Clyde Prestowitz, author of Trading Places, Three
Billion New Capitalists: The Great Shift of Wealth and Power to the
East, and current member of both the Intel Policy Advisory Board and
the U.S. Export-Import Bank Advisory Board closed Monday's round of
speakers. He asked that listeners first focus on the issues that are
demanding and will demand change, then problem-solve and decide what needs
to be done about changing those issues.

Prestowitz translated his ideas
into reality through a colorful story of a recent trip to Mexico City and
then to Shanghai, destinations that face significant challenges that are
relevant both internally and externally. The crippled Mexican police represent just one example of
the failing state that lies just across our border. And with the Gobi
Desert growing at a rate of 2km per year and coal power plants
popping up weekly, China faces impending environmental devastation that
will not remain confined within one country's borders. In both
destinations, the short-term need for basic security and energy,
respectively, are pitted against the long-term potential consequences of a
failed state and an unlivable natural environment. Accompanying each issue
is the potential to do harm at home in the U.S., yet the redeeming
possibility of pragmatic decision-making still exists.

Moreover, Thomas Friedman has popularized the notion that globalization will make everyone
rich, democratic and thus peaceful. Prestowitz argued that globalization
does not make democracy strong; rather, it makes autocracy strong (see the
Middle East and China versus relatively weak Western democracies). Rapid
economic growth does not commonly occur under democracy; democracy comes
about later. We are experiencing globalization in which developing
countries question the validity and superiority of democracy. This concept
obviously demands our consideration.

And considering democracy,
Prestowitz was one of the many speakers today to mention the upcoming
election. His view is that the three most important issues facing the next
president will be 1) the collapse of the dollar 2) energy and 3) the
nature of our democracy in regard to the system of checks and balances
that make the system difficult to challenge, especially in relation to
global warming legislation. So, how do we use change-agents to make our
systems work better and address our problems?

Posting by Anna
Wool