet.
Setting the course for economic stability and transformation in response to the consequences of the COVID-19.
Enhanced preparedness for healthy lives.
Stronger together.
Sustainable investments in a better future.

Among many interesting high level guests, Joël Ruet paid particular attention to the words of Minister Wolfgang Schmidt, Head of the Federal Chancellery underlying the importance of inviting Africa to G7 decisions. Also, Mr. Ruet shared the idea developed by Dennis J. Snower, President, Global Solutions Initiative (GSI) and Co-Chair Think7 Germany that insisted on the necessity of strengthening the multilateralism as the world order has recently been brutalized by Russian in the War in Ukraine. In the same idea, Dr. Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) explained that international institutions, such as G7 and G20 have to adapt and be revisited in terms of delivery regarding the geopolitical context.

The Bridge Tank’s Davos Innovation Lunch 2022 : The geopolitics era of technology, investment & finance

Posted on 31 May 202215 June 2023 by the_bridge_tank

After the cancellation of the 2021 edition as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Bridge Tank was back in the Swiss Alps’ Davos for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting from 22-26 May 2022. In the footsteps of its previous edition in January 2020, The Bridge Tank convened another high-level conversation on 25 May as part of its now traditional Innovation Lunch held on Promenade 53.

With Joel Ruet, economist and president of The Bridge Tank & Pranjal Sharma, business columnist and board member of The Bridge Tank, leading the discussions, this year’s Innovation Lunch addressed “The geopolitics era of technology, investment and finance – scenarios, risk mitigation and emerging markets.”

The discussion tackled the current dynamics of globalisation, noting its increasing fragility with geopolitical shocks putting businesses at risk and with economic crises less and less likely to be handled in an efficient collective manner.

Business strategies are now aligning with the grand strategies of states; trade suddenly has strategic areas, investment is sovereign, technology is no longer just competitive but rival. The internet and global finance may hardly remain a unified system as they bump into different geographies. China, the US, Russia have certainly set this trend, but the EU and India now devote more energy to gain strategic positions within this new « no-deal » order. Observers of Africa also recognise early signals of a regional awareness that the continent must play strategic too.

The rules for this next phase of globalisation will not be decided just by the West any more. Indeed, the emerging markets in Asia and Africa will be co-authors of the rules.