Syracuse

SUsealThis evening I gave a talk to a great bunch of young Syracuse students. I told them, truthfully, that I have been giving such talks for a long time now, but that the ‘narrative’ of my talk has changed over time. If you talk to young people today about the avoidance of war or the maintenance of peace, they will of course recognise this as a noble end, but it no longer resonates in the way it once did. Real experience of war between most European countries is, thankfully, far away. But, then, if you seek to aspire, what might be the new narrative? I increasingly believe that we should start to return to the aspirations of the first federalists, who believed in world, rather than European, federation. It’s not going to happen on a world scale in the foreseeable future, but regional groupings are already evolving, many of them modelled on the European experience. Increasingly, humans face global challenges. What better than to evolve towards global mechanisms for global solutions?

2 Comments

  1. Antoinette Blacconeri

    Mr. Westlake,
    I cannot express how throughly inspired your talk was this past weekend. I have never left the dinner table feeling quite so ready to take on the current global challenges. I am quite intrigued by your aspiration of a so called “world-federation”, and the opportunities this may create. I hope to stay in touch with you, because your ideas are motivating!

    Thank-you kindly once again,

    Antoinette Blacconeri
    Political Science & International Relations
    Syracuse University
    Maxwell School of Citizenship and Diplomacy

  2. Martin

    Thank you, Antoinette. It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet you. I am sure that you and your friends will go on to do great things. All best wishes, Martin

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