PEACE IS NOT A GIVEN

A generation that has experienced peace as the status quo might easily tend to forget that war has historically been more of a status quo than peace. Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute and historian Niall Ferguson’s books are full of examples. The long period of peace in historically hostile Europe was due to the hard work of visionary figures after the Second World War. They worked on a European concept of unity and cooperation. An idea that was unthinkable in the past but is a reality today. For all the shortcomings we may experience, it is of the utmost importance to always remember what a great goal has been achieved over such a long period of time: PEACE.

It would be of utmost importance to create even more initiatives like this as a basis for addressing the global challenges that lie ahead. Challenges that we can only solve on a global basis.

GOST has made it a priority to support INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING through its missions by teaching history and raising awareness of issues of global importance. We are proud to have achieved this again with Expedition Blue Ocean ( www.ExpeditionBlueOcen.org ).

The list of supporters is long and we would like to extend a special thank you to

  • The House of Lords
  • Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Boyce
  • The City of London
  • The Police of the City of London
  • The staff of the House of Lords
  • St. Katharine’s Dock Marina
  • Asociación para la Investigación y Difusión de la Historia Naval de Cuba
  • Royal Cinque Ports Yacht Club
  • The Dover Harbour Board
  • Club Nautica Internacional de Hemingway Cuba
  • Maximino Gomez
  • Seaside Productions
  • Münz Corp.
  • Beach Cleaners
  • The Sea Cap Initiative

TIME of MISTRUST

A plea for trust in a time of mistrust. Trust is the foundation on which monetary systems are built. Trust forms the basis of international diplomatic relations and is the foundation for all progress.

But what happens once trust is shaken?

The diplomatic dispute over a multibillion-dollar submarine treaty – which took place three months before the Russian – Ukrainian war, concerns about a new cold war, and the collapse of the Bretton Woods system exactly 50 years ago are the manuscript for this maritime-themed French-American story about money and trust. It is an object lesson for our times, where we are witnessing the emergence of crypto-financial markets and thus stand on the threshold of a new form of money.

TIME OF MISTRUST

by Jochen Werne

After the traditional long summer vacation, France awakens in September from its brief self-created slumber, as it does every year. Life begins to take its usual course, even if some are still reminiscing, perhaps enjoying the first harbingers of post-Covid worry-free life. Not so Philippe Étienne. For him, on the other side of the Atlantic, in Washington, which is actually picturesque at this time of year, autumn begins with a diplomatic thunderstorm. A storm that must have been new even for the 65-year-old gray-haired eloquent ambassador of France. 6160 kilometers away, at the Élysée Palace, Président de la République Emmanuel Macron decides to call his top diplomat in the United States, along with his Australian counterpart Jean-Pierre Thebault, to Paris for consultations. The unprecedented act in Franco-American history is justified by Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian with the “exceptional gravity” of an Australian-British-American announcement, and impressively underlined with the words “lie,” “duplicity,” “disrespect” and “serious crisis.”

At the heart of this crisis is the surprise announcement by the aforementioned countries to enter into a strategic trilateral security alliance (AUKUS) with immediate effect. An alliance that also provides for the procurement of nuclear-powered submarines for Australia, effectively putting to rest a 56-billion-euro French-Australian submarine order already initiated in 2016. The conclusion of the agreement comes at a time when U.S. President Joe Biden has asserted to the UN General Assembly, “We do not seek – I repeat, we do not seek – a new cold war or a world divided into rigid blocs.” However, experts, such as renowned historian Niall Ferguson, have been talking about this so-called “new cold war” between the U.S. and China since 2019, and it is not about nuclear arms races, but rather about technology supremacy in cyber security, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Even though nuclear-powered submarines are at the center of the diplomatic dispute, one is quick to note in the AUKUS agreement that cooperation in the aforementioned fields is one of the most important components of the treaty. An objective that is perhaps also congruent with French interests. But the dispute between the old friends is less about the “what” than about the diplomatic “how” – that is, about the breach of trust that is triggered when close allies are simply presented with a fait accompli. Facts that also affect them financially and personally.

Because money and trust are closely interwoven. The trust of a bank that the creditor will repay its debts. A citizen’s trust that the currency in which he or she is paid their salaries is stable. A state’s trust in a currency system that the agreements made there will be honored by all. Georg Simmel, in his “Philosophy of Money,” sums it up this way: “Money is perhaps the most concentrated and pointed form and expression of trust in the social-state order.”

Last year marked the 50th anniversary of another French-American trust-busting melodrama with a maritime backdrop. Benn Steil, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, describes the moving events of August 6, 1971, in his book, The Battle of Bretton Woods, as follows: “…a congressional subcommittee issued a report entitled ‘Action Now to Strengthen the U.S. Dollar` that concluded, paradoxically, that the dollar needed to be weakened. Dollar dumping accelerated and France sent a warship to pick up French gold from the vaults of the New York Fed.”

At first glance, this dramatic gesture by then French President Georges Pompidou in the final act of the collapse of the Bretton Woods system seems as strange as the withdrawal of ambassadors today. The basis, however, is similar and lay then as now in an equally shaken trust between the great nations that were nevertheless so closely intertwined. Without going deeper into the new monetary order created after World War II, with the U.S. dollar as the anchor currency, it is important to understand the reason for the French revolt evident in the “White Plan.” The plan provided that the U.S. guaranteed the Bretton Woods participating countries the right to buy and sell gold indefinitely at the fixed rate of $35 per ounce. The dilemma of this arrangement became apparent early on. For by the end of the 1950s, dollar holdings at foreign central banks already exceeded U.S. gold reserves. When French President Charles de Gaulle asked the U.S. to exchange French dollar reserves for gold in 1966, the FED’s gold reserves were only enough for about half that amount. The ever more deeply anchored loss of confidence forced the American president Richard Nixon on August 15, 1971 to cancel the nominal gold peg and the so-called “Nixon shock” ended the system as it was.

And where something ends something new can or will inevitably begin.

Today we live in a world where the stability of our currency is based on our confidence in government fiscal policy, the economic strength of our country, and the good work of an independent central bank. However, we also live in a time when new currency systems are already looming on the dense horizon. The basis for this was laid in 2008, not surprisingly, by one of the most serious crises of confidence in the international banking system that modern times have seen. And the new systems are being implemented with the help of cutting-edge distributed ledger blockchain technology. The new, with its decentralized nature, is challenging the old. While many of the new currencies in the crypto world, such as bitcoin, are subject to large fluctuations, stablecoins promise a link and fixed exchangeability to an existing value, such as the US dollar or even gold. However, the old Bretton Woods challenge of being able to keep this promise at all times remains in the new world. Millions of dollars in penalties imposed by the New York Attorney General’s Office on the largest U.S. dollar stablecoin, Tether, for not being fully verifiable do little to help trust, especially when less than 3 percent of the market capitalization is actually deposited in U.S. dollar cash. As always with new ones, trust has to be built up. This can be done privately, perhaps with a stablecoin backed 100% by central bank money, or by the state, with well thought-out central bank digital currencies, such as the digital euro planned by the European Central Bank.

We live in a world of perpetual rapid change and trust is, as Osterloh describes it, “the will to be vulnerable.” Without trust, there are no alliances, no togetherness, no progress.

Philippe Étienne was back in autumnal Washington after just a few days and has since been working again on what diplomats are best trained for – building trust.

Sources

Billon-Gallan, A., Kundnani, H. (2021): The UK must cooperate with France in the Indo-Pacific. A Chatham House expert comment. https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/09/uk-must-cooperate-france-indo-pacific (Retrieved 24.9.2021)

Brien, J. (2021): “Stablecoin without stability”: Tether and Bitfinex pay $18.5 million fine. URL: https://t3n.de/news/stablecoin-tether-bitfinex-strafe-1358197/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=news (Retrieved: 9/30/2021).

Corbet, S. (2021): France recalls ambassadors to U.S., Australia over submarine deal. URL: https://www.pressherald.com/2021/09/17/france-recalls-ambassadors-to-u-s-australia-over-submarine-deal/ (Retrieved 9/25/2021).

Ferguson N. (2019): The New Cold War? It’s With China. And It Has Already Begun. URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/opinion/china-cold-war.html (Retrieved: 9/30/2021).

Graetz, M., Briffault, O. (2016): A “Barbarous Relic”: The French, Gold , and the Demise of Bretton Woods. URL: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3545&context=faculty_scholarship p. 17 (Retrieved 9/25/2021).

Osterloh, M., Weibel, A. (2006): Investing trust. Processes of trust development in organizations, Gabler: Wiesbaden.

Steil, B. (2020): The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the new world, p. 377.

Stolze, D. (1966): Does de Gaulle defeat the dollar? In ZEIT No. 36/1966. URL: (https://www.zeit.de/1966/36/besiegt-de-gaulle-den-dollar/komplettansicht (Retrieved: 9/26/2021)

The Guardian Editorial (2021): The Guardian view on Biden’s UN speech: cooperation not competition URL: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/22/the-guardian-view-on-bidens-un-speech-cooperation-not-competition(Retrieved: 9/29/2021)

Unal, B., Brown, K., Lewis, P., Jie, Y. (2021): Is the AUKUS alliance meaningful or merely a provocation – A Chatham House expert comment. URL: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/09/aukus-alliance-meaningful-or-merely-provocation (Retrieved: 9/24/2021).

Time Online (2021): France sees relationship in NATO strained. URL: https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2021-09/u-boot-deal-frankreich-australien-usa-streit-nato-jean-yves-le-drian?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fmeine.zeit.de%2F (Retrieved: 9/25/2021)

International Understanding: Messenger of a dispatch from the House of Lords

London, May 16, 2022 It was a great honor to receive an invitation to the House of Lords from the Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Boyce, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. The hospitality extended during this visit will be unforgettable. The members of the Global Offshore Sailing Team are very grateful to Lord Boyce for the opportunity to gain an insight into the daily operations and passion with which the honorable members of the House of Lords conduct their debates. As a special end to the visit, Lord Boyce presented the Expedition Blue Ocean Corps of the Global Offshore Sailing Team with a special despatch to be sailed by sea from London to Dover – celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Royal Cinque Ports Yacht Club. The mission was successfully completed with the delivery of the shipment to RCPYC Commodore Judith White on May 18. The welcome for the crew in Dover was beyond compare. Special thanks are due to the members of the RCPYC, not only for their extraordinary cordiality, but especially for their untiring efforts for international understanding.

Handover of the dispatch to the Global Offshore Sailing Team – Westminster Hall – House of Parliament, London
Handover of the dispatch to the Royal Cinque Ports Yacht Club Dovery
The Global Offshore Sailing Team as guest of the Royal Cinque Ports Yacht Club Dover
Expedition Blue Ocea on sea
Benon Janos (Chief Security Officer) and Jochen Werne (Skipper) on watch during Expedition Blue Ocean

International Understanding: VETERANS CALL FOR PEACE & RECONCILIATION

Six years ago, World War II veterans proclaimed a message that everyone should have heard and that is more important today and every day that comes.

Jochen Werne, Co-Founder mission4peace

‘Message to the World’ – DECLARATION OF NATIONS RECONCILIATION

For the first time in the history of international relations the Second World War veterans and diplomats representing several countries met on Sunday 8 May in Hamburg (Germany) for the signing of the Declaration of Nations Reconciliation.

The event ‘Message to the World’, held within the framework of the international project mission4peace, was attended by veterans from Germany, Great Britain, Russia, the USA, the Netherlands, Italy and Serbia.

The veterans and guests have been greeted by the International Maritime History Museum Hamburg. The party was addressed by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium H.E. Ghislain D’Hoop. The event has been coordinated by the founders of mission4peace and organisers of ‘Message to the World’ event Eugene Kasevin (Ukraine) and Jochen Werne (Germany).

The veterans addressed the auditorium with personal messages and appealed to all countries and their leaders to maintain peaceful relations between nations regardless of cultural, religious and ideological differences. Following the official part of the event, veterans and guests released white doves from the roof of the historical museum as a sign of remembrance, reconciliation and peaceful coexistence of all peoples.

“One of the main goals of the mission4peace project is to bring together and unite forward-looking people who share the conviction that peaceful human coexistence can be achieved through the perseverance of intellectual and intercultural exchange while accepting differences. The “Message to the World” event is designed to allow veterans to share their messages and show that we are capable of overcoming the most deeply rooted historical resentments. In this case, it is the inherited resentments between people and nations that participated in the Second World War, which continue to be an obstacle in politics and trade, in the social sphere and in the everyday lives of ordinary people.”

Eugene Kasevin, Co-Founder mission4peace


One of the most influential British military leaders, the former Chief of the Defence Staff and Head of the British Armed Forces, General Lord David Richards of Herstmonceux GCB CBE DSO commented:

“At a time of considerable international tension, mission4peace is a timely and thought provoking initiative that deserves the attention and support of us all.”

Channel Dash

International Understanding: 80th Anniversary of the Channel Dash

It has always been a primary goal of Global Offshore Sailing Team (GOST) to promote international understanding. Since GOST and the Channel Dash Association first met 10 years ago, the two organizations have worked together to deepen Anglo-German friendship. Through joint expeditions and commemorative events, we kept history alive and created new connections between so many people. Together we accepted the challenge of a global pandemic which closed our borders and distanced us physically. We found new ways of staying in touch. And now – for the 80th anniversary commemoration – we have the great opportunity to finally meet again and create new relations for a peaceful future.

From the 70th to the 80th Anniversary of the Channel Dash

Peter Nixon, former Chairman of the Channel Dash Association, who established the contact with the Global Offshore Sailing Team, once summarized the effort perfectly with the words:

Working so hard to bring history back to everyone’s attention and recognizing the many great acts of courage performed on our behalf by men and women of all sides during a period of conflict. It is not about winners or losers. The world is a wonderful place to live because it is made up of many different, but beautiful countries. We should be proud of this fact. Equally, we should not be ashamed of our past, nor should we glorify it, for it was our past which created what we are today.

peter Nixon – Former Chairman of the Channel Dash Association

About the Channel Dash

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Dash

The Channel Dash, (codenamed Operation Cerberus by the Germans),[1]was a major naval engagement during World War II in which a German Kriegsmarine squadron consisting of both Scharnhorst-class battleships, and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen along with escorts, ran a British blockade and successfully sailed from Brest in Brittany to their home bases in Germany via the English Channel.

On 11 February 1942, the Kriegsmarine‘s ships left Brest at 21:14 and escaped detection for more than 12 hours, approaching the Straits of Dover without discovery.[2] As the German ships passed through the straits and on into the North Sea, British armed forces intercepted them, and attacks were made by the Royal Air Force, the Fleet Air Arm and Coastal Artillery. The attacks and bombardment were unsuccessful, and by 13 February all the Kriegsmarine‘s ships had completed their transit.[3] 

‘The Channel Dash’, is also known as the heroic but futile attempt by six Swordfish torpedo bombers to stop the German Warships breaking through the Dover Strait and reach safety in their home waters.

Vice-Admiral Otto Ciliax, who commanded Operation “Cerberus” commented the attack of the slow and outdated Swordfish crews as follows:

 “The mothball attack of a handful of ancient planes, piloted by men whose bravery surpasses any other action by either side that day”

Admiral Otto Ciliax, 1942

In support of the German naval operation, the Luftwaffe launched Operation Donnerkeil (Thunderbolt) to provide air superiority for the passage of the ships.

The Channel Dash remains the only occasion since the Spanish Armada in 1588 that ships belonging to an enemy of Great Britain (other than the Dutch in the Anglo-Dutch Wars) have successfully traversed the English Channel

Detailed Description of the Channel Dash by The Operations Room


PROGRAM: 80th Anniversary Celebrations

12th February 2022: Thanks to the excellent work of Channel Dash Association Chairman Malcolm Godfrey, CDA Secretary Sheila Howard and all CDA members and supporters, a major commemorative event will also be held on the 80th anniversary on 12 February 2022 at the former Royal Airforce Base Manston.

13th February 2022: On this day, the Global Offshore Sailing Team will set off from Dover in a joint mission with the Royal Cinque Ports Yacht Club Dover to the English Channel for a commemoration at sea. We are grateful for the excellent organisation by Bernard Sealy.

About the Global Offshore Sailing Team

A new Age of Enlightenment

A new Age of Enlightenment

From Antarctica to Artifical Intelligence, a man-made journey between brilliance and madness

by Jochen Werne

When we look carefully at our past, we come across a fascinating and sometimes schizophrenic human history of partial madness and absolute brilliance – not only when it comes to the use of new technologies. Let’s take a look into some of these stories.

1961 HAVANNA, CUBA: The world is on the brink of a nuclear holocaust. A reality created by the effects of the Cold War, political doctrines, hard borders and, not least, technological progress. Only diplomacy and pure instinct for the essence of human existence on both sides prevented the worst.

A story that reflects the precarious situation of the world at that time particularly well is found in Fidel Castro’s indirect offer to the Soviet Union to “solve the problem” and carry the communist revolution to victory by launching nuclear missiles from Cuban soil. His comrade-in-arms Che Guevara even went a step further, saying, “We say that we must tread the path of liberation, even if it may cost millions of nuclear war victims. In the struggle to the death between two systems, we can think of nothing but the final victory of socialism or its downfall as a result of the nuclear victory of imperialist aggression.” In 1962, the former First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, replied in a letter to Fidel Castro that he did not agree with the idea because it would inevitably lead to thermonuclear war and that there was still a need for a world into which the revolution could be carried.

1961 NEW YORK, USA: In the same year, 12 nations ratify a treaty for the joint administration of an entire continent. A continent larger than the United States. A continent that is home to 90% of the world’s freshwater reserves and is of extraordinary importance for the climate of our planet: Antarctica. It is the year in which one of humanity’s most encouraging treaties was signed – the Antarctic Treaty.

OPEN-SOURCE CONCEPT: The treaty – contains several chapters on the exclusively peaceful and scientific use of Antarctica. Along with this, the treaty also regulates the joint use of all research results and data. A concept that seemed revolutionary for the time and which is crucial for finding solutions to the great challenges of our time – such as climate change or effectively combating a pandemic.

2022 PLANET EARTH. Throughout history, we have often underestimated both the positive and negative impacts on society that come from revolutionary technologies. But technology itself cannot be judged in terms of good or bad. Rather, it is how society uses it that must be judged. Today, we are again on the brink of such a societal challenge.

We live in a globally connected world. Technological progress has made data one of the most important resources. The co-founder of Twitter, Evan Williams, surprisingly stated the following in a New York Times interview in 2017: “I thought that if everyone could speak freely and share information and ideas, the world would – automatically – become a better place. I was wrong”.

It would be easy to get the impression that this phenomenon is new, but Niall Ferguson, professor of history and senior fellow at the Hoover Institute, is convinced that today’s technological progress and its impact on society are comparable to the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century. The printing press had many positive effects on the progress of mankind and catapulted the Bible to the top of the book bestseller list for 200 years. Unfortunately, the same technology made “Malleus Maleficarum”, also known as the “Hammer of witches”, number 2 on this list for the same period. The book was the basis for the witch hunt and brought death to so many innocent people. Certainly, today the contents of the book would be called “fake news”.

PRESENT & THE WORLD OF TOMORROW

We are all shaping the world of tomorrow today, and our aspirations have already led to much good. Technology and human creativity have, for example, contributed to a massive reduction in poverty rates worldwide. In the last 25 years, more than one billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty.

If we look at the moment, we cannot avoid dedicating a few lines to the current COVID-19 pandemic. It is a global challenge and could be the next story of human brilliance and madness. We will witness tremendous advances in medical research and pandemic response measures thanks to AI-based analytics. But we will also witness a recession, which historically has always been an element for populism and nationalism. All this in an environment of fear and closed borders. In these situations, where many feel helpless, change has always come from progressive thinkers who were convinced of their ideas, from Kant to Ghandi to the thought leaders of today.

In our open society and with machine and deep learning technologies in our hands, we have the opportunity to make the world a better place. We can make a difference in our professions, and we can stand up and make our voices heard against polarising movements and injustice in every way. We can use our creativity and intellect to defend “the progress of thought”, which has always had the goal of “freeing man from his fear”, just as it was one of the goals of the Age of Enlightenment.

Sources:
https://www.plattform-lernende-systeme.de/home-en.html
http://www.niallferguson.com
http://antarcticblanc.com
https://www.ats.aq/index_e.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/20/technology/evan-williams-medium-twitter-internet.html
Photo source: https://pixabay.com

After the storm: Expedition UNITED OCEANS supports the rebuilding of international relations

Expedition „UNITED OCEANS“

“The severe pandemic brought pain and hardship to all our lives and many of our efforts to support international understanding through international diplomacy had to step back to the important goal of not putting lives in danger. Who could understand this better than seafarers.

But now there is light at the end of the tunnel…dawn on the horizon. And even if we cannot all meet on the same boat and on the same ocean yet, we want to announce a very special challenge with GOST’s 2021 Expedition UNITED OCEANS – of course in compliance with all COVID-related regulations.

In June, GOST members from around the world will meet on different oceans with different yachts for Expedition UNITED OCEANS. While this time the current of the salt water will unite us, we celebrate the freedom of the seas and the friendship that knows no boundaries.”

Jochen Werne
Co-Founder
Global Offshore Sailing Team

Video cut from different Global Offshore Sailing Team expeditions. Voice: John F. Kennedy. Speech at the Admirals Cup Dinner 1962. Video prepared with Splice.
————-

“EXPEDITION UNITED OCEANS”

Del 29 de Mayo al 5 de Junio de 2021.

“Una grave pandemia nos ha traído dolor y dificultades a nuestra existencia. Muchos de nuestros esfuerzos para apoyar un acercamiento internacional a través de la diplomacia, se han visto frenados, en un esfuerzo de no poner en peligro vidas humanas. No obstante, en estos momentos en que se aprecia una luz al final del túnel, así como un nuevo amanecer en el horizonte, y aunque aún todavía no podemos reunirnos todos en el océano, queremos anunciar un nuevo y especial desafío de Global Offshore Sailing Team GOST para este año 2021; se trata de la realización de la EXPEDICIÓN UNITED OCEANS, cumpliendo, por supuesto, con todas las regulaciones y protocolos relacionadas con el COVID19. En estas mismas fechas, los miembros de GOST de todo el mundo se reunirán en diferentes océanos con diferentes yates, que navegarán apoyando la “Expedition United Oceans”. Esta vez y simbólicamente, serán las corrientes oceánicas las que nos una para celebrar la libertad de los mares y la amistad que no conoce de fronteras”.

GOST
……………………………………………

Handelsblatt Blogbeitrag: EIN NEUES ZEITALTER DER AUFKLÄRUNG

Von der Antarktis zu Artifical Intelligence, eine von Menschen gemachte Reise zwischen Brillanz und Wahnsinn

Autor Jochen Werne – Ein Blogbeitrag für die Handelsblatt Jahrestagung Restrukturierung

Bei sorgfältiger Betrachtung unserer Vergangenheit stoßen wir auf eine faszinierend und teilweise schizophren anmutende Menschheitsgeschichte von partiellem Wahnsinn und absoluter Brillanz – nicht nur, wenn es um den Einsatz neuer Technologien geht. Werfen wir einen Blick in einige dieser Geschichten.

1961 HAVANNA, KUBA: Die Welt steht am Rande eines nuklearen Holocaust. Eine Realität entstanden durch die Auswirkungen des kalten Kriegs, politischer Doktrinen, harter Grenzen und nicht zuletzt technologischen Fortschritts. Nur Diplomatie und der reine Instinkt für das Wesen der menschlichen Existenz auf beiden Seiten verhinderten das Schlimmste.

Eine Geschichte, die die prekäre Lage der Welt zu jener Zeit besonders gut widerspiegelt findet sich in dem indirekten Angebot Fidel Castro an die Sowjetunion, „das Problem“ zu lösen und die kommunistische Revolution durch den Abschuss von Atomraketen von kubanischem Boden, zum Sieg zu tragen. Sein Kampfgefährte Che Guevara ging sogar noch einen Schritt weiter, indem er sagte: „Wir sagen, dass wir den Weg der Befreiung beschreiten müssen, auch wenn er Millionen von Atomkriegsopfern kosten kann. Im Kampf auf Leben und Tod zwischen zwei Systemen können wir an nichts anderes denken als an den endgültigen Sieg des Sozialismus oder seinen Untergang als Folge des nuklearen Sieges der imperialistischen Aggression.” 1962 antwortete der ehemalige Erste Sekretär der Kommunistischen Partei der Sowjetunion, Nikita Chruschtschow, in einem Brief an Fidel Castro, dass er mit der Idee nicht einverstanden sei, weil sie unweigerlich zu einem thermonuklearen Krieg führen würde und dass es doch noch eine Welt bräuchte, in die die Revolution getragen werden könnte.

1961 NEW YORK, USA: Im selben Jahr ratifizieren 12 Nationen einen Vertrag zur gemeinsamen Verwaltung eines ganzen Kontinents. Ein Kontinent, der größer ist als die Vereinigten Staaten. Ein Kontinent, der 90% der Süßwasserreserven der Welt beheimatet und für das Klima unseres Planeten von außerordentlicher Bedeutung ist: die Antarktis. Es ist das Jahr, in dem einer der ermutigendsten Verträge der Menschheit unterzeichnet wurde – der Antarktis-Vertrag.

OPEN-SOURCE-KONZEPT: Der Vertrag – beinhaltet mehrere Kapitel zur ausschliesslich friedlichen und wissenschaftlichen Nutzung der Antarktis. Damit einhergehend regelt der Vertrag auch die gemeinschaftliche Nutzung aller Forschungsergebnisse und Daten. Ein Konzept, das für die damalige Zeit revolutionär erschien und das für die Findung von Lösungen für die großen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit – wie Klimawandel oder die effektive Bekämpfung einer Pandemie – von entscheidender Bedeutung sind.

2020 PLANET ERDE. In der Geschichte haben wir oft die positiven wie auch die negativen Auswirkungen auf die Gesellschaft unterschätzt, die von revolutionären Technologien ausgehen. Doch kann Technologie selbst nicht mit den Begriffen gut oder schlecht beurteilt werden. Vielmehr muss beurteilt werden, wie die Gesellschaft diese nutzt. Heute stehen wir wieder am Rande einer solchen gesellschaftlichen Herausforderung.

Wir leben in einer global vernetzten Welt. Technologischer Fortschritt hat Daten zu einer der wichtigsten Ressourcen gemacht. Der Mitbegründer von Twitter, Evan Williams, erklärte in einem Interview der New York Times 2017 überraschenderweise das Folgende: „Ich dachte, wenn alle Menschen frei sprechen und Informationen und Ideen austauschen können, wird die Welt – automatisch – zu einem besserer Ort. Ich habe mich geirrt“.

Man könnte leicht den Eindruck gewinnen, dass dieses Phänomen neu ist, aber Niall Ferguson, Geschichtsprofessor und Senior Fellow des Hoover Institutes ist davon überzeugt, dass der heutige technologische Fortschritt und seine Auswirkungen auf die Gesellschaft mit der Erfindung des Buchdrucks durch Johannes Gutenberg im 15. Jhdt. vergleichbar sind. Die Druckerpresse hatte viele positive Auswirkungen auf den Fortschritt der Menschheit und katapultierte die Bibel 200 Jahre lang auf den ersten Platz der Buch-Bestsellerliste. Leider machte die gleiche Technik “Malleus Maleficarum”, auch bekannt als der „Hexenhammer“, für dieselbe Zeit zur Nummer 2 auf dieser Liste.  Das Buch war die Grundlage für die Hexenjagd und brachte so vielen Unschuldigen den Tod. Sicherlich würde man heute die Inhalte des Buches als „Fake News“ bezeichnen.

GEGENWART & DIE WELT VON MORGEN

Wir alle gestalten heute die Welt von morgen, und unser Streben hat bereits zu viel Gutem geführt. Technologie und menschliche Kreativität haben bspw. dazu beigetragen, die Armutsquote weltweit massiv zu senken. In den letzten 25 Jahren wurden hierbei mehr als eine Milliarde Menschen extremer Armut befreit.

Betrachten wir den Moment so kommt man nicht umhin der aktuellen COVID-19-Pandemie einige Zeilen zu widmen. Es ist eine globale Herausforderung und könnte gleichzeitig die nächste Geschichte des menschlicher Brillanz und Wahnsinns sein. Wir werden dank der KI-basierten Analyseelemente enorme Fortschritte in der medizinischen Forschung und bei den Maßnahmen zur Pandemiebekämpfung erleben. Wir werden aber auch Zeugen einer Rezession werden, die historisch gesehen immer ein Element für Populismus und Nationalismus war. All dies in einem Umfeld von Angst und geschlossenen Grenzen. In diesen Situationen, in denen sich viele von hilflos fühlen, ging Wandel immer von fortschrittlichen Denkern aus, die von ihren Ideen überzeugt waren, von Kant über Ghandi bis zu den Vordenkern der heutigen Zeit.

In unserer offenen Gesellschaft und mit Machine- und Deep Learning Technologien in unseren Händen haben wir die Möglichkeit die Welt zu einem besseren Ort zu machen. Wir können in unseren Berufen viel Neues bewegen, und wir können gegen polarisierende Bewegungen und Ungerechtigkeit in jeder Hinsicht aufstehen und uns Gehör verschaffen. Wir können unsere Kreativität und unseren Intellekt einsetzen, um „den Fortschritt des Denkens” zu verteidigen, der schon immer das Ziel hatte, den Menschen von seiner Angst zu befreien“, genau wie es eines der Ziele des Zeitalters der Aufklärung war.

Quellen:
https://www.plattform-lernende-systeme.de/home-en.html
http://www.niallferguson.com
http://antarcticblanc.com
https://www.ats.aq/index_e.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/20/technology/evan-williams-medium-twitter-internet.html
Fotoquelle: https://pixabay.com

Handelsblatt Webinar – Managing Corona

Handelsblatt Managing Corona Webinar
YOU CAN‘T GO AGAINST THE SEA
mit Jochen Werne

Fr. 3 April – 16.30

Register for free at https://veranstaltungen.handelsblatt.com/managing-corona/content-piece/you-cant-go-against-the-sea/

Heading to the sea –
Planung trifft Realität
What to do when the storm hit you –
Vom Lock-down zum Lock-On
Finding new routes
Die neue Realität in einer Welt beschleunigter Transformation

Countdown 111d: Expedition BLACK SEA DRAGON enters into hot preparation phase

Black Sea expedition fosters international relations by connecting people and their cultures

GOST‘s adventurous 2020 expedition BLACK SEA DRAGON (www.BlackSeaDragon.com) will depart on June 27 from the famous Bulgarian Black Sea harbour and home of the country’s Naval Academy, Varna. 

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: By combining TRADITION and FUTURE in today’s hyper-connected world, the initiators of the expedition will bring together people and sailors from around the world to commemorate peacefully not only the great seafarers and explorers of all times – who were the first to unite our nations and people around the globe – but also to raise awareness and sensitise civil society to the importance of our MARITIME ECOSOCYSTEM with regard to the UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS. Together with all partners, new relations will be created between sailors, states and academic officials in support of international understanding and peaceful relations. 

COMMEMORATION: In international waters the expedition yacht crews will remember the Black Sea sailors of all nations who lost their lives while being on duty with a wreath laying commemoration ceremony on sea.

CHALLENGE: In just one leg the yachts will challenge each other from their home base to the Northern entrance of the Bosphorus. There the yachts will unite to pass the strait southwards to their Marmara Sea destination, the famous Mega Yacht Marina Ataköy near Turkey‘s biggest city Istanbul. 

Jochen Werne 
Co-Founder GOST & Expedition Leader

“It‘s a great privilege commanding the flag ship of Expedition „BLACK SEA DRAGON“ during this offshore challenge through the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea and hence crossing twice one of the planet’s most challenging waterways: the Bosphorus. While in Greek mythology Jason and his team of Argonauts challenged clashing rocks in the strait, the dedicated international sailors of the Global Offshore Sailing Team will be challenged by today‘s busy ships traffic, the famous powerful 4 to 6kn current and strong funnelling wind effects.”

Guido Zoeller
Co-Founder GOST

“Expedition BLACK SEA DRAGON will mark another milestone in the history of the Global Offshore Sailing Team. After missions on nearly all oceans of this planet, the Black Sea is an outstanding challenge for 2020. Fostering international relations in this historically rich region will be a great pleasure.”

Operations Time: 27 June – 4 July 2020