Hello everyone. I've just traveled to three different cities over the past four weeks. It's been somewhat of a whirlwind but things are starting to get back to normal. We are in nearly at the end of our new local journey in terms of general observations. This last question will be followed by an attempt to tie the major elements of our discussion into some cogent writing or powerpoint type presentation. Our final question is:
What is the impact of the new local of international relations?
3 comments:
Hi Guys
This is a wonderful way to wrap up the general observations Walter and I am looking forward to seeing the fruits of our writings. It has been a fabulous journey so far.
International Relationships? … Mmmmm …
The last 18 months has for me been a voyage of discovery of new friends and colleagues through my work. It now feels like I have more friends outside my own country than I do inside England. The nature of my work and perhaps the nature of me as a person mean that I have a thirst for contact, networking and knowledge. I am not suggesting everyone is or should be like me – God forbid that should ever be the case I hear many people saying!
Nowadays I am in touch with people from all corners of the world and frankly it feels no different really than those conversations I used to have in our office when I worked in National Health Service management. I guess I am saying the ‘new local’ means we can be as friendly and communicative with people from different parts of the world as we want to be depending on many factors including:
*The time we have to spend on communicating
*The value we put on self learning and self development
*The nature of our work
*The nature of us as individuals
*How receptive our mind is to challenging the status quo in our own lives
I recently engaged in some correspondence with a man in Thailand about simplicity and my beliefs about it. This has led to me being given a slot on a high profile Blog in Thailand to take part in a Q & A interview with the people of Thailand through an interpreter. The Thai people ask questions and through the interpreter I answer those questions ‘virtually.’
This to me is the way forward with communication. To me it is exciting and ground breaking. To my Mum it may be boring.
I see no difference between what I am doing through interaction online with people in Thailand in 2006 (who I will probably never meet) and my own school classroom experience back in the late 1960’s when I was 16 years of age.
This is all about exchange of information and mutual learning. It is not about ‘distance’ and ‘miles’. It is about mindset and possibilities.
A few years ago I would not have been capable of having a conversation with you guys from different parts of the world in such an inspiring way. Nowadays it is a thrill and I want more of this.
I may never get to visit Thailand and directly engage with these folks but it feels to me like I may have helped them a little and they have definitely educated me.
If you want to look at the Website from Thailand they are here at these links.
http://www.re-know.com/history.php?seq=8
http://www.re-know.com/index.php
http://www.re-know.com/blogs.php?mem_seq=13
Needless to say I am suitably embarrassed but quietly pleased to be included as one of 18 Gurus including Tom Peters, Seth Godin, Tom Asacker, Kevin Kelly and Guy Kawasaki – my kids will be really embarrassed!
Back to the point about international implications of the new local – they are limitless depending upon how far we want to take this. The door is ajar – just push it as far as you want and don’t be surprised with what you find on the other side.
The idea of closure on this topic saddens me, it's been a fun ride. But we do need to wrap things up and make something.
Various distractions have kept me away from blogging for a few months now, and I seem to have enough time to post a few thoughts about this topic.
When I was at MIT, a "crazy" man in a funny costume would occasionally hang out on the main entry steps on "Mass Ave" where the students would enter. He had a paper mache' globe, and he handed out pamphlets about his solution for world peace. The man's name was John Runnings, and though I thought he was wrong and nuts, I admired his dedication and saved his pamphlet. Not too many years later, I remember seeing his name in the national papers because he had climbed the Berlin wall and started cracking at it with a sledge hammer. Just a few years later, the wall was torn down by the people of East and West Berlin themselves. John Runnings paved the way.
John Running's died only two years ago, a life dedicated to solving problems in international relations on his own.
There's another story from the cold war days I remember. A group called "Global Family" was striving to create small groups internationally for citizen diplomacy. The efforts of individuals to forge bonds of love and understanding helped make things like Perestroika and Glasnost inevitable.
The end of the Cold War was greatly helped by these individual efforts, even if not everyone can see it right now. But if "The New Local" continues to explode at its rapid pace, will anyone be able to possibly miss it???
I've recently been spending time on "43things.com". I've been amazed at the number of international teams that have formed to accomplish some pretty remarkable things. People are forming connections, positive and productive relationships based around shared goals and ideals. And they're doing it internationally.
International Relations can be studied from the angle of the official power brokers that operate in politics. But the real movement isn't going to be there. It's going to be here. Just as blogs are opening up monolithic corporations, "The New Local" and it's effects are going to change globalization, make it personal, make it open to truth and love and beauty. Prepare to watch borders change and shift in non-linear ways as aging and calcified institutions crumble in the earthquake of all these disruptive new technologies, especially as the impact the social arena.
Hi Paul, that's a great question. It's hard to imagine the official Olympics accepting non-local teams. In fact, for physical sports, it's kind of hard to practice if you aren't old local. But what about the mental sports? Like chess, or go, or Warcraft. Maybe it won't be too far off when we'll see major respected competions for teams that don't fall into national boundaries. In fact, I wonder if there aren't already international gaming competitions. Have you ever been to IGS. It's the International Go Server. When I play, there's usually not a lot of chatter, but it's amazing getting to play with people from Korea, Japan, China, and all over the U.S.
It's harder to manipulate people into fear based craziness when they're educated and informed, which opens the door to more effective solutions than dropping bombs.
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