12:44, 17 April, 2020
YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS. At the invitation of the prestigious The Monthly Barometer analytical journal, which is also the co-founder of the Summit of Minds, President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian participated in the webinar titled “Quantum Leadership in the Time of Pandemic”, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.
The series of webinars titled “What will happen and how to overcome it in the best possible way” has been initiated by the managing partner of The Monthly Barometer Thierry Malleret to listen to the opinion of the distinguished leaders, reputable experts and to discuss in an expert milieu the avenues to overcome the situation created by the new coronavirus and its ramifications.
Distant webinars are envisaged for The Monthly Barometer community which comprises heads of major international companies, investors, entrepreneurs, reputable experts and analysts.
According to President Armen Sarkissian, many of risks, including pandemics, manifest quantum behavior, erupting in China then in Europe. “The world has changed and it is possible that the pandemic might accelerate the transformation of the classical world into a quantum one. To fight pandemics, financial crises, other risks, we need to change our lifestyle. If we start thinking about this world as a quantum world, we will find the logic behind the occurring events, will be able to predict them with some probability,” the President of Armenia noted. “This world is changing, and will be changing even faster than we can imagine. However, we have to be ready. If we think of everything we had before the coronavirus, it will be just a waste of time. The virus can be back and can have the same or a totally different form – internet virus, global hacking, etc. And everything will come to a stop again. We need to think how this world will move forward, and learn some lessons.
We need to accept that it is not about the virus at all. Yes, the virus is a tragic _expression_ which has claimed thousands of lives. Every government, including our country’s, today is fighting against the virus. As a result, we just concentrate on the virus, viewing it as an accident which will never happen again. On this, we are wrong. This is a new world in which we will be living and should be ready to accept it, should be ready for what comes next.”
According to the President, in this new world, external areas can guide us and it is quite possible we will not realize that. “Certainly, we have to fight against pandemics. It is a reminder that in many cases we probably travelled much more frequently than was needed. Probably we can do business and politics without travel. Every morning, when from the balcony of my house I look at Mount Ararat, I see it more clearly because the air in Yerevan is cleaner now than before. It happened because people are driving less, stay mostly home,” President Sarkissian noted. “The message of this very sensitive, tragic event is that we can organize our lives doing less harm to the nature. Let’s think this all over again. For us, humans, the message deriving from the tragedy of the pandemic is the following – let’s think of transforming ourselves. All our actions related to risk management, politics, business, the way we treat the nature, everything should change. If we are not able to do it, we will be forced in the future too, fight against another, this or that pandemic. We need to ponder thoroughly on all this.”
President Sarkissian noted that recently he has been talking much to the leaders of different states, international officials, spoke of new cooperation, trying on to focus on the steps that could be taken jointly after the pandemic. Responding to the questions from the audience, he revealed one of these steps, “There are various organizations in the world, different structures which unite superpowers, but they all are about great powers. We need to establish a club of small and successful states. It will be a club which will bring together small countries. They will be able to present their achievements, failures, and challenges. This will not be a new alliance or organization, just a club. I have my own definition for “small” and “successful” which I presented to the presidents and prime ministers of successful states, and they are quite interested in this idea. This world will be much more complex, which means it should be a world where the voice of small countries will also be audible. This is a proposal which I hope to advance after the pandemic has ended.”
Responding to the question on preparing the younger generation for more thoughtful actions, President Sarkissian noted that before answering this question, one should listen to the young people. “Before giving them advice and directions, let’s hear them out. The worst thing is to give an advice or direction without really understanding the matter. Young people are much more open for the new logic; it is easier for them because many things in this new life are quite natural for them. Thus, we first need to hear them out, second, we need to understand what’s going on in the world. When everything becomes clear, it is very easy to explain it to them.”
The President expressed confidence that there certainly would be ways to emerge from this crisis. “I am glad that multiple questions are being raised during this discussion. That’s the only way to get to the truth. It is essential these days, to ask questions and find solutions. I am confident that solutions will be found,” Armen Sarkissian said.
The President of Armenia invited the participants of the webinar to participate at the Armenian Summit of Minds to be held in Armenia come October.