Global Table

By Verlag Herder

Der BMW Foundation Global Table versammelt Entscheider aus Europa und den neuen Gestaltungsmächten zu einem sektoren- und generationsübergreifenden strategischen Dialog. So soll ein stärkeres Bewusstsein für die Bedeutung gemeinsamer Führungsverantwortung bei der Lösung globaler Herausforderungen geschaffen werden.
Fernab herkömmlicher Differenzen findet hier zwischen Entscheidern aus Europa und den emerging economies Dialog auf Augenhöhe statt, bei dem die Beteiligten gemeinsame Interessen und Konvergenzräume ausloten, statt sich auf vorgefertigte Meinungen zu konzentrieren.

"Looking at these new questions of order, one thing stands out straight away: they all transcend boundaries. They transcend national borders, and they transcend sectoral boundaries. The debate about the future of the international order is a debate in which foundations, particularly those operating internationally, play a major role. "
Frank Walter Steinmeier, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Germany

"In order to find sustainable solutions for today's complex issues, big corporations need to assume social and environmental responsibility and engage in cross-sector dialogues like the BMW Foundation Global Table.”
Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, BMW AG, Munich, Germany

"This book should be read by anyone interested in a true and trustful dialogue between Europe and the emerging powers.”
Norbert Röttgen, Chairman, Foreign Affairs Committee, Deutscher Bundestag, Germany

• Language: English
• Publisher: Verlag Herder
• Release date: Feb 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9783451809484

Book preview

BMW Foundation

Global Table

2014/15

Imprint

© Verlag Herder GmbH, Freiburg im Breisgau 2016

All rights reserved

www.herder.de

Management: Maja Heinrich and Barbara Müller, Berlin

Art Director: Ariane Busch, Berlin

Managing Editor: Fabrice Braun, Munich

Photography: Claudia Leisinger, London

Printed in 2016

e-book-conversion: le-tex publishing services GmbH, Leipzig

ISBN (e-book) 978-3-451-80948-4

ISBN (book) 978-3-451-31139-0

BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt

Reinhardtstrasse 58

10117 Berlin, Germany

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BMW Foundation    

Herbert Quandt

Europe and the Emerging Economies – Sharing Responsibility

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Connecting global leaders: participants of the 1st Global Table in Hangzhou, China.

The BMW Foundation

Our Mission

The BMW Foundation brings together leaders from across communities, cultures, and countries to drive Social Innovation, promote Global Dialogue, and encourage Responsible Leadership. We are convinced that our approach breaks down barriers between politics, business, and civil society and allows society to benefit from the creativity and diversity that result from cross-sector collaboration.

Our Key Areas

We pay particular attention to Europe’s role in the world, especially its relations with its neighboring countries and the emerging economies. The BMW Foundation, moreover, explores the interplay between innovation and society. In this area, we concentrate on promoting social finance, social entrepreneurship, pro bono, and social intrapreneurship.

Our Network

Responsible leadership is the element that links the various activities of the BMW Foundation. At the heart of our work is our Responsible Leaders Network that connects some 2,000 individuals from business, politics, and society. Thanks to their influence and wealth of expertise, these global leaders from different professional, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds are able to spread ideas, help scale social organizations, and contribute to social cohesion.

Content

Introduction

Europe and the Emerging Economies – Sharing Responsibility. By Michael Schaefer

Friendship Matters. By Alejandro Litovsky

A New Kind of Discussion – The BMW Foundation Global Table

1st Berlin Global Forum

1st Berlin Global Forum – Sharing Responsibility. By Maja Heinrich

Recommendations: The New Silk Road, Energy, Refugees

1. Energy: From Independence to Inter-dependence

An International Process Full of Energy. By Julian Popov & Abdullah M. Al-Shehri

Energy Security First. By Janusz Reiter

The Great Sino-Russian Expectations: An Opening for Europe and Eurasia. By Inna Veleva & Liudmila Filippova

2. The New Silk Road: Game Changer for Inclusive Diplomacy

Europe’s Strategic Interest to Drive the New Silk Road. By Wei Shen, André Loesekrug-Pietri & Michael Schaefer

Silk Road: A Bumpy Road Ahead. By Moritz Rudolf

The Port of Bagamoyo: A Test for China’s New Maritime Silk Road in Africa. By Frannie Léautier, Michael Schaefer & Wei Shen

3. Resources and Sustainable Development

Assured Mutual Dependence. By Alejandro Litovsky & Michael Schaefer

Fresh Hope in the Chinese Fight Against Pollution. Interview with Ma Jun

Gas and Oil in East Africa: How the People and the Environment Can Benefit

Actions, Please! Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals. By Joseph Semboja & Michael Schaefer

The City of the Future: Sustainable Urban Growth. By Ole Scheeren & Eric Chang

Impact of the Global Tables

Five Things I Learned. By Frannie Léautier

A Belt and Road of Trust. By Wei Shen

How Global Tables Can Foster Global Leadership to Promote Resilient Communities. By Thais Corral

New Thinking, New Connections. By Abiodun Williams

A Small World. By Bhairavi Jani

What a Professor Takes Home from It. By Cristina D’Alessandro

Participants

References

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New perspectives: Michael Schaefer, Chairman of the Board, BMW Foundation, during the 2nd Global Table in Menaggio, Italy, October 2014.

Although most international conferences are accompanied by a number of parallel processes for non-governmental representatives, there are still far too few frameworks offering them serious participation in strategic decisionmaking. It is the objective of the BMW Foundation Global Table to make a contribution to an open and strategic dialogue across borders and sectors.

Introduction

Europe and the Emerging Economies – Sharing Responsibility

by Michael Schaefer, Chairman of the Board, BMW Foundation, Berlin and Munich

It is a truism to say that we are living in the midst of an age of uncertainty.

Of course, Francis Fukuyama was wrong when he proclaimed the end of history after the Berlin Wall fell and the Cold War ended. But those who projected a swift transition from the old bipolar system of the post-World War II era to a new multipolar international order were equally mistaken – or, at least, well ahead of global developments.

What we are experiencing at the moment is neither a unilateral world dominated by one remaining superpower nor a global order in which old and new powers are ready to shape and stabilize our world. Some even speak of an apolar world. I would rather call it an ascending but still incomplete multipolar world order.

The United States, the only remaining superpower, is capable but unwilling of displaying global power after its nightmare experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq. Washington is still able to call the shots, but no longer can, or wants to, act on its own. Russia, by breaching the most fundamental norm of our European order – the inviolability of borders – in Crimea, is in danger of isolating itself. Putin has tried to counter this trend and given Russia an active military and political role in the Syria conflict. While it is true that solutions in Ukraine or Syria will not be possible without Russia, its return to a global leadership role will require a major turn-around in the Ukraine crisis.

Europe, after the triumph of its unification, is struggling with the consequences of having admitted new member states to the EU far too quickly. Internally, it is torn between the need to integrate further and reform its structures while at the same time keeping its own people on board the European vessel. Moreover, it is challenged by a multitude of crises that are testing its very rationale and vision. In this mixture of disorientation and risks, the EU is unable to deepen the integration that is essential for Europe to play the leadership role it should and could assume. The emerging economies, the BRICS, and even more so the Next Ten are far from being capable of or willing to take global responsibility. Only China is developing what David Shambaugh has called a growing global footprint, but none of these new actors will be a global power in the medium-term future. They will nevertheless play important roles in their respective regions.

Thus, what we are experiencing is a global power vacuum. This power vacuum forms the backdrop to the severe crisis scenarios that are challenging our societies. Militant extremism continues to take root in the world’s poorly governed spaces, with the belt of terror extending from Pakistan via Syria and the Islamic State to Boko Haram in Nigeria and destabilizing entire societies. Poverty and conflicts are producing unprecedented numbers of refugees and migrants. Climate change is not a faraway threat to future generations – its effects are already visible and changing the face of entire nations. Resources like water and land are scarce and could become the source of new conflicts that are likely to produce even more migration.

The complexity of these challenges is enormous. Solutions are at best piecemeal.

Our societies are starting to understand that today crises and conflicts in seemingly faraway countries affect us faster and much more directly than ever before. Ebola has been a striking example, in which an epidemic in Africa became a threat to Europe merely as a result of our interconnected, international air travel. In Libya, failing statehood became an open invitation to criminals to smuggle thousands of migrants from Africa to Europe.

And then there are the frustrated young Europeans who, attracted by the radicalism of the Islamic State filling the power vacuum in Iraq and Syria, join the jihad, wreak havoc on the local population and also become a potential threat to their own home countries.

Our governments are struggling to find the key for tackling such threats. They respond with short-term remedies rather than developing long-term strategies. And in most cases they are still focusing on national solutions to complex regional or global challenges, disregarding the fact that even joint European or western strategies will not be sufficient anymore to safeguard the interests of European member states.

Europe must realize that solutions to most complex challenges can only be found in close cooperation with our neighboring regions. The EU should replace its often reactive mode of engagement and develop more proactive strategies that involve all relevant stakeholders. This increased international responsibility should also include a new strategy to assist failing or failed states in rebuilding their societies. The Balkans, Northern Africa, and Afghanistan are bitter examples of the failure of the international community to do