Global Relations Summit 2024
October 14, 2024

The Global Relations Summit 2024 - GRS2024 - entitled ‘Navigating an Uncertain, Global Future’ was held at Feshane Artistanbul. Organized by Global Relations Forum (GRF) to celebrate their 15th anniversary, the meeting was attended by over 200 guests who follow international politics and diplomacy, with fourteen panelists speaking in three main sessions. Former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou was the keynote speaker, while international panelists included former Foreign Ministers of Spain and Serbia Vuk Jeremić and Ana Palacio, former NATO Deputy Secretary General Dr. Jamie Shea, and World Bank Senior Advisor Dr. Somik V. Lall.

The opening speeches of this year’s event, whose main theme was ‘Navigating an Uncertain, Global Future’, were delivered by Ambassador (Ret.) Selim Yenel, President of GRF, and Zeynep Bodur Okyay, Chairperson of the GRF Board of Directors. Former Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou was the keynote speaker for the event. Fourteen expert speakers in three panels on Economy, Security and Institutions were followed by more than 200 guests, including representatives of international relations, diplomacy, business world, international institutions and organizations, media, civil society, academia and youth.

In a World Full of Risks and Uncertainties: Economy, Security and Institutions were the main topics of discussion.

Discussing the most important political, economic, systemic and institutional challenges of today’s world, the speakers discussed how humanity and its institutions can act in the face of the great risks we face today, and how the international environment full of uncertainties and conflicts can focus on peace, stability, prosperity and development.

George Papandreou, the keynote speaker of the meeting, criticized the current international system and politics for failing to respond to today’s challenges, and made observations on the functioning of the world economy, inequalities and the distribution of wealth. Emphasizing that the risks we face today have created an environment of global and social insecurity, Papandreou said that the rising cost of living, the lack of basic public services such as health, education and housing, as well as existential threats such as the climate crisis and artificial intelligence, feed and magnify this insecurity. He stated that all these problems can only be solved through the cooperation and solidarity of the nations of the world and politics.

The first panel titled “Economic Development: Global Realities and Challenges”, moderated by Bloomberg HT Anchor & Editor-in-Chief Açıl Sezer, featured Prof. Ufuk Akçiğit from the University of Chicago, Dr. Somik V. Lall, Senior Advisor and Development Policy Director of the World Bank Group, and Tayfun Bayazıt, GRF Board Member. In this panel, the speakers sought answers to the questions: “How can we ensure economic growth in the future while eliminating the economic challenges, vulnerabilities and risks that exist in today’s world, and should we rethink the long-standing path of economic development?”

Moderated by GRF Member Prof. Dr. İlter Turan, the panel entitled “Facing New and Old Conflicts: Can International Institutions Become Relevant Again?” featured Dr. Fonteh Akum, Director of the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa; Daniela Carmela Cicchella, Deputy Representative of UNHCR Turkey; Vuk Jeremić, former Foreign Minister of Serbia and President of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly; and Ambassador Burak Özügergin, Director General for Bilateral Political Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Based on the observation that in today’s world, international institutions and organizations are unable to provide answers to the problems of humanity, the panelists discussed why and how the institutions and the system need to be reformed, and whether it is possible to prevent future crises.

The last panel of the day, “NATO and European Union (EU) Enlargement: Will it Provide Security?” was moderated by GRF Vice Chair Prof. Dr. Füsun Türkmen and featured GRF member and former NATO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador (Ret.) Tacan İldem, former Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio, and former NATO Deputy Secretary General Dr. Jamie Shea, Senior Advisor at the European Policy Center (EPC). The panelists questioned whether the EU and NATO enlargement processes have produced security for members, continental Europe and its neighbors, and whether the reshaping of the European security architecture can provide sustainable security for Europe and its neighbors.