REFLECTIONS ON LEADERSHIP

Further to comments on Foreign Affairs, 'The World Ahead' discussed below, I read Ambassador Jeffrey Bleich's anniversary lecture for the Curtin Library. The library is under Paul Keating's tutelage. Two paragraphs worth transcribing; both are on the subjects of opportunity in crisis and freedom of the Internet:

'Historian John Edwards summed it up best by saying: Curtin’s “enduring achievement was not saving Australia from Japan but in creating modern postwar Australia.” This is the hallmark of great statesmen: looking beyond the moment to see the future needs of their countries. I have witnessed the same courage and conviction and clarity in the leadership of Paul Keating. He faced different challenges: an unprecedented budget deficit, a recession, and dramatically shifting events in the Asia-Pacific. He too responded with unflinching vision and uncommon candor. In the midst of a recession where the normal instinct of politicians is to blame their predecessors and forces beyond their control, Keating did what great leaders do. He described the recession as the “recession Australia needed to have.” He understood - as my friend Rahm Emanuel has said - that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. And he articulated a vision for a more secure financial future with a floating currency, a national superannuation system, and expanded trade and engagement throughout the burgeoning Asia-Pacific. These transformations have endowed Australia’s economy today with an enviable strength and resilience'...

'Several of the things we must do to prevent scarcity don’t appear to have any direct connection to putting food or water on the table. For example, we must fight for an open internet because that is an essential tool to solving these problems. How can we possibly convince nations at different stages of development, with different political systems, and different economies, to make sacrifices and investments, and to collaborate on food, water, and energy production, unless we are all working from the same information? We support an open internet because of the intrinsic value of free expression. But we also support a free Internet for straightforward practical reasons - because the Internet is how many people in the 21st century learn facts, debate solutions, and solve problems. Without the free flow of information, people are less likely to see crises coming, or hold their leaders accountable. So an open internet is our engaging people around the world. Everyone on this planet is entitled to their own opinion, but they are not entitled to their own facts. The internet can help ensure that the facts are out there for everyone'.


As mentioned previously, I am working on new posts.