by Editor BGF | Jul 20, 2025 | World Leader for Peace and Security, News, World Leaders in AIWS Award Updates
In the World Leader Award Section of this week’s BGF Weekly, we proudly introduce insights and reflections from distinguished members of the BGF Board of Thinkers on prominent global leaders who have shaped peace, security, and democracy.
This section serves as a space where BGF leaders comment, evaluate, and analyze the legacies of world leaders, offering perspectives that enrich our understanding of their contributions to global affairs. Their reflections complement the values of the World Leader for Peace and Security Award and the World Leader in AIWS Award, which honor individuals whose leadership transforms the world for the better.
This week, we feature an illuminating reflection by Honorable Mark Kennedy, Member of the BGF Board of Thinkers and Director of the Wilson Center’s Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition, on the enduring legacy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In his article for The Hill, Mark Kennedy underscores why Abe’s vision, leadership, and commitment to democratic alliances in the Indo-Pacific are worthy of the highest recognition.
📖 Read: Shinzo Abe’s legacy worthy of the highest honor — The Hill
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/3550512-shinzo-abes-legacy-worthy-of-the-highest-honor/
by Editor BGF | Jul 20, 2025 | News
On July 18, 2025, President Donald Trump signed into law a historic bill regulating stablecoins, a pivotal step for the mainstream adoption of digital assets in the United States. As reported by Reuters, this legislation creates the first clear federal framework for stablecoins — cryptocurrencies pegged to traditional currencies like the US dollar — positioning the US at the forefront of crypto innovation and financial regulation.
This development echoes through the Four Pillars of the Boston Global Forum (BGF) — Peace, Democracy, Innovation, and Leadership — shaping how technology, governance, and global finance intersect in the AI and digital age.
1️. Peace: Financial Stability in the Digital Age
Stablecoins, when properly regulated, can reduce volatility in digital transactions and promote safer, more transparent financial ecosystems. By establishing a federal regulatory regime, the US aims to prevent risks of fraud, instability, and misuse that could threaten economic security — contributing to global financial peace.
2️. Democracy: Regulatory Clarity and Consumer Protection
The new law empowers federal agencies to oversee stablecoin issuers, ensuring transparency, accountability, and protection of consumers’ rights. This aligns with democratic principles of fair markets, informed choice, and equal access to financial tools, essential for digital democracy.
3️. Innovation: Catalyzing Responsible Crypto Growth
With legal clarity, the law is expected to catalyze innovation in digital finance, fintech, and decentralized finance (DeFi). Entrepreneurs and financial institutions now have a defined path to develop new solutions, reinforcing the Boston Finance Accord for AI Governance 24/7 and BGF’s advocacy for ethical fintech and digital asset ecosystems.
4️. Leadership: US as a Standard-Setter
By enacting this law, the United States reclaims leadership in setting global standards for digital assets and blockchain technologies. This positions the US to influence international norms, ensuring that digital assets develop within ethical, transparent, and democratically governed frameworks — an objective deeply embedded in BGF’s Esteemed Digital Assets initiative.
BGF Perspective
At the Boston Global Forum, we recognize this milestone as a critical juncture for shaping the future of digital assets, governance, and financial inclusion. It reflects the need for continuous dialogue between policymakers, innovators, and global leaders to ensure that the evolution of finance supports peace, democracy, innovation, and ethical leadership.
We invite our global community to discuss:
✅ How should stablecoin governance evolve globally following the US model?
✅ What ethical safeguards must accompany financial innovations like stablecoins?
✅ How can digital assets advance peace and democratic values worldwide?
📌 Read the full Reuters article:
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-signs-stablecoin-law-crypto-industry-aims-mainstream-adoption-2025-07-18/
by Editor BGF | Jul 20, 2025 | Global Alliance for Digital Governance
The Boston Global Forum and the AI World Society (AIWS) are pleased to highlight “An Ethics Model for Innovation: The PiE Model” developed by Dr. Cansu Canca, founder of AI Ethics Lab. Presented through her lecture at the AI Ethics Course, the PiE Model provides a practical and structured framework for integrating ethics into the innovation process — from ideation to implementation.
This model aligns closely with the AIWS Standards and Model, particularly in promoting:
✅ Ethical by Design innovation
✅ Inclusive decision-making that balances innovation with societal impact
✅ Responsible AI development guided by human-centered values
The PiE Model emphasizes the importance of embedding ethics at every stage of innovation, ensuring that new technologies, especially in AI and digital assets, advance peace, democracy, transparency, and social good — core principles of the AIWS 7-Layer Model of AI Ethics.
We encourage policymakers, innovators, and scholars in the AIWS ecosystem to explore the PiE Model as a complementary tool in developing ethical, sustainable, and governance-aligned innovations.
📌 Learn more:
🔗 An Ethics Model for Innovation: The PiE Model by Cansu Canca
https://aiethicslab.com/pie-model/
https://aiethicscourse.org/lectures/the-pie-model
by Editor BGF | Jul 20, 2025 | News
The Boston Global Forum (BGF) is pleased to announce that the book “The AI World Society: A 30-Year US-Vietnam Partnership from Nha Trang to Boston (1995-2025)”, co-authored by Harvard Professor Thomas Patterson and Nguyen Anh Tuan, Co-Founder, Co-Chair, and CEO of BGF, with a foreword by Governor Michael Dukakis, has been warmly welcomed in Vietnam.
This book chronicles a remarkable journey of reconciliation, friendship, and cooperation between the United States and Vietnam, culminating in the vision of the AI World Society (AIWS) — a model for fostering peace, democracy, and innovation in the AI Age.
To celebrate this important milestone:
- Nguyen Anh Tuan will speak at the Vietnam CEO Summit 2025, marking 30 years of US-Vietnam normalization and the 80th Anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day.
- He will also deliver remarks at the Global National Entrepreneurship Forum of Vietnam, held in honor of the 80th Anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day.
- Additionally, a series of discussions, dialogues, and forums focusing on the book and its themes will be organized throughout Vietnam in late July, August, and September 2025.
These events not only commemorate the historic relationship between the United States and Vietnam but also invite leaders, scholars, and entrepreneurs to engage in discussions on the future of AI governance, ethical innovation, and global cooperation.
The Boston Global Forum looks forward to contributing to these dialogues, strengthening the enduring US-Vietnam partnership, and advancing the AI World Society vision for a better, safer, and more inclusive world.
VTCNews: https://vtcnews.vn/ra-mat-sach-xa-hoi-tri-tue-nhan-tao-30-nam-doi-tac-viet-my-tu-nha-trang-den-boston-ar953909.html
VietNamNet: https://vietnamnet.vn/khi-trai-tim-va-khoi-oc-vuot-qua-moi-rao-can-2420976.html
by Editor BGF | Jul 13, 2025 | News, Shaping Futures
We’re starting to give AI agents real autonomy, and we’re not prepared for what could happen next.
Operator, an agent from OpenAI, can autonomously navigate a browser to order groceries or make dinner reservations. Systems like Claude Code and Cursor’s Chat feature can modify entire code bases with a single command. Manus, a viral agent from the Chinese startup Butterfly Effect, can build and deploy websites with little human supervision. Any action that can be captured by text—from playing a video game using written commands to running a social media account—is potentially within the purview of this type of system.
LLM agents don’t have much of a track record yet, but to hear CEOs tell it, they will transform the economy—and soon.
Scholars, too, are taking agents seriously. “Agents are the next frontier,” says Dawn Song, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. But, she says, “in order for us to really benefit from AI, to actually [use it to] solve complex problems, we need to figure out how to make them work safely and securely.”
That’s a tall order. Because like chatbot LLMs, agents can be chaotic and unpredictable.
As of now, there’s no foolproof way to guarantee that AI agents will act as their developers intend or to prevent malicious actors from misusing them. And though researchers like Yoshua Bengio, a professor of computer science at the University of Montreal and one of the so-called “godfathers of AI,” are working hard to develop new safety mechanisms, they may not be able to keep up with the rapid expansion of agents’ powers. “If we continue on the current path of building agentic systems,” Bengio says, “we are basically playing Russian roulette with humanity.”
https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/12/1118189/ai-agents-manus-control-autonomy-operator-openai/
by Editor BGF | Jul 13, 2025 | Shinzo Abe Initiative for Peace and Security, News
July 8 marked the third anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, an outstanding prime minister and world leader. Abe was felled by a bullet fired by a terrorist as he gave a street corner speech. It happened during the last Upper House election, held in 2022. Once again, we offer our heartfelt condolences.
Let there be no doubt that assassination represents a direct challenge to democracy and is absolutely unacceptable. Not only does it take precious lives through violent means, but it also stifles freedom of speech.
Since then, politics in Japan have become unstable, and we are confronted with a crisis. This can be seen in the crushing defeat of the ruling parties in the 2024 House of Representatives election and the low approval ratings of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba‘s Cabinet.
The time has come to reevaluate “Abe politics.”
Please see full here:
https://japan-forward.com/floundering-politics-need-shinzo-abes-legacy/
People pray near the scene of PM Shinzo Abe’s assassination in Nara City, at 11:32 AM on July 8 (©Sankei by Kotaro Hikono)
by Editor BGF | Jul 13, 2025 | News
This week in the Boston Global Forum Weekly – Four Pillars Roundup, we open a critical conversation inspired by The Washington Post article:
📄 “Japan, after 101 tough days, learns a hard lesson about U.S. alliance” by Chie Tanaka
The article reflects on Japan’s recent diplomatic challenges and the evolving dynamics within the US-Japan alliance, a cornerstone of Indo-Pacific security and democratic cooperation. As the global order faces rising tensions and new forms of power competition, the resilience of alliances among democratic nations becomes even more essential.
At Boston Global Forum, the Four Pillars — Peace, Democracy, Innovation, and Leadership — provide the framework to analyze these developments. Japan’s experience underscores:
- The need for deepened trust and strategic alignment between allies.
- The role of leadership foresight in navigating geopolitical shifts.
- The imperative for technological and defense innovation, especially in AI and cybersecurity.
- The ongoing mission to fortify democratic values and global stability.
We invite BGF leaders, scholars, and partners to reflect and discuss:
✅ How can the US-Japan alliance adapt to new geopolitical realities?
✅ What leadership is required to strengthen democratic coalitions in the AI age?
✅ How can innovation — especially in AI — reinforce peace and security?
📌 Read the original Washington Post article here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/07/07/japan-us-alliance-defense-security/
Please send your opinions to [email protected]
by Editor BGF | Jul 13, 2025 | Global Alliance for Digital Governance
Companies must use advanced tools to detect and stamp out misinformation and deepfake content to help counter growing risks of election interference and financial fraud, the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union urged in a report on Friday, July 11.
Deepfakes such as AI-generated images and videos, and audio that convincingly impersonates real people, pose mounting risks, the ITU said in the report released at its “AI for Good Summit” in Geneva.
The ITU called for robust standards to combat manipulated multimedia and recommended that content distributors such as social media platforms use digital verification tools to authenticate images and videos before sharing.
“Trust in social media has dropped significantly because people don’t know what’s true and what’s fake,” Bilel Jamoussi, Chief of the Study Groups Department at the ITU’s Standardization Bureau, noted. Combatting deepfakes was a top challenge due to Generative AI’s ability to fabricate realistic multimedia, he said.
Leonard Rosenthol of Adobe, a digital editing software leader that has been addressing deepfakes since 2019, underscored the importance of establishing the provenance of digital content to help users assess its trustworthiness.
by Editor BGF | Jul 11, 2025 | News
Today, July 11, 2025, marks a profound milestone: the 30th anniversary of the normalization of relations between Vietnam and the United States. It’s with immense pride and optimism that I reflect on this journey, a journey that finds its vibrant embodiment in the remarkable friendship between Professor Thomas E. Patterson and Nguyen Anh Tuan. Their story is truly a testament to what’s possible when hearts and minds reach across divides.
Tuan’s journey, which forms a central pillar of this book, is a powerful symbol of this three-decade transformation. Beginning in Nha Trang, Vietnam, Tuan’s vision led him to connect with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), a U.S. company based in Massachusetts. Inspired by the power of Alpha servers and U.S. technology, Tuan researched and led the effort to establish and launch VietNet in December 1995. This pioneering effort in Nha Trang marked the very genesis of what would become his extraordinary life’s path: from Nha Trang, to Hanoi, and then to Boston from 2011. Tuan’s outstanding achievements from Nha Trang 1995 to Boston 2025 are a symbol of the fruitful friendship between Vietnam and the U.S. in these 30 years (1995-2025).
My own journey of collaboration with Tuan began early. This year, we celebrate 14 years of friendship, a bond that has deepened significantly. While Professor Thomas E. Patterson brought Nguyen Anh Tuan to Harvard University as a Research Scholar in April 2011, my deep involvement in the strategic direction of the Boston Global Forum (BGF) truly took root when Tuan and I sat together in Nha Trang in April 2013 during my trip to Vietnam. There, amidst the serene beauty of the bay, we passionately discussed and defined the very vision and strategies that would guide BGF in its nascent days. This profound connection underscores how the BGF has always contributed uniquely to US-Vietnam relations, especially bridging Nha Trang – Khanh Hoa with Boston – Massachusetts.
The culmination of these efforts to foster understanding took a historic turn on December 12, 2012, when Tuan, Tom Patterson, John Quelch, and I co-founded the Boston Global Forum. Our shared vision was ambitious: to create a pioneering hub for leaders, scholars, innovators, and citizens committed to addressing the world’s most pressing challenges. Over the years, BGF’s accomplishments have exceeded our most hopeful expectations.
Under Tuan’s visionary leadership, the BGF launched the AI World Society (AIWS) initiative. It was truly special to co-found this pivotal movement with Tuan at a meeting at my home in Brookline, Massachusetts, the day before Thanksgiving in 2017. From that point, Tuan has singularly led and invented AIWS, driving its remarkable achievements, impact, and influence across the United States and the world.
The AIWS has championed groundbreaking concepts like the Social Contract for the AI Age—offering a humanistic framework to ensure that technology serves human dignity—and the AIWS Government 24/7 model, which includes the Boston Finance Accord for AI Governance 24/7, AIWS Digital Assets, AIWS Film Park, and the AIWS Music for Humanity Movement, envisioning a new paradigm in public service delivery. We’ve also had the honor of recognizing global leaders with the World Leader for Peace and Security Award and the World Leader in AIWS Award, shining a light on those who steer the planet toward peace, security, innovation, and stability. Throughout these achievements, Tuan has played a vital role as Chief Executive Officer and, as of 2024, my Co-Chair. Together, we continue to chart new courses for international collaboration in the AI Age.
The invaluable friendship between Nguyen Anh Tuan and Thomas Patterson reflects the resilience of the human spirit to learn from the past, heal old wounds, and forge innovative solutions for the future. Their partnership stands as an inspiring symbol of reconciliation between two nations once divided by war—now united by shared aspirations for peace, prosperity, and meaningful cooperation. They’ve demonstrated that what we achieve together can far surpass what we might ever dream of accomplishing alone.
This book, “The AI World Society: A 30-Year US-Vietnam Partnership from Nha Trang to Boston (1995-2025),” offers a window into the story of Tuan and Tom: how their personal journeys converged to help establish one of the world’s most dynamic forums for global thought leadership. It reminds us that when visionary leaders reach across borders, foster intellectual exchange, and unite around a common purpose, they can inspire generations to come.
As you turn these pages, you’ll discover how true reconciliation can yield far greater results than the healing of old divides. It can bring forth new ideas, new networks, and new frameworks for understanding and tackling global challenges. Their story shows that reconciliation isn’t just about making peace with the past; it’s about imagining and building a better future for all.
In a world more interconnected and interdependent than ever before, Tuan and Tom’s journey offers hope, guidance, and a model for forging relationships that transcend differences. Their legacy—and that of the Boston Global Forum—serves as a beacon, lighting the path for those who believe that in striving for common ground, we can inspire the best in one another and in humanity.
Governor Michael S. Dukakis
Co-Founder and Co-Chair, Boston Global Forum
