Is WW3 Inevitable? - Conflict Expert, Hassan Damluji

Bill Gates Advisor + LSE academic Hassan Damluji offers us a glimmer of hope to avoid international catastrophe!

Expert in global politics, climate change, pandemics and education reform, Hassan spent a decade at the Gates Foundation in charge of the Middle East, Pakistan and East Asia, closely advising Bill Gates and holding discussions with the likes of Saudi’s MBS, UAE’s President MBZ, Pakistan’s PM Nawaz Sharif and original GOAT investor Warren Buffet. Quite the line up.

Currently, he is a senior visiting fellow in International Relations at LSE and director of the think/do tank ‘Global Nation’, which advises UN agencies. He is also the author of ‘The Responsible Globalist’, a manifesto for reforming internationalists, unmoored by the MAGA-led nativist populist insurgency that has multilateralism on its knees. Gates described it as “thought-provoking and well written”, endorsing Hassan’s “ideas that can help make global systems more successful’.

At the UN General Assembly this week, Trump doubled down on the end of American Internationalism. In the face of increasing global disorder and violent conflict, what strategy should the Labour pursue to protect the UK’s interests while meeting its principles as a moral mission?

Such a tightrope has seemed contradictory at times - with the pomp and flattery of a Trump state visit being counterbalanced by the historic recognition of Palestine as a state. Hassan believes this can be turned into a coherent strategy, with the UK pursuing a middle powers alliance that stands up for the international rule of law. His latest report, Rules Britannia, is well worth a read:

In this episode, we chart the failures of ‘globalism’, addressing the rise of populism in response to the immigration crisis, as well as the economic challenges facing developed economies. Hassan explains his vision for a world that feels solidarity around global identity, giving international institutions the requisite consent to solve complex problems like climate change.

We also spend a long time discussing the US’ internal contradictions and how it’s not in billionaire’s interests for the world to descend into war and chaos. An international wealth tax must form some part of the solution.

This chat with Hassan is probably our favourite so far for the podcast. It addresses the seemingly intractable political problems of our era and offers a real yet narrow way forward. I hope it gives you a bit of hope in these worrying times.

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00:00 Intro

01:25 Bill Gates, Billionaires and Philanthropy

11:10 Globalism vs Populism

22:15 Democracy Matters Most

35:18 Why Populists are Winning

43:09 Britain + Middle Powers Alliance

53:05 An End to American Hegemony

1:04:02 Avoiding World War 3

1:12:04 UK’s Response to America’s Economic Revolution