Worth Repeating - China: On the Road to Perdition?
New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast
12/30/21
•37m
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Under President Xi Jinping, China has shown a growing willingness to act outside the accepted geopolitical, economic and even diplomatic global framework and practices. Indeed, Beijing’s actions suggest a rejection of the post-war system in favor of one that is not just rejiggered to accommodate China’s growing superpowers, but that is dominated by it.
The latest data points? President Xi did not show up at COP 26; reports from Glasgow suggest the Chinese have been playing a spoiling role in the climate talks; tensions over Taiwan continue to rise; Chinese rhetoric aimed at the United States, Australia, and Europe is increasingly harsh. Not a day goes by without new reports of China asserting what it sees as its prerogatives as the soon-to-be largest economy in the world.
What’s going on? Is China’s leadership acting out of strength or weakness? Is Xi merely probing the West’s weaknesses or has he decided the time is ripe to push hard? Is war possible? Is war avoidable?
Australian Kevin Rudd has spent a considerable part of his life thinking about, working on, and negotiating with China — as a diplomat, twice as his country's prime minister, and currently as president of the Asia Society. Arguably no other western leader knows China better. Listen as he assesses where China is today, and where it wants to be tomorrow.
Previous Episode
Searching for New Leaders
December 22, 2021
•25m
Great leaders may or may not be born that way, but their skills and abilities certainly evolve and mature over time. For years the Tälberg Foundation has nurtured leaders who are relatively early on their journeys through a variety of programs. This year we took another step in our own leadership journey by establishing an Emerging Leader category for the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize.
The idea is simple: identify and honor leaders who have already had impact but who are still growing and evolving. It’s not about age, but about impact and potential.
The 2021 jury selected two emerging leaders as the initial recipients of this honor. Pashtana Durrani is an Afghan activist and educator working to create digital learning opportunities, especially for girls, in her ravaged country. Christian Ntizimira is a Rwandan medical doctor who champions palliative care in central Africa, in the belief that dignified death is a human right (and a communal obligation).
Listen as two Tällberg jurors—Shahidul Alam, a Bangladeshi photographer and human rights activist and Gouri Mirpuri, a Singaporean social entrepreneur—discuss leadership with Pashtana and Christian.
Next Episode
Worth Repeating: Escaping the Taliban
January 6, 2022
•27m
The Taliban's surge to power in Afghanistan is one of those events that will have repercussions for years to come. Geopolitical, strategic, military, perhaps religious, but most importantly, humanitarian. We all watched in horror as hundreds of thousands of women, men, and children tried to flee what seems likely to be a re-imposition of the Taliban's brutal pre-modern style of ruling.
Jamila Afghani, our guest this week, succeeded in getting out with her family. Jamila is an educator, a leader, and an activist. Her work to elevate the rights and improve the education of women and girls is based on her studies of Islamic law, which she believes is typically misinterpreted to give them second-class status. Jamila is also a past winner of the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize.
Listen as Jamila talks about escaping the Taliban, and what she expects for her country.
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