• While the global energy crisis has accelerated the shift to renewables, the key driver of renewable growth and identification of alternative sources of energy is energy security and, possibly, independence

• To reach a climate friendly goal (zero emission) and energy security/ independence, the western world will have to plan and implement the greatest industrial transformation of our time

• Europe and the US — European Green Deal and Inflation Reduction Act, respectively—pledged to invest USD$1.2 trillion to accelerate the clean energy economy

• Financial services are essential to the resilience of businesses in times such as now

• Sanctions are eroding Russia’s economy; a GDP drop of 7/8% for 2022-23 is estimated 

• Some still harbor the belief that a peace deal could restore the world to its state on February 23, 2022. Is it realistic?

• Economic growth while taming inflation will be a key challenge 

• Some believe the world’s battle with inflation is far from over

• Though, major key factors causing inflation have dissipated

• Electoral cycles are at odds with a governments’ capability to lead in difficult times

• The EU’s US$ 800bn recovery fund’s goal is to rejuvenate the European economy 

• The impact of EU recovery plan to date – successes and disappointments; tangible and intangible infrastructures, reforms & modernization

• Yet Europe’s challenge is how to build on its strength – UDS$ 17 trillion GDP – to become a relevant geopolitical player

• The size of European industries to compete at par with US and China

• Governments struggle to respond to new crises, while the media are mostly polarized and have lost the traditional equidistance that previously made them reliable and trusted

• Why trust has degraded so much beyond the explosive growth in the number of news sources?

• Media is supposed to make stakeholders better informed, why isn’t that working

• A possible solution going forward

• The war in Ukraine being a key driver, a reshape of globalization in under way and not only due to renewable energy

• ‘Friendshoring,’ ‘nearshoring,’ ‘reshoring’ and ‘onshoring’ are new terms describing a world disrupted by the war on European soil

• The real role of AI

• These also describe emerging trade practices where supply chain networks are focused on countries regarded as political and economic allies

• US government intends to source components and raw materials from “friendly” countries with shared value to increase security of domestic production

• 2021 US imports from China: USD$ 506 bn, exports USD$ 150 bn

• Border crises dominate media coverage both in Europa and in America; an opposite crisis emerges as a broader decline in immigration

• Net international migration added 247,000 to America’s population between July 2020 and July 2021

• The smallest increase in the past three decades

• 1 out of every 3 individuals seeking standard employment visas or seasonal work visas is successful in the US, while 1 in 4 applicants for highly skilled work visas makes the cut

• This shortfall makes it harder for companies to find both workers and talents, the fuel of America’s innovation and entrepreneurship

"The United States faces dangerous threats from Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, terrorists, climate change, and future pandemics. The greatest peril to the country, however, comes not from abroad but from within, from none other than ourselves. The question facing us is whether we are prepared to do what is necessary to save our democracy".