jbhannibalsson@gmail.com
Tartu University: Vision 2032
Introduction:
April 11th Tartu University convened a seminar on the future of university education during the next two decades, under the above heading: Vision 2032.
This seminar was a culmination of a research project which has lasted about a year, involving all faculties and departments of the university. Under the leadership of a co-ordinating committee, a number of inter-disciplinarian workshops have contributed their inputs. The purpose of all this is to revise the strategic concept of the University of Tartu, as well as its workplan for this period. This seminar brought in politicians, academicians, scientists and philosophers to review this work.
Originally, Siim Kallas, former PM of Estonia and currently vice-president of EU-commission, was to be among the three key-note speakers. When Mr. Kallas dropped out at short notice, Rector Volli Kalm asked me to replace him. I have been for the past weeks a research fellow at the university´s Institute of Government and Politics and a guest-lecturer.
What follows is the text of my speech at this seminar. JBH
Foreign ministers are sometimes duty-bound to follow heads of state on official visits abroad. One such visit to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in the early 90s of the last century, turned out to be memorable. As a matter of fact I find it quite relevant for the topic of discussion alotted to me here today: How should small nations design their educational policies for an uncertain future?
JÓN BALDVIN hefur undanfarna máuði starfað sem gistiprófessor við Háskólann í TARTU í Eistlandi. Jafnframt hefur hann flutt fyrirlestra og tekið þátt í málþingum um fjármálakreppuna, orsakir hennar, afleiðingar og ólík viðbrögð stjórnvalda, einkum á Íslandi, annars staðar á Norðurlöndum og í Eystrasaltslöndum. Þann 11. apríl, s.l. flutti hann stefnuræðu á fjölþjóðlegri ráðstefnu um framtíð háskólamenntunar, séð af sjónarhóli smáþjóða. Ráðstefnan var endapunktur á stefnumótun Háskólans í TARTU til ársins 2032, þegar skólinn verður 400 ára.
ASKUR ALAS er eistnenskur blaðamaður, málvísindamaður og þýðandi íslenskra bókmennta á eistnesku. Á sumrum er hann leiðsögumaður eistneskra ferðamanna til Íslands. Hann tók eftirfarandi viðtal við Jón Baldvin, sem birtist í aprílhefti mánaðarritsins KESKUS í TALLINN, en tímaritið helgar sig listum, menningu og stjórnmálum, gjarnan út frá óhefðbundnum sjónarmiðum.
Q: What would you have done differently, if you had been in power before/after crisis?
An interview with Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson.
Introduction: Late November last year there was a multinational conference in Tallinn, where the major questions to be tackled were the following: Can small nations offer state services to their citizens at the same level of quantity and quality as bigger nations? Or will the relative cost (as a percentage of GDP) be too high – or even prohibitive? Do small nation face tough choices as to what services they are going to give priority? Although the central government in Tallinn accounts for a relatively small percentage of GDP, there is a growing debate in Estonia about increasing cost pressures concerning government expenditures.Is there such a thing as an optimal size of the public sector conducive to economic growth?
I was invited to speak at the conference and to participate in panel discussions. Eventually, for the sake of cost cutting, we settled for an interview which was posted on the conference web page in Estonian. What follows is the English text.
Q: How do you envisage the abilities of small nations to maintain sustainable living standards and take care of their national interest in the international arena?
In a recent book „Ísland ehf. auðmenn og áhrif eftir hrun“ – Iceland ltd., the Oligarchs and their Influence after the Crash – (Vaka/Helgafell, 2013) the authors, Magnús Halldórsson and Þórður Snær Júlíusson, both economic analysts in the media, give an overview of the „Icelandic way“ after the crash 2008. Specifically they try to estimate the ongoing transfer of wealth and the subsequent polarization of society. In the final chapter (p.205-292) they deal with the Icelandic experience of IMF-imposed capital controls. They were meant to be a short-term fix, but have now lasted almost five years.
Here are some of the highlights of their coverage:
Vadovu Klubas: 15 year anniversary, Church of St. John´s Vilnius University, June 6th, 2013
On June 6th “Vadovu Klubas” – an association of business leaders in Lithuania – celebrated their 15 years anniversary in St. John´s Vilnius University. The president of Lithuania, Dalija Grypauskaité – a former Minister of Finance and commissioner of finance – addressed the assembly. I was invited to give a key-note speech on the ” Peaceful, Baltic Road to Freedom” and the response to it by the international community.
Since capitalists worldwide are this year celebrating the 300 years anniversary of the Scottish philosopher/economist Adam Smith, my Edinburgh University background came in handy to give my audience a few warning words on the dangers of unrestrained markets, supported by wise words from the social-democratic thinker, Tage Erlander, and the recently erected pope Francis (a former priest in the slums of Buenos Aires). While in Vilnius this spring, teaching at the university, the Lithuanians celebrated the 25 years anniversary of Sajudis, their independence movement. On June 3d, LRT (the Lithuanian public television channel) showed a new documentary on that occasion. This included an interview with me, focusing on the main events 1988-91. (This can be approached on the Internet).
Here is the text of my speech given in the Church of St. John´s, Vilnius University, on June 6th.
1.
It is June 6th, 1990, 23 years ago to the day. The foreign ministers of all European states – along with the US and Canada – are assembling in Copenhagen. This meeting was one of a series, convened to end the Cold War. On the agenda was disarmament and arms´control; cooperation instead of confrontation in interstate relations. Respect for the principles of human rights and self-determination of nations.
The editors of BALTIC STUDIES – a periodical on international affairs and politics – asked me to review an article by a Danish scholar on the policy of the Danish government (and major parties) on the Baltic nations´ struggle for their restored independence. My review was published on the Magazine´s web side. – JBH
This article is not so much about Danish support for the Baltic struggle for independence; rather it is about domestic politics – electoral maneuvers between the major parties on how they could be seen to express „small state sympathy“, without risking the wrath of the Soviet Union or the displeasure of powerful allies. It is therefore of interest, mainly for those who want to know what happened behind the scenes in Danish politics. For those who want to understand the risks and potential dangers for the Baltic nations of seceeding from the Soviet Union, it is hardly of any interest.
Unlike the nations of Central and Eastern Europe which retained their nominal sovereignty, the Baltic states were annexed into the Soviet Union, following up on the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and its secret protocols. Under Mr. Gorbachev the Soviet leadership seemed to be ready not to apply force to prevent the liberation of Central and Eastern Europe and the unification of Germany, in return for major disarmament agreements and the „peace dividend“ involved. But when it came to the break-up of the Soviet Union itself – there Mr. Gorbachev set the limit. And when it became evident that his halfhearted attempts at reform inside the Soviet Union had failed , he had only one major aim left for staying in power: to keep the Soviet Union together – under a new constitution – at all cost. Failing that, he would lose his grip on power.
April 9th The Institute for International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University, held a seminar on the international financial crisis, comparing the fates of countries inside and outside the euro-zone. Main speakers were Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson, former Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs of Iceland, Dr. Ingrida Simonité, former Minister of Finance of Lithuania and Dr. Baldur Thórhallsson, Head of the Center for Small States´ Studies at the University of Iceland. Dr. Ramunas Vilpisauskas, Head of the institute introduced the speakers, but Mr. Bo Tillberg from the Nordic Council of Ministers´ Office was moderator.
Following are the speaking-notes of Mr. Hannibalsson:
February 2 this year the Economist published a special edition on the Nordic model. The authors came to the conclusion that the Nordic model had turned out, during the era of globalization, to be the most successful socio-economic model on the planet. It combined both efficiency and prosperity. It was both the most competitive and the most egalitarian society on earth. But, neo-liberal, as the Economist is, the authors tried their best to give credit for this unique success story to Sweden´s conservatives, who have had a chance in government for a few years, to tinker with the system at the margins. But the system remains fundamentally intact.
I sent a letter to the editor with a reasoned critique of this ideological misconception. It says a lot about the editorial policy of the Economist, that despite welcoming their readers´comments they somehow failed to publish any serious critique. Here is the text, which they did not publish:
Dagana 8. – 9. nóv. s.l. var ég heiðursgestur á þingi Eystrasaltsþjóða (Baltic Assembly), sem haldið var í Vilnius, Litháen. Þing Eystrasaltsþjóða er sömu gerðar og Norðurlandaþing. Þar hittast þingmenn, ráðherrar, embættismenn, sérfræðingar og fjölmiðlungar til að ræða sameiginleg hagsmunamál. Aðalmál þingsins var Evrópumál og samstarf Eystrasaltsþjóða (og Norðurlanda) innan Evrópusambandsins. Ég flutti þarna svokallaða stefnuræðu (key-note speech) undir heitinu:
Fræðimenn, sem vandir eru að virðingu sinni, hafa fyrir sið að telja upp lykilorð í upphafi máls síns, til að skerpa athygli lesandans. Fari ég að þeirra fordæmi, þá ættu eftirfarandi lykilorð að brýna hugsunina:
The following is the text of a key-note speech given at the Baltic Assembly in Vilnius, Lithuania, on November 9th. In the speech I deal with the causes of the international financial crisis, the specifics of the euro-crisis and conclude by proposing a list of solutions. The following is the text of a key-note speech given at the Baltic Assembly in Vilnius, Lithuania, on November 9th. In the speech I deal with the causes of the international financial crisis, the specifics of the euro-crisis and conclude by proposing a list of solutions.
In academic papers, the authors often single out key-words to have their readers concentrate their minds. Following their example, here are some key-words from my speech, to start you thinking: