Politics

We have relatively small groups like Al Qaeda, The Taliban and the Islamic State who are capable of challenging the mightiest and most advanced militaries of the world.

Venezuelan editor, author, and international affairs analyst and commentator

Power is decaying because it has become easier to acquire, much harder to use, and thus easier to lose.

Venezuelan editor, author, and international affairs analyst and commentator

If you look at the countries in the world that are leading in their levels of reported happiness, it's countries such as the Nordics- Denmark virtually always comes out on top. The countries where people are happiest are ones which are much more domestically oriented and not seeking world-power.

Economist known for the Easterlin Paradox on income and happiness

Kuznets (who developed the measure) was highly skeptical about the assertion that all government spending contributed to people's economic well-being. He wanted the measure of output to be more relevant to people's well-being and he lost-out on this argument to the UN and partner economies of the USA.

Economist known for the Easterlin Paradox on income and happiness

He developed national income measures which were then taken-up by the UN and governments as the accepted measure of economic performance. The standardisation of this measure by the UK was ultimately what engendered it's adoption as the criteria of economic success.

Economist known for the Easterlin Paradox on income and happiness

The EU needs reform. Countries have transferred jurisdiction over legislations to a centre that makes decisions in somewhat of a vacuum, featuring a European Parliament that cannot itself initiate legislation. We have a paradox therefore where national parliaments give certain powers to the centre, without being compensated through the creation of an essential federal sovereignty; this is ineffective, and denying this is not helping us debate what is wrong with the EU and how to fix it. We need to work together as nations to reform and democratise EU institutions.

Greek Finance Minister during eurozone debt crisis negotiations

I'm surprised that people argue that economic integration causes a loss of identity. In fact, countries get the benefits of their own country (whether it be food, types of goods, technologies) but in-addition, they get the benefits of all the things other countries produce too. Economic integration doesn't remove a country's identity, far from it… rather the range of products, services, instruments and intellectual processes available increases. You keep what you have and add things from abroad. This is not reducing identity, but expanding it.

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.

For the first time in over 20 years, I feel brown… I find myself being extra careful in terms of how I dress, where I go, how I speak, what I carry and how I behave; not to conform to any new social norms- but rather, so that people don't mistake me for a terrorist, or make assumptions about my intentions.

We need a blue revolution to match the green revolution. This means investing in water infrastructure, technology, and governance with the same urgency we once applied to food security.

Water resources engineer and global leader in sustainable water management and governance

We have enough water on this planet for everyone's needs, but not for everyone's greed. The crisis is fundamentally about distribution, access, and governance - not absolute scarcity.

International Labour Organization Director-General from 2012 to 2022

Power is the capacity to get others to do or stop doing something now, or in the future. Power is also a source of order, and a source of comfort for some people. Remember that the extreme situation where nobody has power, is anarchy… and anarchy leads to inferior social outcomes [versus] societies where structures and entities that impose power, limits and rules to create stability and prosperity.

Venezuelan author and scholar on power shifts and global geopolitics

The people of the world are gambling for colossal stakes. Two centuries of scientific enquiry, founded in basic physics and powerful evidence, indicate that the risks from a changing climate over the next hundred years and beyond are immense.

Economist Known for Stern Review on Climate Change Economics

There is a strong possibility that the relationship between humans and their environment would be so fundamentally changed that hundreds of millions of people, perhaps billions, would have to move. History tells us that this carries serious risks of severe and extended conflict.

Economist Known for Stern Review on Climate Change Economics

We are the first generation that through its neglect could destroy the relationship between humans and the planet, and perhaps the last generation that can prevent dangerous climate change.

Economist Known for Stern Review on Climate Change Economics

As the rise of populism causes increased scepticism of business we are very conscious of our role as a firm in society. We focus on the impact that our portfolio businesses have on all of their stakeholders, from investors and employees to the local communities in which they operate.

Terra Firma Capital founder; acquired EMI Records in 2007