Allocution à l’assemblée annuelle de la Global Leadership Foundation

Mr. Chairman,
Honorable members,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to Switzerland!

It is a pleasure and an honour for me to address the Annual Meeting of the Global Leadership Foundation.

I am pleased to note that this is the sixth time you have met in Switzerland. It’s also your first meeting in Bern, the home city of the Global Leadership Foundation.

I wish you fruitful discussions in the days ahead.

As you know, statesmanship is a demanding job.

The American writer Fletcher Knebel put it like this: “Statesmanship is harder than politics. Politics is the art of getting along with people, whereas statesmanship is the art of getting along with politicians”.

But let us turn our attention to some of the real hurdles faced by leaders today.

We are witnessing the emergence of geo-political upheaval and instability in many parts of the world.

We are witnessing protracted armed conflicts, which are destabilising entire societies and economies, resulting in huge population movements and feeding terrorism.

We are witnessing the effects of disruptive technologies, and need to find ways to foster their potential and mitigate their risks, both socio-economic and political. Their impact is global.

And then there’s climate change, global inequality and the rise of powerful private players.

To reduce these uncertainties, and guarantee security and prosperity, political will is required at all levels.

In some countries, there is a tendency towards a more inward looking approach, a re-focusing on national interests, a narrowing of the political horizon accompanied by a certain distrust of multilateralism.

These developments risk producing a more fractured world.

I am convinced that we instead need to promote international co-operation. Because if we cease tackling together challenges that are of a truly global nature, we will endanger prospects for political stability, good governance and economic development.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Switzerland is strongly committed to international co-operation and to respect for international law.

This is one of our foremost foreign policy objectives. For a globalised country like Switzerland, it is not a matter of choice. It is the fundament for stability and prosperity.

Over at least the last decade, there have been few successful attempts to implement or even develop international law. The Doha Round of the World Trade Organization failed. The conflicts and resulting humanitarian crises in Syria or Yemen could not be avoided.

Which makes the conclusion of Agenda 2030, the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN Resolution on Sustainable Peace all the more important. We hope to continue to progress in these areas.

With the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we have a global guiding framework, and a definition of what success should look like in 2030: sustainable economic prosperity that provides social dividends.

Switzerland’s strategy on international co-operation focuses in particular on education. An area in which Switzerland plays a leading role internationally.

We promote education with such determination for a good reason. The issue of poverty is in large part linked to education.

Violence and radicalisation do not arise out of the blue: their roots often lie in the lack of prospects, both for individuals and for whole societies. Education is an important factor in stabilising democracies and societies in general.

I would like to highlight a further point which affects not only the developing world but rich nations as well.

The economic data for many parts of the world may be encouraging, but it is not a true reflection of the day-to-day reality of many people. These people do not just feel overrun by developments. They sense a real danger undermining our society: inequality.

Inequality endangers not only economic development, but also stability and security worldwide.

If you manage to raise the awareness for this problem among new generations of stateswomen and statesmen, then you will have achieved a great deal. The mainstream of society must see society as being fair – otherwise it will use its veto.

There is a solution to this: to remove the underlying causes of that unease, resentment and anger. Through a policy of social inclusion – ranging from educational opportunities for everybody to a social state that mobilises people’s talents to a fiscal policy that allows us to invest in social cohesion.

Excellencies,

In our interconnected world we face a simple choice: either we find a way to make globalisation sustainable – economically, socially and ecologically – or we risk that fundamentalist and populist forces will dictate the agenda.

At the crossroads at which we find ourselves, nations, political systems and individuals themselves are coming under pressure. In these circumstances, we need to seek common solutions and increase dialogue between nations.

The vast collective experience here in this room can surely support leaders in tackling those challenges.

You work to promote the values to which Switzerland is also committed. I am grateful to you for doing so.

And I wish your foundation the greatest success in the future.