Leaders meet in Germany to talk about global progress
We have been witnessing, stronger than ever, some geopolitical developments similar to weather events: the areas exhibiting a void of power attract the intervention of external forces interested in taking over these territories under their control. The examples are numerous and the wider Black Sea region with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) represent a probative perimeter in this respect. Here are the most important areas of the aforementioned geopolitical region that could stand for a global geopolitical storm: Eastern Ukraine (Donetsk and Lugansk); Crimea; Transnistria; Libya; Egypt; the Palestinian problem; the civil war in Syria; Iraq; The Islamic State Organization (Daesh); Yemen; Nagorno-Karabakh; Abkhazia; Ossetia.
The Bilderberg Group is an annual conference of 100-150 world leaders from both public and private spheres; such as generals, academics, leaders of industry, and political leaders. The group has been around since 1954, in order to provide a venue for industry leaders to get together and it provides a comfortable atmosphere where they can candidly speak about what they think will be the issues of tomorrow.
In this context, the annual meeting of the Bilderberg Group was held from 9 to 12 June in Dresden- Germany. The stated purpose of this annual meeting is to have “informal discussions” that “strengthen the dialogue between Europe and North America”. Only about 120 names were made public, the organization having preferred not to disclose the names of personalities, especially those in the political arena whose presence could represent a delicate situation. We mention some of the names in the public list: Jose Barroso – former President of the European Commission; Philip Breedlove – former Commander of Allied Forces in Europe (SACEUR – NATO); David Petraeus (retired General, former head of the CIA) – President of the KKP Global Institute; Christine Lagarde – executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF); Lindsey Graham – US senator (an opponent of Donald Trump). Of course, the reputed geopolitician Henry Kissinger, was also present. We note that the public list does not include any participant from Russia.
The main themes discussed this year include (in random order): China; Europe (the issue of migration, economic growth, reforms, perspective visions and unity); the Middle East; Russia; the US (the political landscape in the perspective of the presidential elections, the economic situation); cyber security, technological innovation; energy geopolitics and commodity prices; precariat (a relatively new term that refers to the situation of that part of the proletariat which has no secure income, no sense of professional identity and does not see opportunities for professional development) and the middle class. We believe that the political-economic and military problems in Europe and America were a major part of the discussions and with reference to the US elections, it is very likely that the support of the organization was for Hilary Clinton. Regarding the EU’s future, it seems that the Brexit was not approved and work will continue in order to maintain the EU and the euro (an initiative of Bilderberg) as essential elements to the development of the globalized world and of a unique currency.
The fact that the discussions included the theme of the middle class and the precariat indicates that the Bilderberg members take into account the possibility of large social movements, both in the West and in China, where the government seems horrified by such a scenario, which has also been discussed at the Economic summit in Davos in 2015. These social movements and unrests will occur due to the growing social inequality. But we should not forget that the main attention will continue to be given to the globalization process, without neglecting the enhancement of the wealth of the 1% who control the world economy. According to the last Oxfam report issued in 2015, 80 of the richest people in the world possessed a combined wealth equal to 50% of the poorest people in the world (3.5 billion people), as compared to 388 in 2010. This polarization is a worrying discrepancy, bringing new challenges and conflicts.
We believe that an important role in the prevention of the future geopolitical “storms” may have the forthcoming high level NATO reunion in Warsaw (8 to 9 July). In this context we emphasize the importance for all member states to immediately comply with 2% of the GDP on defense, while the US should firmly continue its policy to strengthen the eastern flank of the alliance, paying great attention to the south-east region, where Russia will become – in our opinion – even more incisive in the future.
At the same time, the European Union must be more prompt and decided in its security and defense policies, as well as in the socio-economic ones, at least at the level of member countries’ expectations, which, under the real conditions of the present times, is a difficult task. And this is well known by those wishing storm.