Paris and the young Japanese

I spent many hours walking the avenues and also the little streets of Paris. It was a sunny day, a beautiful day after so many awful days of grey. Paris is always a delight particularly when the weather is fine. It is a city that was conceived by people with great sense of ambition and personal glory and that transmitted that to the many palaces, monuments, squares and gardens that make the place an architectural wonder.

Just a first impression after a very long day: one sees plenty of young tourists from Japan in Paris. As I walked the avenues I was asking myself if visiting Paris is a rite of passage for the young men and ladies of today’s Japan. And then I thought, maybe this will make the youth of that far away land a bit more romantic and more interested in love…I am told they desperately need to boost the romanticism in the Japanese society…

To be prepared for the right questions

Yesterday’s question – the key question a leader should prioritise and try to respond to – raised a number of reactions among the blog’s readers. That was, actually, the whole point of the question: to get people to think about the possible answers to it. Because quite often we tend to forget the important questions and give answers to matters that are not particularly relevant.

The many leaders I met – the true ones – where people that new how to ask questions. They would look at you and raise a point for you to respond to. And many times I felt embarrassed because I had not thought deeply – or at all! – about it and had no good answer to provide. I would then feel dwarfed by my interlocutor. And that is a feeling you cannot allow people to get you to experience if you have aspirations and want to been perceived as a match.

An incomplete question

Is it a good time, on a Saturday evening, to remind all of us that the key question a leader should ask himself/herself is ….?

Today's word in Spain

There is one word in today’s Spain that has plenty of currency among the ordinary people. It is a word that expresses the disgust and displeasure of almost everyone with present-day politics and the politicians. It is also an indication that the crisis in Spain is much deeper than the economy, the banking situation and the skyrocketed rate of unemployment. No need to guess. The word is … corruption!

Complexities and the deficit of confidence

  The dynamics of geopolitics and key international events are moving faster than our capacity to forecast, grasp their meaning or measure the intensity of their impact. We live at present in a world that is in constant flux and too complex.

Above all, there is a major inadequacy between the global nature of many challenges and the mechanisms to respond to them. That’s why the reform of the UN System is more urgent than ever.

But there is also a very serious crisis of confidence in the leaders and in the institutions. And that makes some places even more dangerous. 

Obama's great speech

President Obama’s speech on the State of the Union is inspired by a progressive outlook and modernity. It is highly advisable to read it carefully. It is a great lesson on politics and public speech. The style is direct and conversational. It has a strong human touch, with several references to real people. And above all, it proposes a number of directions and this is the trademark of a leader: to set the ambition!

Its references to clean cars that will move on alternative fuels, not on oil, to women’s rights and full empowerment, to the need to stop the violence against women,  and also the observations about development co-operation are remarkable paragraphs in a statement that is full of extraordinary reflections.  

Leadership, play, mysticism...and keep smiling!

As I perused my old personal notes about leadership, I came across one written almost fifteen years ago that says that there is bit of “ theatre” – representation – included in the practice of leadership. And just after that line, the following reads that there also a touch of mysticism in a leader. 

I would add that a good leader has also a good sense of humour.

Then I looked at some of the men that are in charge of Europe today – Angela Merkel is a different ball game – and couldn't find the actor ( with the exception of Berlusconi, of course, but he has no mysticism, all in him is fake and paid for, you can ask Ruby) and also couldn't think of anyone who inspires people.

An example is poor François. He is not comfortable in his role, as if he were the wrong cast for the job of President, and he can’t fire the flame that the European left had hoped he would. But at least, he seems sincere.

Can we say the same about many others?

The Pope, Syria and Berlusconi

My editor had to rearrange this week’s magazine, which was about to be finalised and sent to the printers, after the announcement by Pope Benedict XVI of his resignation. In the magazine as in all media outfits the news arrived as a major earthquake. It has shaken all the other items. Space being a rare commodity in all types of media, particularly in the magazine type, the Pope’s decision has chased out many other pieces of information and editorial comments on other matters. From what I know, it is the Syrian crisis and the Italian elections articles that paid the highest price. They moved out of the pages and focus, or were given just a token space. The Pope took precedence. The matters of God won over the tragedy of people in Syria and the comedy of Berlusconi in Italy. 

Peacekeeping experience in the Sahel

Now that there is a proposal on the table of the UN Security Council to approve a DPKO-type follow-on force to take over from the French in Mali, my suggestion would be very clear: please have a look at the MINURCAT experience. MINURCAT, the peacekeeping mission in Chad and Central African Republic (2008-2010), took over in 2009 from a European force, led by the French in circumstances that were not too different from the current Malian one. There was a successful transition between the French/European forces and the UN military and civilian contingent, but there were also a number of lessons that have been learned and should be taken into account.

It is true that the international community tends to have a short memory. But 2009 is not that far back. And the sands of Northern Chad are comparable to the ones in Mali.

Furthermore, with a strong Chadian contingent being deployed to Mali, there is one more reason to look at the way the UN mission (MINURCAT) interacted with the Chadian army. As I have already mentioned in a previous post, of all the African troops being sent to Mali, the Chadians are probably the most combative and effective.

  

Cameron, the European...

Still on yesterday’s meeting of the EU Council, and on the budget for 2014-2020, the big winner is David Cameron. He managed to get Angela Merkel, the Dutch and the Scandinavian leaders on his side. Cameron is the man to watch as far as the future of Europe is concerned.

Another winner, I should emphasise it because people tend to forget his role, is Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the European Council. He led the process with great ability and managed to obtain a consensus without any public recrimination from any of the heads of state or government. Even François Hollande, the most visible face of the losers, kept quiet.