Summit Agenda

The Concordia Summit Agenda has finally been updated. The cool thing about the Summit is that nobody really has any idea what is going to happen during the event until all of the guests have confirmed whether or not they will attend, and then the agenda is structured based on attendees and what they are willing to speak about. Strategically placed this Thursday, it is always set during the week of the UN General Assembly, with hopes that a good amount of foreign officials can attend while  they are in NYC already.

It looks like this year, the Summit is going to overlap quite a bit with specific aspects of our International Political Economy class- more so than just the Public Private Partnerships discussion. The first plenary session will be a Q&A with Senator John McCain, entitled "America's Role in the World of Globalization". I will have to post again on what he will say, but I imagine that there will be quite an emphasis on free trade and our role in foreign investment, not unlike funding the setup of telecommunications in India back in the nineties. Perhaps education will also be a big part of this conversation.

There will also be a panel on Mitigating Risks of The Global Economy via Public Private Partnerships. The introduction will be given by George Logothetis, an incredibly well-spoken CEO and Chairman of the Libra Group (see here for highlights of his take on the overcoming the Financial Crisis in Greece: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lVEnBej5q4). The panel will be comprised of representatives from Poland, the Inter-American Development Bank, Latvia, the Eurasia Group, and Greece.

Finally, one more thing I'm really bummed that I will be missing relevant to our class is a segment on Reconstruction and Economic Growth in Haiti. The current Prime Minister of Haiti, Laurent Lamothe, will be giving the address himself, and I think it will be interesting to see what kind of suggestions he has. Lamothe was educated in the United States and went on to found a telecommunications company, quite unlike many uneducated and struggling Haitians.  I wonder if he will bring a more technological perspective in investment in Haiti, or perhaps it could be focused on infrastructure or labor, maybe tourism. I'm very interested what his specific ideas are to make Haiti attractive to foreign investment.


Here is an updated copy of the agenda for tomorrow's Summit, in case anyone is interested in what kind of issues it covers. I hope I can find a way to access video clips or perhaps even online streaming later, these were two options we had discussed during the summer.
http://theconcordiasummit.org/2012-summit/agenda.html

The Introductory Essay- Energy

            To be honest, I don’t believe it’s possible to choose just one issue that will necessarily be a priority over others. However, for the sake of the assignment and lack of a research component, the topic I immediately think of and can speak about best would be the role of energy and natural resources.

            Energy, specifically for the US, is a matter that is the source of many global issues. It directly affects our economy, foreign affairs and the environment. The second half of the 20^th century seemed to be historically driven at certain times by the effects of oil prices, wars in the Middle East, and the beginning of a spike in population that the economy may not be able to keep up with. These issues will certainly all remain affective throughout the remainder of the 21^st century.

            Developed countries consume a ton of energy. In a modern world, we constantly have power strips and extension cords lining the walls of our houses, keep the A/C on, and fill up on gas over once a week. Most of us are not even conscious of the money we are wasting until prices rise at the gas station or we start breaking down our utility bills. Resources are an important aspect of trade, and are a huge export for many countries, whether it is fossil fuels or something as simple as wood. When fuel prices go up, especially to drastic levels, we see our economy suffer, partially since many consumers don’t know how to respond or adjust quickly. It’s important to advance energy alternatives because any energy crisis or shortage causes a chain reaction increasing the costs of transportation and production. Finding successful energy alternatives is an issue not only the US, but the entire world, will face. We have seen drastic improvement in the last few decades with growing technology and research, and now I think it is mostly a matter of application, development and practice.

            Another way that energy affects the world is where it is geographically and who owns and who wants it. Again, oil has been the cause of many recent wars and foreign policy obstacles. The events that immediately come to mind are the OPEC gas crisis in the US in the 70’s, the Gulf War, and the US- Saudi relationship, strained by our dependency on oil. It’s a dirty battle, and the question of self-sufficiency and cutting our dependence on foreign oil seems to make a direct case against globalization. It already seems that we are, however, working together with other nations to find solutions and we have shared in cultural changes to start solving this problem.

            Finally, one recurring issue that has come up in our readings has been the environment. In class, we discussed the plant that had been moved to India and the concept of “bottoming out” to remain competitive. It is incredibly important to find a way to sustain energy and natural resources, while also reducing emissions and dangerous chemical/ toxic waste, particularly in areas of human population. The state of our environment is a controversy that will affect not only the health of our planet but also the health of individuals. As the population increases, we are slowly losing space, and I remember a statistic from a high school class that discussed population growth (if it keeps increasing at this rate) as a potentially huge issue for us in the next fifty years. This is based on consumption, energy, health, food shortages, and other natural resources such as land and the supply of clean water.

            Our society today would completely shut down if we had to return to a world without power. Transportation, production and technology have all become so crucial to the success of our economy. Energy and natural resources will be a huge issue in the next century, as we will need to truly consider energy substitutes and conservation of all natural resources. Ideally, with much discussion, we could find some global initiative that would put all or most nations on the same page about this issue.