As a previous minister of taxation and finance, NATO ex-secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen can all too well understand the precarious position of treasurers: people rarely care about you unless they want something from you or when you’ve done something wrong.
Noting a number of connections between global security and business, Anders Fogh Rasmussen sketched some principles for the path forward for democratic countries. The opportunities for green transition must be captured (also decreasing dependence on Russia for energy), technological dependence on Asia must be balanced, and defence investments must be scaled up.
“You are not interested in war, but war is interested in you,” he summed up.
The Post-cold war strategies of the Western world were for many decades built on a foundation of access to cheap labour in Asia and, for many European countries, cheap energy supplies from Russia.
“These proved unstable foundations. These failed to turn autocracies into democracies.”
In Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s view, a peace made with dictators does not lead to peace. The best defence against autocracies such as Russia or China is to be stronger than them.
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