Dominique de Villepin
Prime Minister of the French Republic, 2005-2007
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Former Prime Minister of the French Republic, Dominique de Villepin delivered the all 2008 Trinity University Distinguished Lecture on October 22. |
On the world today:
Today’s world is characterized by greed, fear, and distrust. There is no trust
when you have social instability.
The number of unsolved crises are making the world a more dangerous place. The
idea that we can live with crises is a bad idea. Unsolved crises create
uncertainty, fear, and distrust.
We are living in a specific moment of time. For the past four centuries, we’ve
seen Western dominance. But that position of power was eroded by the recent
dissolution of several key U.S. banks and insurance firms and the slide
on Wall Street.
How do we control such situations of such complexity without strong social cooperation?
We need to divert the energy of troubled nations from military issues to social
and economic ones.
One approach could be to impose an international system of governance to
monitor economic changes and to expand membership in the United Nations
Security Council to include fast emerging countries such as China and India.
Not every problem can be solved by the use of force. When you don’t understand
a culture or what they are saying, the answer is always violence.
Advice to students:
If you are working in international relations, don’t be a specialist in history
or finance. You must understand why we are facing a crisis in different
countries. You must look at the cultural, historical, economical, financial,
and sociological approaches to solving problems. You must understand the way
people in other lands live, think, and dream. Then you can master international
complexity.
To listen to the entire lecture, visit Audio, Video and Podcasts.