Today IESE starts our amazing Fast Forward program and the opening keynote speech will be made by Lech Walesa, former president of Poland and the leader of Solidarity, the labor union which became a popular movement and brought about the fall of communism in Poland.
I remember following the events in Poland during the 1980s and 1990s from the comfort of my own life in Madrid, Massachusetts, and Barcelona and as a student of history I am looking forward to meeting history itself in the person of President Walesa.
U.S. President, Barak Obama will visit Warsaw later this week to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of communism and will, I believe, meet with Walesa even though such a meeting did not take place the last time Obama came to Warsaw in 2011.
A few days ago, Walesa criticized Obama for not providing sufficient leadership to the world and it will be interesting to see how the visit to Poland plays out.
Real Leadership in the White House and the Presidential Palace
Part of what the Kennedy School’s Dean Williams calls real leadership is getting people to understand the changing world around them and I believe that President Obama is doing an extraordinary job in doing just that.
Interestingly enough, he was blasted by all sides for his speech at West Point last week which, in my view, was outstanding and I, for one, am delighted that the President of the United States states publicly that “the world is changing” and that leadership has more facets than sending in the Marines to every situation and conflict.
President Walesa also showed real leadership when he made the tough decisions to support the Balcerowicz Plan to use “shock therapy” on the Polish economy which, over the long term, produced outstanding results but at the cost of very high inflation, unemployment, and his own popularity.
A new start for Ukraine?
Four weeks ago, I was convinced that a Russian invasion of Eastern Ukraine was imminent and I am glad to see that I was wrong and that the mix of public statements, sanctions, and possible secret communications have, at least so far, proven sufficient to limit Russia’s expansion to Crimea and allow the Ukrainian people to elect a new president and perhaps, if they manage to placate Putin and Gasprom, start a new chapter in Ukrainian history.
Petro Poreshenko, Ukraine’s President elect has an enormous challenge facing him which was well described in the The Economist last week. He has to somehow rebuild the countries political institutions, reign in powerful oligarchs, and fight Russia’s proxies who are still casing havoc in the Eastern part of the country.
In his speech at West Point, president Obama recognized that Ukraine faced “grave challenges” and that “we don’t know how the situation will play out” but what is clear to me is that President Poreshenko will need to show real leadership to move his country forward.
[Just a post script. In his remarks, Walesa pointed out that compared to Poland in 1989, he felt that Poreshenko has it relatively easy. Back then, the former Soviet Union had hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Poland and over 1 million int he countries surrounding it. He also felt that the former Ukrainian government was not prudent in its relations with Russia and that he advised the Ukrainians to go slowly and carefully.]
Just a post script. In his remarks, Walesa pointed out that compared to Poland in 1989, he felt that Poreshenko has it relatively easy. Back then, the former Soviet Union had hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Poland and over 1 million int he countries surrounding it. He also felt that the former Ukrainian government was not prudent in its relations with Russia and that he advised the Ukrainians to go slowly and carefully.