A tightly-connected world is more imperilled by cyber attack, disease and global warming.
It requires inspired leadership, In this context China have an opportunity.
What are the present threats faced by the globe?
The world has a population of 7.6 billion people, Of them, 5.1 billion have subscriptions to mobile phones.
4 billion have access to internet, and 3.1 billion are active users of the social media.
Cyber terrorism is a major concern due to the easier internet accessibility and mobile usage.
The world is a risky place and it is getting riskier, the foundations of the post Cold War, post Berlin Wall global system have weakened.
Leaders are not doing enough to arrest the dangers of global warming and the “global commons” remains unmanaged.
What are the concerns of being tightly networked?
About 1,000-year old Roman Empire collapsed because of the viral spread of the “network borne threats” of religion (Christianity), disease (bubonic plague) and migration (the Germanic tribes).
These threats spread because of physical and spiritual connectivity.
They permeated every strata of the Empire’s governance and social hierarchy.
The leadership did not anticipate or have the capability to contain the spread.
The result was the erosion of the foundations of the Empire and its eventual demise.
Even today challenge of managing and mitigating “network borne” threats (cyber, pandemics, global warming) is on most government and corporate agendas.
But instead of converging towards a common purpose for managing these threats, the world leaders are adopting divergent, populist and localised approaches.
What are the issues with global leaderships?
USA -US President Trump has set the cat amongst the globalist pigeons with his disruptive brand of economic nationalism, trade protectionism and twittered derision of multilateralism.
EU -The EU is riven by leaders like the PMs/Chancellors of Poland, Italy, Hungary and Austria who want to build a fortress against migrants and those like Chancellor of Germany and President of France who hold steadfast to the benefits of a passport free “Shengen” Europe.
UK -The UK has a default PM in office because the Conservative party is irreconcilably divided over Brexit and the members cannot agree on a more palatable alternative.
Russia -President of Russia appears unconcerned about the implications of his action on global stability and the Middle East is a sectarian cauldron on the boil with the two regional hegemons, Saudi Arabia and Iran, in implacable opposition to each other.
What is the significance of Chinese leadership?
The world needs not just technical talent but courageous, resilient and selfless leadership in the face of impending crisis.
The only two countries that stand out in this landscape as islands of relative stability and strong leadership are India and China.
China has recognised that this fragmented world offers an opportunity.
It has projected itself, ironically as the custodian of the multilateral rules based system and it is using its financial leverage to broaden strategic relations, Its One Belt One Road is a manifestation of this intent.
