I’ll be very short here. I’m struck with the fact that in 1991 Estonia left the Soviet Union, and one of the things it did first is, it renovated its governance and its internal systems and deployed the first general blockchain system in the world because they were concerned about security. They needed a system that was distributed so the expected cyber-attack wouldn’t wipe them out. And I believe they’re the only country in the world that actually had a full-on national cyber-attack and survived it because of this infrastructure that they built. Now this is long before bitcoin and NFTs and all that sort of craziness. What they discovered is that the citizens loved this because it was greater transparency; you could see what was happening to your payments, what the government was doing, and it was enormously important in promoting the growth of the economy. McKinsey estimates that it’s somewhere perhaps around eight percent per year in adding to the rate of growth. And since then, other people have taken a page from that book. China for instance has put hundreds of millions of dollars into building their system which-I have seen over the past five years-has been deployed. Almost 200 million people use it today, and it’s being deployed because it makes for a better more secure trade. So, there’s a trillion dollars of investment moving into these things which are popularly called web 3.0 platforms, but really what they are is a new way of handling data and interacting with the government. Not to be outdone, Singapore along with JP Morgan has invested something north of 100 million dollars in developing their program for their trade investments, drove about a half a trillion dollars in the Indo-Pacific. We at MIT are helping countries like Switzerland build their own and Australia build their own, not out of any sense of goodness but because this allows them to be more secure in this age of attack and to be more transparent and more efficient. And recently we put together an alliance with the World Bank who is committed to bringing these sorts of advantages to mid-income and poor countries around the world which will result in much greater stability for many things including better tax, better commerce. EY is one of our core partners in this, and I think we are to make Estonia the poster child of doing this to make their internal systems hardened for the inevitable cyber-attacks and other things that are going to happen and also to promote their recovery of trade.
And that brings me to the final thing I want to mention which is the most important thing that has been destroyed in Ukraine are not the buildings. It’s the fact that the people are now dispersed. You have a refugee crisis where all the education, the social ties, all of the infrastructure, human infrastructure, are now scattered throughout that area of Europe, and you can use some of the same things to have them stay in touch with each other to rebuild their lives to make better decisions. And we have done initial examples of this for instance in Turkey with the Syrian refugees, in Colombia with the Venezuelan refugees. And I think it behooves us to do this sort of effort even better for the Ukrainian refugees, so that they can stay in touch with each other, so that they can know what is happening to them on the ground where they are, so that they can rebuild their lives, and hopefully also so that they can go back and rebuild Ukraine. So I’d love to talk to you about how we can go about doing this. So we and my team; we’re here where we wanted to be able to actually put things on the ground. So thank you.
Good morning, everyone. I would like to start with a huge thank you to the Boston Global Forum for putting on this conference together. I would like to start with the fact that the horrors of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine mark a turning point in German foreign policy. This turning point, or Zeitenwende, as chancellor Olaf Scholz called it, is truly a sea change a sea change in foreign policy, a sea change in security and defense policy, and a sea change in energy and energy policy in Germany. For the first time, the German government is supplying weapons to a warring party, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a plan to spend more than one billion euro to modernize our military force.
The approval is brought not only in the German parliament but also in the German population. The German government has announced on Tuesday that it will always also deliver tanks to the Ukraine. Kiev is only two hours away from berlin by plane the war crimes committed by the Nazi regime against the people of Eastern Europe are part of our collective memory. Those historical memories and seeing that an outside aggressor is bringing death and suffering to the people of Ukraine once again are the reason why Germany fundamentally changed its course of its foreign policy. The German people are doing everything they can to support refugees from Ukraine. So far more than 330,000 refugees have arrived, and the German people are welcoming with open arms.
Putin’s war of aggression also marked the end of an illusion for Germany. The assumption that we can achieve change within Russia and its government through diplomatic engagement and trade has failed. In January 2022, Germany took over the presidency of the G7. We understand that G7 is a group of democracies based on common values and global responsibility. During its one year of G7 presidency, Germany aims to tackle global challenges in a multilateral way together with our partners. We are working towards a global energy transition, a strong post-COVID economy recovery, and the prevention of the next pandemic. The war in Ukraine has dramatically shifted the attention of the G7 in the light of Russia’s unjustifiable unprovoked and illegal aggression against an independent and sovereign Ukraine. Our main objective has become to strengthen and the coordinated action of G7 along with our allies and partners in the world. The G7 nations are bringing together their collective economic weight in order to end the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible. As a result the G7 in coordination with the EU has implemented and is implementing unprecedented sanctions against Russia and Belarus. My colleague, the consul general of France Arnaud Mentré already spoke about this. And of course at the G7 level we also coordinate arms deliveries to Ukraine.
Let me end by saying it has been two months since Russia launched its unprovoked attack against its people and its peaceful neighbor. Faced by the horrifying war crimes committed by Russian troops, the people of Ukraine are fighting back heroically. This war affects the world, the whole world, whether you go along with the sanctions or not, whether you believe in international rule-based order or not.
As one of the largest industrial countries in the world, Germany has a responsibility to Ukraine. Two months after the start of the war, the crimes committed by Russia continue to dominate every headline in Germany. The German people are watching, and we are horrified by the suffering inflicted on the Ukrainian people. We are determined to work with our partners and allies to end this war as quickly as possible by imposing the heaviest possible sanctions on Russia and sending civilian and military aid to Ukraine. At the same time, Germany is addressing the humanitarian crisis by welcoming Ukrainians that needed to flee their own country. We will remain in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, and we are taking a long-term perspective on assisting Ukraine with military defense. I can also assure you that Germany will take a leading role in rebuilding Ukraine. Thank you.
Hello everyone. So pleasured, and I am really honored to address your forum. You know frankly I didn’t expect that we are to discuss the one of the biggest; actually, this is the biggest war after the Second World War in Ukraine, but it happened. Whether I expected that Russia is to invade Ukraine? Yes I do, but whether I expected that Russia will commit this kind of atrocities and despicable crime in Ukraine? Frankly, no. Because, you know, you can’t have it in your mind; you can’t believe that this could happen in the 21st century. But I believe that we need to diagnose what really happened, and to find the root causes, and to find how to actually rebuild Ukraine, and how to make Ukraine stronger and how to save the free world. So why it happened? The only explanation I have is an absolute ideology of President Putin to restore the Russian empire or even the Soviet empire, an ugly copy of the Soviet empire. You know what happened with Russia and actually with Vladimir Putin, at the heart of this new ideology, which is nuanced? Russia. This is a copycat of Nazi ideology, but Putin already launched this ideology, and this is the bedrock of his ideology and of his country that he imagines. So what Putin wants to achieve? No doubt that he wants to take over the entire Ukraine. This was his goal in 2004, in 2014, and 2022. He never reached this goal, and he will never reach this goal, but his ultimate goal was to take over Kiev, to take over Ukraine. He failed. What kind of next goals he has already? Actually, Putin wants next Belarus. He wants to exert a special influence over Kazakhstan, and if he wants, Putin he will move further in order to conquer both Georgia and Moldova and to pose a threat to the entire NATO, including Baltic states. So, he wants the collapse of NATO, and he wants to see the decline of the United States and of the free world. Who is responsible for this kind of war and the atrocities? One can name only Putin. No doubt that Putin is a Nazi style leader, and he personally ordered this kind of aggression against the sovereign Ukraine, but Putin is not the only one. His military, his soldiers, these Russian soldiers that committed crimes against humanity, that committed war crimes, they tortured, raped, killed, kidnapped. So Putin, his cronies, his military, his soldiers, and I want to be very clear even the Russian people, because an overwhelming majority of Russian people support military aggression against Ukraine. Could you just imagine that around 70 percent of Russians, they actually underpin and back Putin’s atrocities against civilians in Ukraine?
Is there any kind of failures on our side? I would say yes. There are, and let me put it blunt, the diplomacy policies of the last two decades actually paved the way for Putin to invade Georgia, to commit war crimes in Syria, to illegally annex Crimea and to invade Ukraine. All this idea how to deter Russia with a new tool of economic and energy integration with the European union, they failed, and we actually neglected the threats that Putin was very vocal about, in for example during Munich Security Conference, when he said about the Soviet Union, and he was very open, actually saying that he wants to restore the Soviet Union. What kind of goals do we have right now? I mean we as the free world and we as Ukrainians, the most important goal and the crucial one is to save Ukraine and to save Ukrainians. Could you imagine that we already have around 12 million of those who fled the country and internally displaced persons? It is two times the population of Massachusetts. Could you imagine that they are killing innocent people, innocent Ukrainians kids? What is happening right now on the ground is just unbelievable, unimaginable, so the biggest priority and the most important task is to save Ukraine and to restore charitable integrity of the Ukrainian state. The next priority we have on the table is actually to defend the freedoms in the world and to protect NATO countries, to protect every single EU member state, and to protect every single countryman of the free world, where we are right now.
Ukrainians are fighting like hell. This this is a relentless fight, courageous fight, and the entire world commend men and women in the uniform, those Ukrainians who are fighting and who are actually much stronger than the Russian military. Putin didn’t expect this kind of unity among the Western worlds. The United States already marshaled a kind of strong anti-Putin alliance. It’s similar to anti-Hitler alliance, so we have already an anti-Putin coalition. NATO became stronger and is likely to expand. What we see, we see that Russian military is much weaker than expected. It is completely corrupted, and what we see at the battlefield is that the Ukrainian military, even despite being outnumbered, having less armored vehicles, less heavy weaponry, is stronger. There are some kind of minor territorial gains made by the Russian military, but what is needed, a large-scale counter-offensive of Ukrainian military in order to take back the territories that have been seized by Russia. What needs to be done, no doubt you are well aware of the action plan, that is needed for Ukraine, the most important issue is weaponry, both defensive and offensive heavy weaponry. And once again I command the United States, every single EU membrane state, Baltic states, Czech Republic, everyone, United Kingdom, in the strong and staunch support of Ukrainian people. Sanctions, those are preliminary and secondary sanctions, and we expect that the secondary sanctions will be imposed, and the current sanctions will be registered. We have very plenty of deliberations over the energy embargo. Yeah, I know that some folks project a huge GDP decline, for example in Germany due to energy embargo. Maybe this is to happen in the short run, but in the long run Europe has to realize that you need to get off the Russian energy hook because energy is no longer energy in Russia. This is the weapon and we realized this in 2014, and I was the prime minister who decided to get rid of dependence on the Russian gas problem, and we actually reached the goal. What is needed for Ukraine now, a large-scale financial support. I will give you the numbers. Could you imagine that we are to have around 70 billion US dollars of the budget deficit till the end of this year, so we are running a huge budget deficit, and as for now in order to survive financially and economically, Ukraine needs to get a very strong financial support from the free world. The data shows that we already received around 5.2 billion US dollars, but the problem is that only 221 million out of this 5.2 billion dollars are in grants. The rest are the loans that have to be repaid. Ukraine is in a very dire financial situation, so we are not ready to repay this debt in the short run and in the medium run.
In order to offset and to compensate all these losses, I believe that the world has to realize that we need to craft a new global order, a new global order which allows the world to seize and to liquidate Russian assets, an overall amount of Russian assets that have been frozen by the wealthy is about one trillion dollars, so we urgently need to pass the legislation which is needed in the United States, in EU member states, in the United Kingdom, all around the world, in Switzerland, in order both to seize and to liquidate these Russian assets and to send them to Ukraine in order to rebuild Ukraine. The second very important issue is how to bring to justice those responsible, the current legal system of international criminal court and the international court of justice which is in place is not really effective. So what is needed is a new kind of legal process against Putin, and this is to be one of the primary targets of the free world. This is completely unacceptable to have the P5 member which is Russia that commits atrocities and crimes against humanity in the United Nations, and the UN has urgently to advance itself, to revamp itself, in order to save the global peace and order. And the most important, I would tell you that I believe that Ukraine is to win and to prevail. I am strongly confident, and we will build new Ukraine stronger, Ukraine which is the member of the European Union and NATO, Ukraine with the vibrant democracy, Ukraine with the liberal and effective economic system, Ukraine with no corruption, Ukraine which is a strong member of the free world.
Once again, thank you for a chance to address you, and I want to commend and to tell thank you to every single country that supports Ukraine. This is our joint fight, and we’re going to win this fight. Thank you.
Dear Governor Dukakis, prof. Patterson, dear Ambassador Markarova, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Boston Global Forum made the right choice to award the 2022 World Leader for Peace and Security Prize to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The people of Ukraine, under the leadership of President Zelenskyy, are fighting not only for their own land, but also on our behalf. The outcome of this war, which Russia has provoked, will have global consequences. I use the analogy of history as a volcano that erupts. Now is a moment when the lava is flowing and still hot. That is why every action and inaction in these weeks and months will shape the future landscape of Europe and beyond for many decades to come. That is why we have to get it right, we have to help Ukraine win this war and remain on the map of Europe.
Latvia is not surprised at the strength of Ukrainian resistance. Ukraine knows, we know what it means to live under Russian rule. Never again will we be wiped off the map of Europe!
There are short, medium un long-term tasks in order to help Ukraine.
The immediate is maximum possible support in military equipment. Latvia has already given equipment equal to one third of our defence budget since the war began. Here I commend the fullhearted support by the US under the leadership of President Biden.
The humanitarian crisis inside Ukraine and outside, given the numbers of refugees, is the greatest Europe has seen since World War II. The human losses and tragedies that Ukraine has experienced will be felt for decades to come. The least we can do is give refuge while homes and lives are rebuilt.
Sanctions against Russia need to be effective, wide-ranging and convincing! For far too long and too heavily Western countries have relied on Russian gas and oil. This is the moment to change our consumption patterns and switch to sustainable energy technologies.
A particular focus for me is support for Ukraine’s claims in the ICJ and the ICC. I also believe a special tribunal should be created, such as for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Those perpetrating war crimes – from Putin at the top to every individual so-to-say just fulfilling orders, will be held accountable, sooner of later. Evidence is being gathered from refugees in Latvia that will one day be useful in an international tribunal.
Ukraine will have massive rebuilding needs once the war ends, but even now it needs financial help to cover essential expenditures. We anticipate a new kind of Marshall plan for Ukraine. Within the EU there is widespread support that Ukraine should be granted EU candidate country status and its application fast-tracked.
Various other platforms can be used to extend a helping hand, including the Three Seas Initiative, which Latvia is currently chairing, and where the US is a long-standing partner, with bipartisan support. The infrastructure needs of Ukraine will be immense, we can look for ways to build better digital, transport and energy connections between Ukraine and the EU.
When meeting with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv on 13 April, the Presidents of the three Baltic states and Poland were there in solidarity with Ukraine, but behind this show of solidarity is also serious practical help for Ukraine. Our region, in turn, feels that kind of solid support from the US – President Biden and Vice-President Harris have several times met with us and reassured us that Article 5 of the NATO is ‘sacrosanct’. We have always advocated stronger Transatlantic links and now we truly feel the bond. Just like 100 years ago, when the US recognized the newly independent Baltic states de iure.
Now is the time to recognize our shared responsibility for saving Ukraine from Russia, and hopefully one day saving Russia from itself. Now is the time to give immediate help to Ukraine, to focus on our long-term sustainable energy needs, to build resilience against disinformation and defend media freedom, to know and understand the history of the past and of the history that is being made right now.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the opportunity to address you on this very special occasion. I was very honored last year when I received the World Leader for Peace and Security Award from the Boston Global Forum, and it is a great honor to come back to say a few words at this year’s award ceremony as the speaker of the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag. I have joined so many others and condemned in the strongest possible terms Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The Riksdag has manifested strong support for Ukraine, expressed through unique decisions to send supplies including weapons. The people of Ukraine have a right to defend themselves against this brutal aggression, and we have a moral obligation to support them in that struggle. Russia’s acts are not only an attack on freedom and democracy but also on the European and global security order. Often, we like to look for nuances. We prefer not to see things purely in black or white, good or evil. Today, however, this is not possible. There is no justification for Russia’s vicious war against Ukraine and the suffering it is inflicting on the Ukrainian people in this appalling situation. We have witnessed great bravery from the people of Ukraine. We have also seen admirable leadership from many, in particular the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has been a true leader at this most pivotal of times. His extraordinary courage and leadership have been crucial to the Ukrainian war effort, and he has worked tirelessly also to bring the world’s attention to the atrocities committed by the Russian forces. I therefore strongly support the decision of the Boston Global Forum board to honor President Zelenskyy and all the Ukrainian people as 2022 world leader for peace and security. I cannot imagine a more worthy recipient of this award. We stand with President Zelenskyy and Ukraine in this struggle, because freedom matters, peace matters, Ukraine matters. Thank you
Dear Governor Dukakis, dear President Levits, dear Speaker Norlen, and all the distinguished guests. I’m so honored and happy to be here today, and to address to the Boston Global Forum. For 65 days, you see how Ukraine is defending itself from a brutal enemy. For 65 days Ukraine fights for our houses, for our homes, for our people, for our lands, but also for freedom and democracy. We fight for their rights to be who we are, to live peacefully in our country, and to decide how we want to live in our country.
For 65 days, we have seen unbelievable destruction of our country. We have seen ceaseless attacks from the sky, from east, north, and from south. We have seen some of the cities like Mariupol and Kharkiv and Tserkva destroyed to the ground. We have seen attacks on civilian orchards and hospitals and schools. We have seen destruction of universities which were there, some of them for more than 200 years, and even the World War II did not destroy them. We experience unimaginable losses. More than 4.5 million people had to flee Ukraine, and many are women and children, to save their lives. More than 7 million people are internally displaced in Ukraine. More than 10 million people, as we speak today, live under brutal conditions under occupation, without water, without food, without the basic needs for medical supplies.
But also for the 65 days, we have shown to the world an example of bravery, starting with our unbelievably great president, Volodymyr Zelensky, not only when this phase of the war started, and I want to remind you that this war is in Ukraine for the past eight years. Russia attacked us in 2014. But during the first 65 days, as soon as Russia started its full-fledged attack and invasion in this phase of the war, President Zelenskyy came out, and he said, “The president is here. I’m here, and stay in Kyiv. We will not surrender. We will not give up. We will defend what we love and what we believe in. And this is what we are doing. And this is the whole nation fighting: Our brave armed forces, our National Guard, our rescuers. But every Ukrainian center is doing what our president has said we would do, and we will not give up. Ukrainians love [to] build things. We love [to] grow wheat. We love to initiate startups. But today we all had to postpone what we were doing in our ordinary lives, and we all have to defend our country. And we’re very grateful to all of our strategic friends and allies and especially to the United States for all the support, with weapon, with sanctions, with financial and energy support to Ukraine. Because this fight is so much more than you think. This fight is about the global situation. This fight is about whether Europe and in general the democratic world can feel safe, whether you can make the civilisational choice to be democratic, to be free, to be sovereign and not be attacked by the brutal enemy.
On behalf of my president and all Ukrainians, firstly, great thank you. And our deepest gratitude for this act of support and for the World Leaders Award for Peace and Security. I agree with you that nobody deserves it better than our president, who has shown an outstanding example of leadership under the dire circumstances. I would like to also thank you for this event and for the efforts that all of your professors and all of the distinguished guests have taken in order to help us to already brainstorm and say, how are we going to deal with things? Because for us, the number one goal, of course, is to win in this war. And as we are certain not to surrender, we are certain that with the help of all of our friends and allies, we will win this war, and peace will return to Ukraine, and then we will build back Ukraine better. We will build a new innovative Ukraine 2022.0., which will be the most efficient, the most democratic, the most innovative. And we would be able to see all of our friends and allies to participate in this new endeavor. So with that, let me again thank you for this award. Thank you for inviting me to speak at the beginning of this conference. I wish you very fruitful discussions today. And we need all the prayers and all the weapons that anyone can provide to us and present all of us, democratic people. People who love freedom and who are ready to fight for it will win.
Governor Michael Dukakis, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Zaneta Ozolina
Thomas Patterson, Nazli Choucri, Alex Sandy Pentland, David Silbersweig, Mats Karlsson, Jim McManus
As Russia’s war against Ukraine continues, global leaders and diplomatic observers have turned their attention to two distinct agendas to help resolve the conflict. The first is to provide immediate support for Ukraine as it endures unprecedented attacks by Russia conducted with modern weapons and massive military power. The second involves planning for the prevention of unprovoked aggression through the adoption of values and standards that will ensure peaceful relations worldwide.
Short Term Strategies to Support Ukraine
Most immediate are the actions to support Ukraine and demonstrate the extent of global opposition to such aggression with indiscriminate violence. Bombing of urban civilian areas — apartment buildings, hospitals, schools and farms — violates international law and norms of warfare agreed upon by the international community.
Participants in the Boston Global Forum Conference April 29, 2022 proposed the follow steps to assist Ukraine at this critical time of immense need:
Provide humanitarian and other support to address the war-related health crisis in Ukrainian cities and towns. This includes medical supplies, health care providers, equipment, temporary hospitals and all related assistance;
Deliver advanced weapons, offensive and defensive, to compensate for uneven scales in the war;
Share all intelligence information with the Ukrainian Government — including contributions by NATO and European nations– pertaining to Russian troop movements, tactical weapons locations and battle plans;
Sustain existing economic sanctions and impose sanctions to energy resources, which at the present moment is the main financial source supporting Russia’s war machinery
Support and engage in the debate on limitation and exclusion of Russia from the UN Security Council, as a country which does not respect the UN Charter and its founding principles.
Provide strategic military advice to help in the fight against Russian air, ground and naval forces;
Assist Ukrainian students and children, in the country who face shortages of basic needs such as food, shelter and medical care. Assist in sustaining, where possible, educational institutions. Call on Ukrainian students outside the country to find ways of helping and rebuilding Ukraine.
Call for organizing a High-Level International Conference on Peace, Security and Territorial Integrity for Ukraine, with participation of leaders from Russia, Ukraine, United States, and the European Union, to be held in Paris, Riga, or Stockholm.
Future Strategies to Support Ukraine
The Ukraine invasion is a painful lesson for the world that compromise with dictators and authoritarian regimes only feeds aggression. In response, speakers at the Boston Global Forum focused on the advantages of promoting development of a competitive economy, in conjunction with a flourishing democratic political system.
Above all, the war on Ukraine has highlighted ways in which the leaders of Russia deceive the public through their messages and actions, and the use of their propaganda systems. They promised to create “humanitarian corridors” to allow civilian non-combatants to leave areas under attack, only to renege on those promises. Russia has not made any serious attempt to engage in peace talks. All evidence so far is of hollow commitments.
Speakers at the conference underscored the need to address Russia’s aggression and its unprecedented disinformation by adopting specific steps:
Promote shared democratic values through multilateral organizations, NGOs, universities, business entities, and academic centers; Comprehensive multinational and new form of Marshall plan is needed for Ukraine ensuring fast reconstruction and recovery from the war. It will serve as a coordinated and efficient platform for economic development, social assistance and human empowerment.
Develop legal and humanitarian standards as foundation for 21st century international relations. For example, the Social Contract for the AI Age and the book Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment provide invaluable guidance for rational rule-making in the Age of Digital and AI.
Encourage the formation of a New Alliance to protect rational standards and the security of countries that support them.
Discussion Leaders: Governor Michael Dukakis and Nguyen Anh Tuan
Advisor: Jason Furman, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to President Obama, Harvard professor
Contributors: Professors Alex Sandy Pentland, Thomas Patterson, Nazli Choucri, David Silbersweig, Francesco Lapenta, former Vice President of the World Bank Mats Karlsson, former Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zlatko Lagumdzija, former President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga, father of Internet Vint Cerf, Assistant Secretary of Massachusetts Government Nam Pham, EY Global Tax Innovation Leader Jeff Saviano
The Ukrainian people are currently enduring an unprovoked war that has resulted in tens of thousands of combatant and civilian deaths. Many cities and towns have been utterly destroyed by indiscriminate Russian bombing. The free, Democratic nations of the world have rallied around Ukraine to provide military and humanitarian assistance.
The focus of the Boston Global Forum is to help coordinate and call on world leaders, distinguished thinkers, innovators, governments, companies, organizations is on helping to end the war and provide for the basic needs of the Ukrainian people who remain in the country and those who have fled the fighting. When the war ends, there is an opportunity for Ukraine and its allies to rebuild the nation as a model of peace, stability and prosperity. The Boston Global Forum is starting to build strategies and programs for Rebuilding Ukraine.
Strategies for Rebuilding Ukraine
Following hostilities, as Ukraine turns its attention to rebuilding the nation and society, it is imperative to apply standards, norms and common values outlined in the Social Contract for the AI Age and pioneering ideas and concepts contained in the book “Remaking the World – Toward an Age of Global Enlightenment,” with contributions by distinguished leaders and thinkers.
The book “Remaking the World” advances pioneering ideas that could help reshape the world as the United Nations progresses toward its centennial in 2045, and addresses the standards that should govern the development and use of AI and digital technology.
These ideas and standards have been the subject of several recent conferences, including the World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid Policy Labs on September 16-18, 2020 and September 7-9, 2021, as well as the Riga Conferences in 2020 and 2021.
Goals
Building a smart democracy, smart cities with high-quality smart schools, where citizens are directly involved in the political decisions of the country. A nation where institutions and structures promote kind, humane, civilized, creative, innovative policies and practices. Where the rule of law protects equality of opportunities for all people, openness, transparency, and engagement with civic institutions. And, the system of taxation is transparent, equitable, and provides sufficient certainty to citizen taxpayers to aid in Ukraine’s recovery.
To apply these concepts to rebuild Ukraine, strategies discussed at the recent conferences include:
Rebuilding cities and infrastructure
Building AI World Society (AIWS) City for Ukraine:
Apply model concepts of AIWS City to rebuild Ukrainian cities as smart cities.
AIWS City is a smart digital city with distinguished communities.
Connect historical, traditional cities as Boston, New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, LA, Chicago, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Rome, Athens, Vienna, Paris, London, Madrid, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Edinburg, Amsterdam, Brussels, Prague, Dubrovnik, Zurich, Geneva, Jerusalem, Tokyo etc. to the AIWS City for Ukraine.
Build a digital platform and components of AIWS City for Ukraine: Digital Home, Art and Cultural Institutions, Smart Digital and AI University, Innovation Ecosystem, Smart Healthcare Centers, Markets.
Infrastructure:
Solutions to reconstruct infrastructures of Ukrainian cities:
Combine rebuilding cities to optimal and maximize resources, costs.
BGF connects and calls cities, governments, companies, foundations to support Ukrainian government and cities to reconstruct cities and transportation system of Ukraine.
Projects and Programs for Rebuilding Ukraine:
Phase 1: Civic and Social Engagement
Michael Dukakis Leadership Fellows for Ukraine
Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation
Develop and support young Ukrainian leaders
AIWS Leadership for Ukraine
Michael Dukakis Institute for Leadership and Innovation
Educate leaders to lead and rebuild Ukraine
AIWS University for Ukraine: support Ukrainian students and universities
Build “Online Center of Knowledge for Innovation” to support Ukraine, build online resources to help connect and guide Ukrainian refugees so that they can quickly rebuild their lives
Applying AIWS Rewards to recognize contributions of students and scholars to Ukrainian students and universities
Led by Harvard Professor Thomas Patterson, Professor Francesco Lapenta, Former Japanese State Minister Yasuhide Nakayama, Bui Thanh Nhon, Coordinators
Creating and building global brand names for Ukraine
Advise and help promote PR high quality products and services of Ukraine become global brand names.
Professor John Quelch and Nguyen Anh Tuan, Coordinators
Building a Digital and AI Platform for Ukrainian cities (AIWS City for Ukraine)
Every citizen has one digital home, bring gem cities of the world to Ukraine
Bringing solutions to reconstruct infrastructure of Ukrainian cities
BGF connects and calls cities, governments, companies, foundations to support
Ukrainian government and cities to reconstruct cities and transportation system of Ukraine
Led by Governor Michael Dukakis, Prime Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija and BGF CEO Nguyen Anh Tuan, Coordinators
Phase 2: AIWS Government for Ukraine
Build a “smart” government aided by AI and Digital technologies, guided by concepts of AIWS Government
Develop the next generation digital public infrastructure, modeled after Estonia and other leading digital government nations
AIWS Citizen and Information Ecosystem for Ukraine
Ukraine Community Innovation Ecosystem, including new distributed systems for greater national resilience
AIWS Financial System, with a reimagined set of tax policies that encourage future growth and prosperity for Ukraine
Led by Jason Furman, Mats Karlsson, Alex Sandy Pentland, Jeff Saviano
Resources for Support of Ukraine
AIWS Network of distinguished leaders, thinkers, innovators (AIWS.net), AIWS.city and call on companies, universities, foundations, for support
Connect and invite top universities from across the globe
Honoring President Zelensky and all Ukraine people with the World Leader for Peace and Security Award
Conference “Laurel for Peace and Security in Ukraine”
Loeb House, Harvard University, April 29, 2022
Good morning and welcome, distinguished guests and speakers who have gathered today here at Harvard University, and online from around the world, for this important forum to discuss current events and potential future pathways for Ukraine.
I am pleased to announce that this year’s recipient of the Boston Global Forum’s World Leader for Peace and Security Award is Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine and all Ukrainian people. This prestigious Award is given to honor individuals who demonstrate a fierce commitment to peace and justice. In that spirit, we present the award to the Ukraine people who are courageously fighting to preserve their country’s sovereignty.
Trained as a lawyer, though he never practiced law, President Zelensky entered politics from a career in television, winning the presidency in 2019 with 73 percent of the vote. He ran on an anti-corruption platform and promised to bring a negotiated end to the conflict in eastern Ukraine resulting from the Russian takeover of the region in 2014.
He persuaded the Ukrainian parliament to enact laws stripping members of Parliament of legal immunity and banning oligarchs from contributing funds to political candidates. His efforts to get Russia to agree to a just settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine did not succeed, but he brokered a ceasefire in 2019 that sharply reduced the violence and tension in the region.
President Zelensky’s finest hour began with the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine two months ago. Using the power of the presidency and through the brilliant use of social media, he has with his words and personal courage inspired Ukrainians against all odds to resist the invasion. No leader in recent times has spoken more powerfully than when President Zelensky, upon being offered safe passage out of the country, said, “The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride.”
President Zelensky has been a tireless defender of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, petitioning nation after nation to provide the humanitarian and military assistance that Ukrainians need to save their country.
He has inspired Ukrainians, and people around the world, with his proud defense of his country against tyranny.
He does not come to oversee for his safe, he stands in his country. He inspires Ukrainian people and the world.
Russia claims that it invaded Ukraine to root out its “neo-Nazis.” Ironically, the man who, above all others, has stood in its way is Jewish, with close relatives who perished in the Holocaust. President Zelensky is not only Ukraine’s first Jewish president, he’s the first elected Jewish head of state and head of government of any country, save for Israel.
President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have made momentous contributions to peace and security in the world in their opposition to the ambitions of Russia’s Putin. Their courageous stand against imperialism and extremist nationalism will give pause to authoritarian leaders in the future.
President Zelensky embodies the desire for peace and security that resides within the heart of so many, and yet would be denied by authoritarian leaders. It gives me great pleasure to be honoring him and all Ukrainian people today with the Boston Global Forum’s World Leader for Peace and Security Award. Honoring President Zelensky and Ukrainian people, BGF has conceived and coordinated today’s program with distinguished leaders, thinkers, innovators to contribute ideas and counsel for the rebuilding of Ukraine.
