The McKay Interview

Topical issues from the perspective of a successful oil-trading company leader. 

A conversation with Corinne Momal-Vanian, who worked and travelled with Kofi Annan when he was U.N. Secretary-General, about why he was and still is so revered; and the important work of his eponymous Foundation.

Departing Director of GSCP and recently appointed appointed Swiss Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran discusses Swiss values, Swiss neutrality and the delicate balance of the use of "soft power".

After six years in Geneva - an unusually long time - Ambassador Braithwaite shares with me his views on the UK and world trade vis-à-vis the WTO, the practicalities of ethics in government foreign policy, climate change, the Commonwealth and the meaning of Global Britain.

The Hon. Kent Brown served as a career diplomat for almost thirty years, all over the world for the U.S. Department of State. In this interview, he gives his insights and personal opinion about America today as I ask him whether the American Dream is now out of reach for a growing number of people and what President Joe Biden needs to do now and by 2024.

Topics covered in this episode:

- The end of the Trump era and the beginning of Biden’s

- Why the turmoil and rancour across the land, that culminated in the defeat of Trump on the 4th November last year.

- Why so many millions of Americans believe last November’s election was “stolen”, to use the word of the man who lost?

- And if time allows, other domestic topics and foreign affairs.

Michael McKay is going to talk to guests over the next few weeks on  how  the world sees America - through the eyes of Americans who have an experience of life outside the United States.

In the second programme, Michael talks to John, who was for 8 years Global Chairman of Republicans Abroad – the official arm of the Republican Party abroad - stepping down at the time of George W. Bush’s Inauguration in 2001.

Michael McKay is going to talk to guests over the next few weeks on  how the world sees America - through the eyes of Americans who have an  experience of life outside the United States.

In the first programme, Michael speaks to Geneva based US political scientist Dr Daniel Warner.

My Guest today is Michael Møller, known to many of you listening as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva up until a year or so ago.

Well, you cannot keep a good and energetic man down! And he has re-emerged as one of the principal leaders of this new organisation that I mentioned which is called the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator Foundation.  Quite a mouthful to say. And so, for short, they call themselves GESDA.

We are going to hear from Michael Møller himself why this organisation has been formed and what it is doing that will make a difference.

Here were some of the questions that we covered:

My topic this time is Privacy. And by that I mean how states, governments, corporations, organisations, businesses and we ourselves as individuals, view things like privacy, secrecy, the characteristic or human quality of being discreet; whether or not we have a right to Privacy; or whether or not that depends on the law of the land, societal and cultural norms or international standards of behaviour.

My Guest is Ron Rock, Co-founder and CEO of Microshare®, Philadelphia, USA. He will help me unravel some of the many complexities, and even inconsistencies in where we find ourselves today, such as the Internet of Things, and the use of personal data to improve security and mitigate risk, especially in these times of pandemic.

Monday 21st December 2020, via Zoom.

Dr David Hawley  is the Director-General of the International School of Geneva and  Antonia Molnar is a Year 12 Student at the La Châtaigneraie Campus. We talk about international Education.