On March 8, Victor Kipiani, the Chair of Geocase, participated as a speaker in the 11th Bosphorus Summit. The summit, themed “Living in an Age of Uncertainty”, was held in both online and in-person formats, and included participants from over 80 countries across the world. The session covered current global issues and questions of how to survive and thrive in an age of uncertainty and what will be the future of the global economy and trade in the post-uncertainty age.  

The Bosphorus Summit is a triannual forum and serves as a powerful platform for the leaders of today and tomorrow to tackle current economic and social issues. Leading statesmen, entrepreneurs, businesspeople and opinion makers come together to discuss current challenges, potential solutions and future opportunities.

Kipiani in his speech focused on the importance of global security in the age of disruption, stating that “such triggers all have a common denominator and bear the same semblance. This connotation is quite vague and obscure, but I would call it a disruption of cohesiveness. Our world has never been cohesive enough… with the end of the Cold War and dismantling of the old structure, however, a new range of extremely challenging… ‘new normals’ and brainteasers in regional or international relations and securities have started to emerge.”

Kipiani discussed that the major ruptures around the cohesiveness of the global order were in terms of underpinning stability, predictability and reliability. He stressed that security is an unnecessary fragmentation of the world system pursuant to multiple non-connected regions, each representing almost independent – if not completely independent – policymaking.

He stated that “regionalization brings clear advantages with certain regional design, but when it's implemented in a hasty and irrational way, that could lead the original process into the murky waters of real threats and challenges. The recent events in Nagorno Karabakh have left the respective parties and stakeholders with a rather complex and multilayered ceasefire. The agreement of November 30, 2020 is an example of the somewhat contradicting interests and expectations that could backfire at some future point in time.”

In his speech, Kipiani extensively explored and argued about the multipolar future of the world, where he reflected on the regional context and importance of the Black Sea region and its implications for world peace and stability.

In his closing remarks, Kipiani discussed the Black Sea Declaration. The declaration emphasizes how important it is to press certain initiatives to reach peace and stability in the Black Sea region, and what this means for world peace at large: “Besides concerning such unfrozen and prolonged conflicts as well as expressing support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the countries of the Black Sea region, it provides regional venues to deliberate security and last, but not least, to emphasize the importance of open discussions, free trade agreements and trade associations.” 

Watch Victor Kipiani's speech at the 11th Bosphorus Summit