Leadership for the days ahead

If I were put against the wall, what would I say? I mean if I had been requested to underline just one – one is singular, no escape with long lines and a torrent of words – one key positive feature of an exemplary politician what would I refer to?

Before I respond, please note the word positive. In these times of tremendous challenges, we must talk about the future based on a constructive approach. After the Donald Trump experience, I am no longer prepared to accept negative, destructive leaders.

Going back to the question about the key feature, my answer would be about dedication to the common good. Dedication means, in my mind, full commitment to the public leadership job. It means a keen sense of duty and willingness to personal sacrifice. It is a continuous, strenuous search for a better, more respectful, more balanced, and more ecological society.

A leader is a self-sacrificing person.

The human dimension in politics

The pandemic has reminded us that health, politics, ethics, social justice, and human rights are deeply interconnected. It has also sent us a strong message that health is a public good, not just an individual matter or an economic issue. Politicians are made to realise that human life is at the centre of all concerns. The human dimension of politics must be seen as central.

The future of politics must be based on values

They do not fit into our future

Victor Angelo

 

I recognise the concerns that many thinkers express about what the world will be like in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. A large proportion say that this crisis pulverizes our societies and disrupts democracy and the alliances that bind us to other peoples, promotes a tendency towards isolation, nationalistic selfishness and the loss of the points of reference that gave meaning to international relations. Thus, the world would emerge fragmented from the crisis, with each country more self-centred, more autocratic, and with the institutions of the multilateral system rather weakened.

I propose a different reading of the route we are now taking. I believe that the crisis gives us the opportunity to strengthen the humanist dimension that has been lacking, both in domestic politics and on the international stage. We will certainly be poorer economically, but we can become much richer politically. It is a question of good leadership and strong citizenship movements. The pandemic has reminded us that people are the essential end of politics. Not people in a general and abstract sense, but each of us, simultaneously in our individuality and as members of the social space to which we belong. Politics must place a stronger emphasis on protecting and respecting our fundamental rights, starting with the right to dignity, health, security and diversity, as well as creating the conditions for everyone to develop their potential as best they know how. 

I believe that the pandemic drama has prepared a good part of the citizens for a new kind of awareness as regards their relationship with others and nature. I think it has made us more measured in our ambitions. We are faced with the possibility of renewing political practice. That is the main conclusion I draw from the present situation. It is also the line that guides my vision of the future. Politics tomorrow must mean a continuous struggle for human rights, for democratisation, for smoothness in public management and for more solidarity. We must build on the maturity we have acquired during this period of shock. If this happens, the credibility of politics will be enhanced, multilateral cooperation will be cemented and we will be in a better position to tackle what I consider to be the three biggest global challenges of the decade: the fight against poverty, the defence of freedom and the regeneration of the environment, starting with the mitigation of climate change.

Indeed, none of this should be new to us Europeans. Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union clearly defines - and happily worded, which is not always the case when it comes to legal commitments between states - the values that constitute the fundamental foundations of our common project, including the centrality of the human dimension of politics. But politicians, who are generally very skilful in the games of opportunism and in the ambiguity of consensus designed to please Greeks and Trojans, do not always support themselves as they should in that article of the Treaty.

In these circumstances, it is essential that the European Commission's budget for the period 2021-2027 and the exceptional plan for economic recovery, which must respond to the challenges created by the pandemic, recognise the essential need for each Member State to respect the letter and spirit of the aforementioned Article 2. Budgets and democracy are the two sides of the same Europe. Here there can be no tricks or juggling of words and misunderstandings. The Hungarian vetoes of Viktor Orbán and the Polish vetoes of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, now also supported by Janez Janša, the Prime Minister of Slovenia, are unacceptable. Let us speak clearly. Orbán is a despot at the head of a clique that many accuse of kleptocracy. Kaczynski is a backward man who exploits feelings from other times. Janša is a small brain man: he was the only European leader to congratulate Donald Trump on his electoral "victory". They all manipulate public opinion in their countries and will not change as long as they retain control of power. We cannot let these gentlemen think that the EU is just a source of money, unrelated to a policy of democratic values and rights. Any compromise on this issue would mean that we would not have learned anything from the cultural revolution that the pandemic crisis is offering us. 

(Automatic translation of the opinion piece I published today in the Diário de Notícias, the old and prestigious Lisbon newspaper)

A moral approach to politics

The new encyclical letter of Pope Francis has been issued today. It is called Fratelli Tutti, to remind us that we are all brothers. The Pope says it is a social document and indeed it is very political. It took him a good couple of years to write it down. It is, therefore, a reflection that must be taken into account. It cannot be dismissed, even by those who are not Catholics. In tomorrow’s world, we must spend more time listening to moral voices. They will certainly help us in the fight for ethics in politics. Politics with principles and for the common good should become the main transformation we should aim at, in the post-covid world.

On robots

Today I only have questions. And they are in a very different field but in the end they might be of tremendous importance for matters of peace and human rights. And these are the two most important dimensions in any human life.

But let's list the questions. They concern robots.

Can we teach robots ethics and international law? Do we need to?

Is there a real threat that robots could go beyond the actions they have been programmed for? What should be the limits when designing and programming an extremely smart robot?

Maybe it is time to start looking at these interrogations.

Criminal banking

Six major international banks have been fined by the US authorities over huge criminal manipulations of the foreign exchange markets. The banks caught in this huge fraud and well thought-out conspiracy to steal from the clients are: Barclays, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Royal Bank of Scotland, Union des Banques Suisses (UBS), and Bank of America. The overall fines amount to USD $5.6 billion.

Since 2008 a number of very serious malpractices and criminal actions have been uncovered in some international banks. The crisis and a closer scrutiny of the banking system have shown that many of these institutions have been unethical and unlawful. Violations of the law and the interests of the customers have been common practice. The Financial Times reports that in the last seven years banks have been fine over USD $160 billion because of their illegal activities.

It is a matter of huge concern. It is also a major worry that no top banking executive has yet faced a court of justice and be personally sanctioned with a prison term for his or her actions. The system fines the banks and lets the bankers enjoy their bonus. And by the way, the bonus paid during the last seven years or so by the banks the US has just punished come to a total very similar to the combined amount of today´s fines.

Code of conduct for intelligence agencies

The on-going row over the US espionage practices should become an opportunity to discuss intelligence cooperation between the two sides of the Atlantic. It should also be used by the Europeans to better define the potential threats to their national and economic security and take the appropriate protective measures.

As I say it, I also recognise that intelligence remains one of the key features of a country´s sovereignty. But this should not prevent the EU countries from integrating better those dimensions of the services that have to do with responding to common threats. And, at the same time, they should protect themselves from intrusion, including when that spying comes from a friendly ally.

It is also time to have a code of conduct and a list of best practices that would guide information collection in a democratic environment. And get national parliaments to appoint independent ethics commissions that would be charged with the overseeing of intelligence activities in their respective countries. These commissions would then be guided by the above-mentioned code of conduct. 

To be committed

This is a time for deeper commitment. Crises and challenges are constant in our competitive world. The only variable is the intellect, the ideas and the will to bring about change.