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A Reboot Special with John Davenport (US), Ali Al Hajj Sleiman (Mali) and Roberto Castaldi (Italy), moderated by Nico A. Heller.
A Round Table on Constitutional Reform
Written constitutions, such as the American or the German Constitution, are treated often almost like divine texts or laws (timeless and eternal, written in stone), that can be referred to by anyone, but only a 'chosen few' (constitutional judges) are allowed to interpret them, when it comes to legal disputes.
Yet, all constitutions are products of their time and to maintain legitimacy sometimes need changing/reforming. Kenya is a case in point: Following the post-election violence that broke out after the December 2007 presidential elections, a reform process was set in motion that led to the adoption of a new constitution in 2010, which contributed significantly to the stabilisation of Kenyan democracy post 2007. In this round table on constitutional reform we look at three very different contexts: the US, a mature/old democracy, the European Union, an emerging/young supranational democracy, and Mali, a highly fragile state. We will be talking about the scope for and possible impacts of constitutional reform within these specific contexts and share insights gained and lessons learned within one context that might be of use in another. Joining Nico for this Reboot Special are John Davenport (US), Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University and author of Saving American Democracy: The Case for Constitutional Reform in the US (2023), Ali Al Hajj Sleiman (Mali), Deputy Country Director and Electoral advisor for the NDI Mali, and Roberto Castaldi (Italy), Associate Professor of Political Philosophy at eCampus University and General Editor of EURACTIV Italy. For more information about John Davenport, Ali Al Hajj Sleimanand and Roberto Castaldi, please visit our contributors page. This Reboot Special builds on a previous Reboot Dialogue and is presented by Nico A. Heller. Further Reading
A Reboot Special with Yoshua Bengio and John Bunzl, moderated by Nico A. Heller.
Round Table on AI and International Cooperation
In this Reboot Special we talk about the strengths and limitations of current artificial intelligence, why it may become a dangerous instrument of disinformation, why superintelligent AI may be closer (years) than most previously expected (decades) and how this could yield to catastrophic outcomes - from AI-driven wars to the extreme risk of extinction. This in turn we argue motivates the need for international cooperation to avoid, for example, the catastrophic risks arising from AI arms races – or indeed from economic races, driven by similar self-destructive game-theoretical competition. Participating in this virtual round table are Yoshua Bengio and John Bunzl. Yoshua is recognized worldwide as one of the leading experts in artificial intelligence. John founded the Simultaneous Policy Organisation (SIMPOL) in 2000 with the aim of countering what he calls Destructive Global Competition (DGC) by empowering citizens everywhere to use their votes to drive politicians at the national level towards global cooperation. SIMPOL by now has supporters in over 100 countries and enjoys the backing of a growing number of parliamentarians around the world. More information about our discussants is available here.
A Reboot Special with Robert Hinkley, Francesca Leucci, Susanna Cafaro and Young-Jin Choi, moderated by Nico A. Heller.
Round Table on Corporate Citizenship
Existing law provides that directors must “act in the best interests of the corporation.” Bob Hinkley, a renowned American attorney and one of the Democracy School’s regular dialogue partners proposes a Code for Corporate Citizenship that would add “but not at the expense of severe damage to the environment, human rights, public health and safety, dignity of employees or welfare of the communities in which the corporation operates.” He believes that, if adopted, this simple addition to corporate law would fundamentally transform the way corporations (can) operate and (must) do business. In this Reboot Special four discussants place Bob’s proposed code under the microscope within a European environmental and climate change context and discuss it from both a legal and an investment/economic point of view. More information about our discussants is available here.
John Bunzl (UK) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller
International Cooperation at a Time of Localisation
First the pandemic and then the war in Ukraine disrupted international trade and fragmented global supply chains to such an extent that many countries, including the US, have started localising their economies, strategically important industries in particular.
In this talk we look at the impact these developments are having on intergovernmental multilateral initiatives and explore how international cooperation might be improved in the longer term through transnational solutions such as SIMPOL, which counters destructive global competition through ‘simultaneous policy making’. SIMPOL has supporters in over 100 countries and enjoys the backing of a growing number of parliamentarians around the world.
More information about John Bunzl, who founded SIMPOL in 2000, is available here.
Chris Hamer (Australia) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller
Peace. Security. Prosperity. For All. Forever.
For some years now, Chris Hamer has been a passionate advocate for a unified democratic community that increases the incentives for all nations to adhere to the rules-based order necessary for peace, security and prosperity.
In this dialogue Chris takes stock, reflects on some of the geopolitical challenges the international community currently faces – war in Ukraine, geopolitical realignments, the energy crisis etc – and looks at how these will impact his campaign for the creation of a World Security Community.
More information about Chris Hamer and his work is available here. The website of the Coalition for a World Security Community of Democratic Nations can be found here.
Unfortunately, we lost the connection with Chris during the live stream temporarily and also had a few other technical issues. We have since tried to edit these disruptions out, but due to our limited technical capabilities, the cuts remain visible. We hope you will still enjoy the discussion.
Susanna Cafaro (Italy) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller
The Loss and Damage Fund: Bridging the Climate Divide?
Susanna Cafaro (Italy) is an European activist and professor of European Union Law at the University of Salento. She has authored and edited numerous books and over 50 scholarly articles and book chapters on the EU, European economic and monetary union, EU external relations, IMF & World Bank governance and functioning, Euro-Mediterranean relations.
In this dialogue we discuss the creation of a Loss and Damage Fund, as agreed at COP27, and look at the political challenges this new development poses in relation to the fund’s democratic governance, especially from the perspective of the global south.
More information about Susanna Cafaro is available here.
Delton Chen (Australia) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller
Catching up with Delton Chen
Delton is a civil engineer and geo-hydrologist with a Ph.D. from the University of Queensland. He founded the Global Carbon Reward Initiative in 2013 and developed the “carbon currency” concept as featured in the sci-fi novel The Ministry for the Future.
Last fall he travelling the globe (again) to promote his Global Carbon Reward and carbon currency concept. Now that he is back in Australia, he reflects on this trip and explains how his proposed carbon currency will significantly accelerate the transition towards a negative carbon economy.
More information about Delton Chen is available here.
Further Information about the Global Carbon Reward (GCR) project
Support, donations and collaborations for the GCR project are welcome. Please contact the GCR project for further information.
Erratum Notice
Delton Chen apologises for making a mistake at time 22:42 (see link to video). He said that the central bank balance sheet includes "assets and debts". He meant to say "assets and liabilities". Central banks will purchase the carbon currency as their "asset", and the new fiat that they will create will be recorded as their "liability" (i.e. not as their "debt"). Young-Jin Choi (Germany) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller The Scope and Limitations of Impact Investing Young-Jin is Director of Impact & ESG at Vidia Equity, where he builds on his experience as Head of Research, Impact Investing, at Phineo gAG. He is a passionate climate activist who utilises his professional expertise and networks to help accelerate the transformation of our civilization’s fossil fuel-based energy system. In this dialogue Young-Jin talks about the scope and limitations of impact investing within this context and argues that strategic modifications of the current economic and financial system design, including focused regulatory measures, standards, incentives and additional public investments, enabled by a minimally functional democracy, are the key to accelerating the transition towards a negative carbon economy. More information about Young-Jin Choi is available here.
Aida Martínez Tinaut (Spain) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller Catalonia’s UBI pilot scheme: The view from the engine room. The Government of Catalonia is planning to pilot a universal basic income scheme. The scheme will be launched in the first half of next year and will run for two years. About 5,000 people chosen randomly from various locations will participate. Aida, who works at the Office of the Pilot Plan to Implement Universal Basic Income as a data analyst, regularly contributes to public debates about universal basic income. In this interview she will talk about the reasoning behind this initiative, how that reasoning has influenced its design and explain in what way this scheme differs from previous universal basic income pilot schemes.
John Davenport (USA) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller If the American Democracy Is broken, Can It Be Fixed? John is a professor of philosophy at Fordham University in New York. He teaches and writes on topics in political philosophy, ethics, existentialism and moral psychology and on some topics in philosophy of religion. He is the author of A League of Democracies – a plan to meet rising threats from Russia and China – and is currently working on a number of new books. In this dialogue John will reflect on the 2022 midterm elections in America and talk about his latest book in which he writes about the need for deep constitutional reform to fix the American federal system. More information about John Davenport and his work is available here.
Robert C. Hinkley (Australia) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller Re-designing the Corporation: Giving It a Conscience Bob is an American attorney who specializes in corporate law generally and corporate financing specifically. From 2012 to 2020, he provided critical assistance to the US Department of Justice in connection with investigations that recovered more than $US 65 billion from more than a dozen banks for illegal behaviour that led to the financial crisis of 2008. In this dialogue Bob talks about his idea to improve corporate behaviour by amending the duty of directors in corporate laws throughout the world. Bob calls this idea, the Code for Corporate Citizenship. Existing law provides that directors must “act in the best interests of the corporation.” The Code would add “but not at the expense of the environment, human rights, public health and safety, dignity of employees or welfare of the communities in which the corporation operates.”
Chris Hamer (Australia) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller Civil Society and Global Security In our Reboot Dialogue #1 Chris Hamer talked about the challenges democracy faces from a rising tide of autocracy and argued that the formation of a World Security Community of democratic nations would be a logical and forward-looking response. Russia’s war of aggression and China’s positioning and response to it have added new impetus to his line of reasoning.
In this Reboot Dialogue we return to the idea of a democratically governed World Security Community and explore what role global civil society organisations might play to bring about such a development. More information about Chris Hamer and his work is available here. John Davenport (USA) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller Strengthening Democracy, Domestically and Globally John Davenport is on a mission to save liberal democracy in the US and globally; and has recently published influential op-eds on fixing US elections, how just war theory supports fighting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and recent initiatives calling for a global alliance of democracies.
In this Reboot Interview John talks about concrete measures we could be, indeed should be putting in place to stabilise American and strengthen global democracy. These include specific amendments to the US Constitution as well as the establishment of a ‘D10plus’, a group of leading democracies (that would include South Korea, Australia and India, plus possibly one or to others) along the lines of the G7/20, but without the authoritarian regimes that currently undermine our democracies everywhere. More information about John Davenport and his work is available here. Roberto Castaldi (Italy) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller On the Future of Europe: The Scope and Scale of Further Integration in the Near Term In our Reboot Dialogue #3 Roberto Castaldi argued that for the EU to prosper in the long term, it needs to abolish the principle of unanimity and become a fully-fledged federation. The Conference on the Future of Europe, which he believes supports his arguments and which is currently in session, draws to a close in May.
In this Reboot Dialogue Roberto will reflect on the outcomes of this conference to assess the potential scope and scale of further European integration in the near term. Europe’s changing geopolitical landscape will provide the backdrop. More information about Roberto Castaldi and his work is available here. Delton Chen (Australia) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller How a Tool Featured in a Science-Fiction Novel Might Change the World The Global Carbon Reward Initiative (GCR) is a new international climate policy that is designed to meet the 1.5-2.0°C goal of the Paris Agreement by incentivising rapid reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the removal of GHGs from the atmosphere. The GCR avoids carbon offsetting, and it offers a political solution to the free-rider problem. The economic tool of the GCR is called a "carbon currency", and this tool is featured in a science-fiction novel about climate change, called The Ministry for the Future. Delton Chen is the founder of GCR and reflects on his journey thus far. Correction: The Ministry for the Future did not inspire Delton Chen to develop the Global Carbon Reward (GCR) policy. It was the other way around. The GCR policy inspired Robinson to include the carbon coin idea in his novel. More information about Delton Chen and his work is available here. Further reading
Lene Rachel Andersen (Denmark) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller Bildung Beyond Borders – How Through Bildung We Build a Better Future Lene Rachel Andersen is the author of Bildung: Keep Growing (2020), among many other books, and founder of the Global Bildung Network (GBN), a network that brings together people from around the globe to address our deep longing for meaning, purpose, connectedness, cultural identity, sense of community, and empowerment and agency. GBN’s work is based on the believe that education in every sense of the word is key, but just transferring huge amounts of knowledge is not enough. There is also an emotional and a moral connection to values, culture, self and others that is crucial to our well-being and our ability to cope with whatever challenges life confronts us with. In this dialogue we build on our previous discussion (Reboot Dialogue #4) and explore how we might revive the original concept of ‘bildung’ and thus enable people everywhere to grab ‘with both hands’ the opportunities the 21st Century offers instead of feeling intimidated by the many challenges we face. More information about Lene Rachel Andersen and her work is available here.
Susanna Cafaro (Italy) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller Democracy and Participation in International Organisations As the EU, through representative, participatory and recently even deliberative mechanisms, has increasingly evolved into a distinct democracy in its own right, Susanna Cafaro believes there is the potential for other international organizations (IOs) to evolve towards some kind of democratic governance and to increase their levels of legitimacy and accountability in the process. Furthermore, she believes this is important and urgently needed as we are facing a number of global issues (climate change, pollution of oceans, loss of biodiversity, rising inequalities) that nation states are not able to address independently. Her current research therefore focuses on assessing levels of democracy in governance beyond the national dimension, as well as suggesting innovative improvements through civic forms of participation. In this second Reboot Interview, Susanna will share some of the insights she has gained so far and reflect on some of the current challenges IOs are facing in their efforts to democratise – especially in light of recent geopolitical developments. More information about Susanna Cafaro and her work is available here.
Lenka Petrakova (UK/Slovakia) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller The 8th Continent When it comes to the environmental impact of pollution, visions of the future tend to be dystopian in character. Not so in Lenka’s case. In this edition of Reboot2030, we explore her concept of a futuristic floating station, the 8th Continent, which helps to restore the balance of the sea, gathers ocean debris and creates a platform that brings people closer to this environment of the distant ocean – which we mistakenly thought was immune to our actions. More information about Lenka Petrakova and her work is available here.
John Bunzl (UK) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller Global Cooperation and the New World Order In our Reboot Dialogue #2 John Bunzl introduced SIMPOL, the organisation he created to counter Destructive Global Competition (DGC) through simultaneous policy development and implementation. Since then, the geopolitical landscape has changed fundamentally – and not for the better. In this talk John Bunzl provides an update on his work with SIMPOL, reflects on challenges and explores how SIMPOL’s approach and methodology might be used to minimise the impact of Russia’s war of aggression on global environmental and climate change regulation.
Young-Jin Choi (Germany) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller What Cannot Be Measured Can Easily Be Ignored In our Reboot Dialogue #5 Young-Jin talked about carbon pricing and climate dividends with regards to their potential scope for lowering our collective carbon footprint. Because of the limited success carbon pricing has had to date, the question of how we might monitor both progress and risks came up. In this talk we continue this conversation by exploring how carbon pricing advocates might not only measure the success/failure of carbon pricing schemes, but also use their findings to put additional pressure on policymakers.
Young-Jin Choi (Germany) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller The Toolbox for Rapid Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions In order to accelerate the speed at which decarbonisation occurs, governments can utilize a variety of climate policies. One of the most transformative measures within that context is effective carbon pricing. To ensure both sustained public support and a just transition, Young-Jin argues that it is of critical importance to use a substantial share of carbon pricing revenues for a climate income.
Lene Rachel Andersen (Denmark) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller The Bildung Rose Model of a Functioning Society Lene believes that we need 'bildung' in the original sense (not just education), so that everybody understands their society and the changes that are happening – and thus feels empowered to engage and make a difference. At present that is not the case. To get there, Lene argues, our current school systems need to rethink what they are doing. More information about Lene Rachel Andersen is available here. Further information about her thinking on education, including her Bildung Rose Model, is available here.
Roberto Castaldi (Italy) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller Integration. Federalism. Democracy. Roberto argues that, for the EU to prosper in the long term, it will need to abolish the principle of unanimity and become a fully-fledged federation, endowed with fiscal powers, a single external representation and defence capability and (to preserve our liberal democracy) effective mechanisms for the protection of the rule of law. More information about Roberto Castaldi is available here. Note that due to a mistake on our part, the general introduction to Reboot2030 is missing from this video. Further information about us is available here. Useful links (in order of importance):
John Bunzl (UK) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller Towards a World Free of Destructive Global Competition John believes that solving global problems requires solutions to be implemented simultaneously by nations so that no nation loses out. He argues that solutions need to cover multiple issues, so what a nation loses on one issue it can gain on another, and that citizens need to use their vote to incentivise politicians to cooperate globally. More information about John Bunzl is available here.
Chris Hamer (Australia) in conversation with Nico Andreas Heller The Case for a World Security Community of Democratic Nations Chris addresses the challenge democracy faces from a rising tide of autocracy. He believes that the democracies of this world must unite to meet this challenge and argues that the formation of a World Security Community of democratic nations would be a logical and forward-looking response. More information about Chris Hamer is available here.
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