The Faculty of Political Science of the University Niccolò Cusano – Rome, together with the Commission on Political Geography of the International Geographical Union organized the International Conference “Geopolitics Towards the Future”.
The Conference was held from September 2nd to September 4th 2013 in Rome, in the Niccolò Cusano University Campus, via don Carlo Gnocchi 3.
Preface
The main topic of the Conference is the “future”, new scenarios and new problems. The approach is mainly geopolitical, geoeconomical and interdisciplinary. The globalized world extensively investigated by experts is going through a long period of crisis. The exit from the crisis is expected and there are many ideas about how to solve it. Serious problems such as resources, the environment and geopolitical scenarios, both dynamic and complex, in Africa, Asia, China and Latin America need to be studied accurately. Geographers are like doctors at the sickbed of a world: which are their new prescriptions and their diagnoses? ls geographical methodology and the skills acquired throughout the long history of geographical knowledge instruments that are suitable for understanding today’s world and its future?
These are the topics that were discussed in three days of meetings, round tables and seminars. “We hope to find an answer”, declared in the program.
That last sentence the organizer wrote in the preface gives us the spirit with which they intended to carry on the whole seminar, and personally thinks very important what Prof. Maria Paola Pagnini, Dean of of the Faculty of Political Science declared: “The importance of this three days work revolves around the crisis that the world is experiencing today and the need to understand the origin and possible ways out. The idea that I made myself and I tried to realize this conference is that university professors are not enough to explain the present world, a world of dynamics too complex.They need to get in touch with the real world, to dialogue with different people, diplomats, experts, representatives of international organizations and journalists, putting on the table each one his own and very personal point of view.The complexity of the modern world must be decoded through language, thought patterns and viewpoints necessarily different. Only doing in such a way we could figure out where we’re going.”
And this is the reason why I found myself being in a Round Table, Chairperson Prof. Vincenzo Porcasi – our very good friend and author of Il Caos Management – to discuss with a group of heterogeneous, interesting, clever and very valid people about The Mediterranean Africa.
Prof. Porcasi, born in Sicily, being himself a great connoisseur of the Mediterranean, introduced the theme in a very efficient way remembering us that there is and endless series of failures through the Mediterranean waters and most of the times they reached the bank of the old Europe. He spoke about the policy of non receptions, the absence of a common foreign and industrial community, the absence of a European model of social dialogue, the absence of a true education policy, the fall of the model of Edinburgh on the development of SMEs, policies of Bologna and Lisbon, the Barcelona Process and the Union for the Mediterranean, the AMU as the African Union and COMESA. And the most important under my personal point of view, he spoke about the need of a citizenship for the Mediterranean.
Prof. Arnaldo Acquarelli, born in Rome I presumed, President of Fondazione Etica ed Economia, talked about the need of creating a European identity based on what comes from Athens and Rome, relating it to our Mediterranean managers and the way of trading, with the aim of developing a fair, ethic trade between our countries. He illustrated one of the achievements of the Fondazione that has built in Madagascar a Summer Village training the people with real interaction, preparing the people in Italy giving them the opportunity of learning and mastering a profession to be applied in their own country.
Prof. Ibrahim Magdud, born in Tripoli, Director Lybian Academy in Italy, exposed the concept of Euro-centrism and Islam-centrism, the big religious differences, the intangibles and what is most important the values for the Islam world, the linguistic courtesy, the material world, taking us on an interior Arabic trip.
Dr. Eugenio Campo, born in Veneto, former Italian Ambassador, started his speech with words as “dialogue”, “security”, “partnership”, agreeing with Porcasi about the failure of the European countries mainly because of the wrong way of approaching the Islam countries, (described by Prof. Magdud) being more worried about making profit (not with ethics in mind) than to interchange anything. He spoke about dignity, values, respect of the different identities as an extremely urgent need of a change process positioning himself towards the future, leaving all the agreements from Barcelona onwards behind.
Dr. Paola Mosti, introduces us in the world of mediation being herself Director of the Alternative Dispute Resolution and soon was quite clear to all of us that mediation is what is needed in the Mediterranean area. War hasn’t been able to resolve the problems and never is going to be the solution so it could be of great help to create the professional figure of the mediator to transform conflict into cooperation.
Prof. Alexander Moll, OBE, Moroccan Minister of Trade, in his perfect English and with a solid expertise in the African countries, remind us that the Mediterranean reaches also the Baltic, and mainly spoke about sustainable and humanitarian economy, in other words about real cooperation.
Dr. Giuseppe Federico, Director Italian Trade Center Warsaw, former Director ITC Cairo, gave us a valuable and direct testimonial of what we occidental people called the “Springtime revolution” of the Arabic countries, and how the Egyptians lived it. He spoke about relationship between equal dignity, about friendship, culture and change in the country.
Dr. Chiara Fontana, born in Sicily, spoke about language. Language that changes, that relates, that separates, that comes from afar and pointed out the importance of the language for a real communication between people.
Eng. Giuseppe Monti, born in Naples, a citizen of the world, has lived in Africa, in South America, in England, in USA, talked about the Mediterranean seen as a complex organization, and therefore how the methodology, the capacity, the right preparation of the people and the right approach to problems could be the proper way to deal with the Mediterranean area and with ourselves.
My speech was based in my personal experience, being born in Chile, and having made my first trip in Europe a long time ago, when my country was not very well known to the masses, and how I was obliged to communicate to people using an empathic way, even if at that time I didn’t know the terms. I am firmly convinced that the only way we can build a real relation and speak about a European citizenship has to be based in equal rights, equal dignity, equal duties as human being.
I hope I have been able in putting down to paper of what were the feeling, the atmosphere of the round table I was honored to be part of.
You can see for yourself, looking at the video made of the conference, in the near future in http://www.unicusano.it/
ITALIAN VERSION TO DOWNLOAD
Spunti di ntervento Dr.Eugenio Campo Download
