Dr. Akkan Suver
President of the Marmara Group Foundation
Istanbul-Turkey
"The political and economic order that is valid in the world will be questioned in the future.
When we come out of this long-term epidemic crisis, we may face a social collapse... Maybe we can go into a new wave of crisis that we have not been able to calculate in size. "
As a member of a society that has been at home for about a month and a half in Coronal days, I wait patiently for healthy days to come, just like everyone else. At the end of this wait, I also know that we will face new scenarios created by new conditions. These new scenarios that we will encounter seem to not be one of the stories we are very accustomed to. I believe that in our world, some values will either change in shape or disappear.
For example, nobody could suggest people to give up their freedom before this illness. However, in many countries today, people consent to drastic measures and demand a curfew.
In addition, it is another fact that today, those who consent to restrictions of freedom under pressure will demand more rights and freedom tomorrow.
Again tomorrow, societies that have come under pressure after the crisis will seek new expectations. Instead of traditional hierarchy organizations and the way we do business, we will turn to flexible, modular, dynamic, fluid, needs-oriented and digital transformations. It should not be prophesied to say that we will face new trends politically after the crisis rather than during the crisis. Therefore, in the long term, we will also encounter a different global politics and economic system.
What changes will new security technologies bring to ethics and law?
The societies that could not get out of this disease, where the international arena was caught unprepared, gathered in the light of scientific data and adopted a transparent management style, would turn to determine new road maps with the prolongation of the crisis and the increase of economic negativities. Will the current political and economic order remain for tomorrow?
We will see if we live.
We seem to be hurled towards a digital world order. As artificial intelligence-based algorithms come to the conclusion in a shorter time and with fewer errors than humans, what will be the roles of robots in the order tomorrow? Moreover, they do not face the threat of disease such as viruses or bacteria.
What will be the place of smart cities in the future?
We are faced with a scenario that aims to pave the way for young people who adapt to the internet and artificial intelligence. This scenario; I don't want to believe it, but it sounds like a project to eliminate our generation that can't keep up with technology! The question of “What can people over the age of sixty to do in the world of robots?” niggles at me.
On the other hand, it seems that the paper money will not remain. Bitcoin can knock on the door at any time. In the future of the economy; will health or economy come to the fore? What will the economic collapse take and what will it bring?
We are confronted with people who make irrational suggestions against written media and talk about the germ of newspaper paper. We look like we will meet a new media, a new mediatic ecosystem tomorrow.
Education has been online, the houses have turned into a classroom and everyone is on the lookout. Schools are candidates to stay out of globalization.
Shopping has stopped. As far as groceries are concerned, the market is preparing to serve us via remote control.
There are locks on the doors of all the temples, mosques, djemevi, churches, synagogues and the temples of other faith groups all over the world without exception.
Ramadan has come, tarawih prayer is forbidden. Mecca is empty. Christians' Easter Holidays are celebrated at home. Churches are closed. Not only the Vatican itself, but even the square has been declared a prohibited area. The Jews spent the Pessah Holidays quietly. It is impossible to approach the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.
The darkest and most loyal devotees of every religion and belief have been silent on this subject.
With the exception of Antarctica, war is taking place in every country of every continent.
The glorious international organizations are in desperation. The fact that Italy, which asked for help from the European Union (EU) countries in the process of combating the Covid-19 outbreak, did not get any response to the request, revealed that the EU could not manage this crisis. Similarly, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's statement, "European solidarity is nothing but a sweet tale", showed how vulnerable the EU was trying to maintain its unity in the post-Brexit period. The support urgently needed by the European countries exposed to devastating effects of pandemic, came from China, Russia and my country Turkey, and these are unusual developments that revealed European Union’s weakness and which actors will fill out this gap. On the other hand, the World Health Organization was far from responding to what was expected of him during this epidemic.
Every country strives to end this war with its own means and unique methods. Therefore, it seems that globalization has been replaced by nationalist and centralized governments. We hope that the administrations do not try to continue this habit of peremptoriness that they acquired during the epidemic after Corona.
While all sectors scream from banks to factories, from shops to aircraft companies; telephone companies are experiencing their golden era.
To me, humanity is just before a turn. From this turn, the world of diplomacy of the future will also have its share. We can no longer know how long the usual international diplomacy or public diplomacy rules will survive?
A virus took us away from social life and closed us at homes. What do we do if another virus blocks our electricity, water or natural gas tomorrow?
The bells of digital life, artificial intelligence and internet are ringing. We are at the beginning of a new social order. We may have to suffer greater crises than this crisis and make greater concessions from our liberties. My only hope is that the new mind and science light that will develop after the epidemic will bring humanity to bright days.
Sometimes crises can create a ground for the transformation of the world by creating a need for new formations, perspectives and solutions. The important thing is not to lose the belief that the crisis can be overcome and to see the ways to overcome the crisis. As a result, such sudden crises cannot be completely prevented but can be managed.
Those who can manage the crisis will be the most contributors to change and transformation in the world.
We will see if we live.
But we should know that our tomorrow will never look like today.
April 18th, 2020
