F2: Global Cooperation: A Future On The Rise
We all hear a lot of negative news about what’s happening in the world. The coverage of conflict and threats is unrelenting. So, is it possible that the world may not be devolving into chaos? Could the world actually be improving in how it cooperates (on a macro level) and these conflicts are just taking center-stage?
The answer to this question might surprise you.
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F2: GLOBAL COOPERATION; A FUTURE ON THE RISE
ALL RIGHT, HAPPY FRIDAY…FOR THIS EPISODE, I’M GOING TO GET INTO THE TOPIC OF HOW WELL WE’RE DOING, AS PEOPLE AND AS COUNTRIES, AT WORKING TOGETHER ON THIS PLANET. DON’T WORRY, I’LL KEEP IT SHORT.
REALLY, THIS IS A STORY ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING IN REALITY VS. WHAT WE FEEL WHEN OUR FEARS INTERPRET RANDOM SAMPLES OF NEGATIVE INFORMATION.
EPISODE
IT’S EASY TO FEEL LIKE OUR FUTURE, AS A PLANET, ISN’T BEING MANAGED WELL. WE HEAR NOTHING BUT NEGATIVE NEWS ABOUT CLIMATE, CONFLICT, CYBERATTACKS, HUNGER, AND EXPLOITATION.
SO…IS THE WORLD DEVOLVING INTO A COLLECTION OF PARANOID, ISOLATIONIST SOCIETIES? IS THE SHARING OF IDEAS AND RESOURCES BEING COMPLETELY REPLACED BY COMPETITIVENESS, OR…EVEN MORE DANGEROUS, INDIFFERENCE??
AND, WHY DOES IT EVEN MATTER?
WELL, FOR ONE, THERE IS A POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE NUMBER OF COUNTRIES COLLABORATING ON PROJECTS AND GLOBAL PEACE. AT IT’S CORE, IT REDUCES MISTRUST AND INCREASES UNDERSTANDING. IT CAN HELP DEVELOP A SENSE OF SHARED STABILITY BY WAY OF INTERNATIONAL TREATIES, UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS, AND MULTILATERAL AID PROGRAMS.
GLOBAL COOPERATION IS ALSO CRITICAL FOR FOSTERING INNOVATION. DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT IS ESSENTIAL FOR CREATING A RICHER POOL OF IDEAS FOR THE WORLD’S BIGGEST CHALLENGES. BY COLLABORATING, NATIONS CAN SHARE RESOURCES, ONLY ACCELERATING TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS IN KEY AREAS LIKE QUANTUM COMPUTING AND RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS.
THERE ARE SEVERAL CONCRETE EXAMPLES OF THIS COLLABORATION IN ACTION:
ONE, AND PROBABLY THE GREATEST EXAMPLE OF AN INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION IN SCIENCE, WAS IN THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT, A 13-YEAR-LONG PROJECT TO DETERMINE THE DNA SEQUENCE OF THE ENTIRE HUMAN GENOME. AND, WITH THE HELP OF SIX COUNTRIES, IT SUCCEEDED IN MAPPING NEARLY THE ENTIRE DNA SEQUENCE. THIS DISCOVERY HAS BENEFITTED MANY INTERNATIONAL FIELDS FROM MOLECULAR MEDICINE TO THE STUDY OF HUMAN EVOLUTION.
ANOTHER IS IN THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, OR ISS, WHERE WE SEE PEACEFUL COLLABORATION, OFTEN BETWEEN TYPICALLY CONTENTIOUS NATIONS, FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SPACE EXPLORATION.
WE KNOW IT CAN BE DONE.
BUT ARE THESE TWO ANOMALIES, AND ARE THEY MOSTLY BEHIND US?
WELL, THERE’S PLENTY OF DATA OUT THERE, SO SOMEONE DECIDED TO FIND OUT.
FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, TWO MAJOR ORGANIZATIONS, MCKINSEY & COMPANY, THE WORLD’S OLDEST AND LARGEST STRATEGY AND MANAGEMENT CONSULTING FIRM, AND THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, A NEUTRAL, INTERNATIONAL, NON-GOVERNMENTAL THINK TANK, HAVE BEEN WORKING TOGETHER TO MEASURE AND EVALUATE HOW WELL THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD ARE COOPERATING.
THEY SIFTED THROUGH ABOUT FIFTEEN YEARS OF DATA AND FOCUSED ON 42 METRICS, WHICH WERE ORGANIZED INTO FIVE KEY PILLARS: TRADE & CAPITAL, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY, CLIMATE AND NATURAL CAPITAL, HEALTH AND WELLNESS, AND PEACE AND SECURITY.
AND, IN EARLY 2024, THEY RELEASED THE INNAUGURAL “GLOBAL COOPERATION BAROMETER” REPORT.
SO, ARE WE DOOMED?
ACCORDING TO THE REPORT, ABSOLUTELY NOT. SINCE 2012, GLOBAL COOPERATION HAS RISEN STEADILY, AND IN A FEW PILLARS, IT’S RISEN SUBSTANTIALLY, WITH THE ONLY DROP BEING IN THE LAST TWO YEARS IN THE PEACE AND SECURITY PILLAR DUE TO RECENT REGIONAL CONFLICTS IN UKRAINE AND THE MIDDLE EAST.
THE GREATEST INCREASE IN GLOBAL COOPERATION WAS AROUND INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY, AT A WHOPPING 30% INCREASE SINCE 2012, WITH CLIMATE AND NATURE, HEALTH AND WELLNESS, AND TRADE AND CAPITAL NOT FAR BEHIND, WHICH IS IMPRESSIVE CONSIDERING THE PANDEMIC DISRUPTED OUR PLANET IN 2020 AND INTO 2021.
I, FOR ONE, NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED THAT INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION WAS DOING SO WELL, GIVEN WHAT WE HEAR ON THE NEWS IN AND SOCIAL MEDIA…WHERE CONFLICT AND FEAR-BASED INFORMATION TAKES CENTER STAGE.
SO, AS WE LOOK AT THE WORLD IN FRONT OF US, AND, AS WE HEAD INTO OUR WEEKENDS, LET’S TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND REMIND OURSELVES THAT THIS ISN’T ALL FALLING APART…LIKE MOST THINGS, THERE ARE PLENTY OF IMPERFECTIONS…BUT THE FUTURE OF GLOBAL UNITY …MUCH LIKE OUR OWN LIVES, HAS A LOT MORE GOING FOR IT THAN WE REALIZE…
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/01/this-is-the-state-of-global-cooperation-in-2024/
https://worldfutureawards.com/global-collaborations-innovation/
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/themes/global-cooperation-is-possible