Condoleezza Rice: In the 21st century country’s greatness will be measured by human potential

Condoleezza Rice: In the 21st century country’s greatness will be measured by human potential
14 September 2012

Restructuring of the world depends on human potential and innovations that become main factors underlying this century’s country development. This idea expressed Dr. Condoleezza Rice, 66th Secretary of State of the United States in the course of the discussion on the future of the global order and security at the 9th Yalta Annual Meeting of YES.

“In the 19th century, greatness depended on what could be extracted from under earth. In the 20th century – on effectiveness of industrial processes, labor performance, conveyor product output. In 21st century everything depends on human potential, creativity and innovativeness, on what a person can contribute to the world,” she emphasized.

Dr. Rice called all countries to think about human resources, education and innovations. And she emphasized that these factors directly depended on the level of freedom. “Human potential and innovations blossom when people are indeed free. If we are attentive to these factors, the foundation for a new world order will be sound and strong,” she stated.

The 9th Yalta Annual Meeting entitled “Ukraine and the World: Addressing Tomorrow’s Challenges Together” takes place in Yalta at the Livadia Palace, Ukraine, from 13-16 September 2012. More than 200 leaders from politics, business and society representing more than 20 countries will discuss major global challenges and their impact on Europe, Ukraine and the world.

The President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and the Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened the plenary part of the 9th YES Annual Meeting on September 14. The two leaders discussed critical issues affecting the development of Ukraine and Turkey, as well as the future of a “Wider Europe” in the 21st century. Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland (1995-2005) and Chairman of the Board of YES, moderated the discourse.

The overarching topic of the 9th Yalta Annual Meeting will be the key transformations that are already shaping the future of the world. Forum sessions will focus on the future of the world economy, on a new world order and its security, and on possible models for the development of capitalism. Special attention will be paid to the role of innovation and leadership in transforming the economy and society. Other topics for discussion include the future of the European Union, energy issues and the internal and external challenges facing Ukraine.

This year’s Yalta Annual Meeting will welcome, among others, Robert Zoellick, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Condoleezza Rice, Gordon Brown, Alec Ross, Eric Lander, Kairat Kelimbetov, Carl Bildt, Javier Solana.

At the plenary discussions of the 9th YES Annual Meeting, Ukraine will be represented by the Prime Minister Mykola Azarov; the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Valeriy Khoroshkovsky; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Policy Serhiy Tihipko; Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko; Minister of Energy of Ukraine Yuriy Boyko; Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kostyantyn Gryshchenko; Secretary of the National Defence and Security Council of Ukraine Andriy Klyuev.

Chrystia Freeland, Global Editor-at-Large at Thomson Reuters will moderate discussions.

The 9th Yalta Annual Meeting is streamed live on korrespondent.net in Ukrainian and on euronews.com and yes-ukraine.org in English.

The official Twitter of the 9th Yalta Annual Meeting: @yes_ukraine
Hash tag: #yalta2012

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Niall Ferguson
Niall Ferguson
Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, 15th YES Annual Meeting, 2018
«[…] there is only one past, but multiple futures. And our job, collectively, is to choose the right future.»