The Global Citizen

Dennis Snower is President of the Institute for World Economy in Kiel. He is founder of the Global Economic Symposium which he describes as follows: “The GES is about creating a neutral open space in which we can understand that we are a global community; in which we are prepared to take on global responsibilities and understand that as the world has become interconnected and globalized, we have become interdependent in various important ways. Because we are creating global problems like climate change, like the financial crisis, that no country can address on its own. So these problems are orphan problems that remain unaddressed even by many international organizations which are arenas for pushing national interests. The GES grew out of the realization that we must come together as a global community – that we are increasingly a global economy, but not a global society. Every one of us living on this planet has many identities. We have an identity within our family, an identity within larger social groups. Now, perhaps for the first time in human history it’s vital for our very survival as a species that we also forge a global identity. The GES is an attempt to establish such a global identity.”

The conference will take place early October 2011 in Kiel. This years topic is “New Forces in Global Governance!”. FutureChallenges is cooperation partner of the GES and we are currently working on a magazine which will be published for the conference covering various fields in politics, economy, society and education in which these “New Forces” became really strong.