New Thinking for a New World

It’s commonplace today to bemoan the erosion of democracy almost everywhere. Seemingly endless polls document citizens’ complaints; even more academic books and papers seek to explain the problem. But maybe we are overthinking this. Maybe the “democracy” problem is at its core a “justice” problem—meaning that because too many people in too many places lack adequate access to justice and cannot resolve basic legal problems that plague them, they have—understandably—begun to doubt democracy itself.

Why is that? What can be done? Is it simply about rekindling trust in judges, courts, and due process—although there is nothing simple about regaining trust once lost? Or do we need to find new ways to make justice work for people?

Despite, or maybe because Allyson Maynard-Gibson is a barrister and former attorney general and minister for legal affairs of the Bahamas, she firmly believes that the solution lies in people-centered justice that explores new solutions beyond the established institutions. Listen as she discusses a new way of thinking about how people can find the justice they deserve.

Violent extremism is growing globally. It doesn't know religion or creed. Where once it was confined to specific ideology or identity groups, at least in public discourse and discussion, now it appears across societies, across cultures and across borders. Violent extremist ideologies and actions are becoming part of the global fabric.

Why do people get involved in this type of violence? How can they disengage? Can violent extremists be helped to reenter society integrated in healthy, socially positive, empowered ways to engage as productive and peaceful citizens?

In this episode of New Thinking for a New World, guest host Michael Niconchuk looks for answers. Mike, a Tällberg Foundation board member, serves on the Advisory Board of the Counter Extremism Project and is a program manager at the Wend Collective. His guests are Juncal Fernandez-Garayzabal, development and program manager at the Counter Extremism Project, and Noah Tucker, program associate at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs Central Asia Program.

Can violent extremists once again become productive citizens? Can you imagine someone with that history living next door to you?

The war between Israel and Hamas is a classic “lose/lose” proposition: there can be no winners, with a range of outcomes that stretch from bad towards disastrous. Is this just one more awful conflict in a region whose history is pockmarked by war, violence and hate? Or is there a chance that this bloodletting—as brutal and awful as it has already been—could eventually create a different dynamic?

That’s the glimmer of hope in this Tällberg SPOTLIGHT piece by Alan Stoga, geopolitical observer and chairman of the Tällberg Foundation. From time to time we intend to present solo views designed to encourage your engagement. Tell us what you think.

According to the WHO, the COVID pandemic killed almost seven million people. The full bill was undoubtedly far greater, not only in terms of lives lost, but of liberties suspended, economies disrupted, educations interrupted, economic development foregone. All in all, the pandemic was one of the blackest swans to have landed in the global pond in a long time.

It was also a colossal ethical failure. Remember "We are all in this together?” Well, we weren’t. Although the pandemic was a global problem that obviously demanded a global solution, nationalism and self-interest triumphed as most high-income countries privileged self-defense over global security.

Why? Why didn't ethics come into play? Did the United States and other rich countries really think they could self-distance from the rest of an infected planet? What does that say about the likely response to other global problems, starting with climate??

Dr. Ruth Faden, an American scientist, academic and ethicist who has spent years thinking about human rights, ethics and justice and was deeply involved in trying to shape a more global, more ethical response to the pandemic. How does she explain what happened during COVID and how can we do better?

What do you think: when the next pandemic hits, do you want your government to take care of you before it thinks about people in other countries who might be more vulnerable than you?

The United States seems to be on the verge of some kind of Judgement Day. Extreme partisanship, a past (and future?) president facing seemingly endless indictments and legal entanglements, a profound loss of trust in institutions and leaders, citizens who tell pollsters that their country is heading in the wrong direction and they fear the future—despite objective economic conditions that are better than almost anywhere else. What’s wrong? Why the deep unhappiness, even depression? Is the American dream becoming a nightmare?

Sometimes the best insights come from the outside. Our guest on New Thinking for a New World is an inside outsider with almost unique insight into how the United States works. Lars Trägårdh is a Swedish historian who has lived in the United States on and off for decades and has spent much of that time observing and thinking about the social contract between Americans and their government. Today he's a professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, but continues to spend considerable time traveling across the United States.

Listen as he does a deep dive into the social and political challenges confronting America.

Is the United States headed in the wrong direction?

Supposedly, Herodotus wrote that when the Greeks were told that the Persian archers at the Battle of Thermopylae would blot out the sun with their arrows, they responded: “Good, then we shall have our battle in the shade.”

Fast forward to the early 21st century and the issue is no longer Persian arrows, but the relentless heat from a sun less and less buffered by earth’s atmosphere because of the accumulated greenhouse gasses. The result, according to scientists, is a rapidly warming planet with increasingly extreme weather, droughts and floods, supercyclones and hurricanes, raging forest fires, or other unusually intense natural disasters. All of that has become the new normal with every likelihood that what’s extreme today might be perceived as moderate next year. The need for shade has never been greater!

What can be done?

One possibility is what’s called "solar radiation management.” SRM essentially amounts to reducing the amount of solar radiation hitting, and hence warming, the planet. It's either an obvious approach—think, if not Persian arrows then the eruption of huge volcanoes—or crazy dangerous, depending on where you sit.

Luke Iseman and Andrew Song think it’s obvious, and are pioneers in trying to deflect solar radiation away from the Earth. But, unlike scientists, they have decided to stop talking about it and have begun doing it. Listen as they explain how they think they can cool the planet.

Is it okay for individuals to try to re-engineer the climate? Tell us what you think.

"There is nothing dramatic in the success of a diplomatist. His victories are made up of a series of microscopic advantages: of a judicious suggestion here, of an opportune civility there, of a wise concession at one moment and a far-sighted persistence at another; of sleepless tact, immovable calmness and patience that no folly, no provocation, no blunder can shake.” Lord Salisbury, British statesman of the 19th century

Ambassador Ashok Mirpuri has just completed 12 years, an unusually long period, as Singapore's ambassador to the United States, the capstone to a four decade stellar diplomatic career. He retired from his diplomatic service this summer and is now back in Singapore.

What do ambassadors actually do? Twenty-first century technology removes diplomats from the immediate transmission of messages and developments but imposes a far more difficult task: understanding and explaining the realities and dynamics of his host country to his own country’s leaders. In practice for Ambassador Mirpuri this has meant sorting through the behaviors of Presidents Obama, Trump and Biden and trying to make sense of what America’s complications mean for Singapore. No easy task during such a turbulent period!

New Thinking for a New World caught up with Ambassador Mirpuri (once an ambassador, always an ambassador) for reflections on what he learned about America during his service in Washington. Listen and then tell us whether you think diplomats still have a role to play in contemporary society.> quote here

"If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them.” Karl Popper in The Open Society and Its Enemies Financial Times.

Popper, an Austrian philosopher who had fled the Nazis, wrote those words as he came to grips with how the Nazis had infiltrated and overrun liberal European societies. Fast forward to today. Elisabeth Braw, writing in the

So Sweden finds itself in a double bind: it badly wants to stop Koran burnings, but to do so it would have to undermine a key aspect of its liberal democracy. Of course, that dilemma is not unique to Sweden in this era of violent hyper-partisanship.

Braw is senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Listen as she explores the potential consequences of being too tolerant in this episode of New Thinking for a New World.

What do you think? If Sweden could find a way to outlaw desecration of the Koran (and other holy books), would the terror threat disappear? And would that justify limiting freedom of expression?

Link to article in the Financial Times that is referred to in the podcast (the article is behind a paywall): https://www.ft.com/content/0ac9e1a9-2aad-47d9-83fb-4839e9b31b33

India's backstory is largely unknown in the West. Between the 1st and 17th centuries AD, the country had the world's largest economy, controlling as much as one-third of global wealth. But that seemingly endless prosperity was followed by almost 500 years of decline as India was plundered and pushed aside by modern powers.

Fast forward to 2023: India is the world's most populous nation with one of the largest economies. The three trillion dollar Indian economy is expected to grow faster this year than any other major country in the world. Foreign investment is pouring in, partly looking for a safe haven from China's geopolitical ambitions and partly seeking to participate in India's new dynamism.

The man who has presided over this renaissance—Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in office since May 2014—is a global rock star. Indeed, some pollsters make the case that he is the most popular leader in the world. He has brought a degree of stability to a country where political violence used to be endemic and somehow produced an economically and geopolitically resurgent India. His and the country's importance are recognized by India's 2023 presidency of the G-20, as well as the West's aggressive courting of Modi and India as rivals to Xi and China.

Yet Western (as well as some Indian) critics worry that Modi's version of democracy is too autocratic and inward-looking, too rooted in Hindu nationalism to be sustainable. And they are skeptical that India has an economic model that can sustain the kind of outsize growth that transformed China from a country with lots of people to an economic superpower.

Milan Vaishnav is a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington and an accomplished India watcher. He shared some answers in a recent New Thinking for a New World podcast.

What do you think: Will India continue its evolution to become a global power?

This podcast was first published on May 18, 2023

Shahidul Alam is many things: world-class photographer, Bangladeshi human rights activist, teacher, and author. He is also a provocateur, whose words and pictures force one—sometimes gently, sometimes less so—to confront reality.

Alam is also part of the Tällberg Foundation's Global Leadership Network. In that capacity, he recently delivered a short provocation reflecting on the realities of democracy and the challenges of freedom.

This is not the usual New Thinking for a New World conversation, but we think you'll find it worth a listen.