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DEThe world faces global challenges while existing social, economic, political models do not meet the demands of our times. In conversation with Brussels Ukraїna Review, Serhiy Haydaychuk, President of the Ukraine CEO Club, offers insights on how the world might overcome the chaos of our times to create new and effective rules, and what Ukraine’s place might be in this new world.
Islamic extremism, a war in Syria, Putin’s imperialism, “Trump’s impeachment”, “twiplomacy” (Diplomacy via Twitter – Ed.), the media’s diminishing role, populism, environmental problems – the world faces huge challenges. Governments and elites are unable to respond to these challenges using old methods encapsulated by the sovereign state. At the same time, there is a redistribution of power on the planet. The world has transitioned from a unipolar to multipolar model, with many centres of influence involving governments, international organizations, national non-government organizations, transnational Facebook users and groups, and individual bloggers, all on an equal footing. The only chance for the planet is to find new models of interaction between them.
We are currently experiencing a trend of anti-globalisation. Faced with chaos, states begin to revert to the policies of nationalism and protectionism. This is happening even in Europe, which, because of globalisation, has enjoyed the longest period of peace in its history – almost 75 years. We are now witnessing once marginalised political actors in the United States, Italy, Hungary, Czechia, and even Germany begin to roll back the global gains of recent decades. French President Emmanuel Macron, seeking to adopt informal leadership in the development of the European Union (EU), also supports the trend of “stopping the process of globalisation” by stemming plans for the EU to expand into the Balkans, criticises the free movement of labour within the EU, or speaks of Ukrainian or Bulgarian “trafficking networks” in his interview with the far-right French magazine Valeurs Actuelles (Current Values).
However, the world is the only living organism where a crisis on one side of the planet triggers a reaction in the other. Any actions or words from the leaders of key countries provoke an immediate worldwide response.
Although Ukraine responds to Macron’s words about “Ukrainian gangs” by recalling the French ambassador, or accepts a “formula” imposed on us (The Steinmeier Formula – Ed.), the world is not Ukraine-centric. Ukraine should therefore not rely on, but instead “join”, this process of “anti-globalisation” and take an active position regarding it.
Despite Ukraine being in a state of war, with Crimea and Donbas occupied, and despite the country’s outdated economic system, in Ukraine, a new political class is being born, one which is beginning to consider Ukraine’s place in the world.
I believe that Ukraine will be one of the top ten countries establishing global trends and values. The CEO Club Ukraine was created for this exact purpose – to create a place of trust between successful, professional, and ambitious personalities (owners and directors of companies – Ed.) who implement socially significant projects and shape the new qualities of Ukraine’s business elite. These places of trust are horizontal structures; the more numerous they are, the stronger Ukraine will become, and the greater its contribution to the improvement of global processes, in different spheres of our coexistence, will be.