FPA-USA hosts Ian Bremmer

From Left to Right: David P. Michaels, President, Foreign Press Association - Ian Bremmer. President & Founder, Eurasia Group - Thanos Dimadis, Executive Director, Foreign Press Association

On May 30th, 2018, the Foreign Press Association had the pleasure of hosting political scientist and founder of the Eurasia Group, Ian Bremmer. Foreign correspondents-members of the Foreign Press Association joined Bremmer for a discussion on his latest book, “Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism.”
The book suggests why divisions in our world have worsened, and the rise of the conservative right-wing candidates in democracies all around the world, including President Trump of the United States. 

Bremmer described the book as a cautionary tale and stated it was a very “personal, yet depressing,” book. He focused his remarks on today’s geopolitics and the divisions, not only in the USA but most of the developed world.

​To answer why geopolitics has worsened in recent years, he cites four main components; economics, social and cultural, security, and the influence of technology. Bremmer engaged the professional analysts and journalists in a discussion on these topics, and exactly how it is leading to heightened tensions surrounding immigration, refugees, and conservative vs. liberal politics. He remarked that although globalization is an ever-present economic reality in the creation of more efficient ways for people, goods, and money to travel faster, globalism and the ideology itself is failing the average person, leading to increased frustration with the current governmental system.
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Bremmer stated that he believes the current situation must worsen before becoming better. He believes that the sense of dislocation will increase, as well as the sentiment that the elite is not helping “us” (the common man). He attributes this to the advancing technology and “artificial intelligence” replacing jobs and consequently putting people out of work. To address this problem, Bremmer concluded the discussion by asking the question, “instead of waiting for the governments to come up with solutions, what are the small things that can be done by individuals and entities, such as philanthropists, local governments, schools, religious institutions, etc. that could positively affect the world?
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