From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
The politics of identity has gone very wrong in many cases. Politicians often forget that people are much more complex, and are a mix of many identities – and each of these identities can be of differing importance to the individual. A Muslim man from Somalia, who is a chess player, may have his chess-playing as his main source of identity, for example.
There is a famous Iraqi idiom which states that if you think your opponents can eat you for dinner, then you'd better eat them for lunch.
The rise of populism, backlash against globalisation, and movement against open borders means that populations support the weaponisation of economies even though it doesn't work to their own advantage.
Three years ago, we were managing 20 cases, but today, that number has escalated to 70. Since our inception, we've dealt with nearly 500 cases. Hostage-taking is an ancient practice and will persist for a long time. This training initiative has developed significantly over recent years, ensuring proper care and attention are afforded to these cases.
In reality- the financial markets are a critical part of our global infrastructure, as much as energy, food, and communications. For any country to remain globally competitive, their financial industries must be so- as they provide the lifeblood (money) for investment in the ideas and infrastructure which will build a nation.
The concentration of power in technology corporations is a moral and political problem that we simply don't have a precedent for. More people use Facebook than speak English for example, so the implications of Facebook, as just one platform, are at the scale of language itself.
If history has taught us anything, it's that women rarely win anything without a fight!
The polarising EU referendum brought much of this to a head. Let me be clear: I do not, by any stretch, feel that people that voted to leave the EU were racist- but it's clear that UKIP, EDL, and their peers realised the power of the race card, and played it to their advantage.
The role of the dollar rests on many other things, not just economics. There is a reason why the likes of Alfred Smith, and Karl Marx studied politics and not economics.
The artificiality and unsustainability comes in when loans are made to customers who cannot repay those loans, and without sufficient regulatory control.
We are now living with a great deal of uncertainty, which will increase. As a society, though, we have to be prepared for threats we cannot conceive, we must build resilience not just in developed countries, but particularly in conflict areas.
If you or I buy an organic veggie-burger, that's great, but we're swimming against billions in subsidies. These are changes which will require government action at the highest level, consumer action alone will not get us there.