Surin Pitsuwan - “Salzburg: Where The Sound of Music is infused with The Sound of Reason”
Surin Pitsuwan, multi-time Salzburg Global Fellow and facilitator of the session Leadership for Regional Cooperation in Asia for the 21st Century, shares his reflections
“The hills are alive with the sound of music, with songs they have sung for a thousand years...” chirps Maria (Julie Andrews) in the fabled fairy tale movie,
The Sound of Music, 1965. And Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) crooned back with his love for his homeland, Austria, by singing Edelweiss, exhorting the little white “blossom of snow” to “bless my homeland forever.”I was privileged to be invited back to Salzburg, the city of Mozart, the home of the Von Trapp Family and The Sound of Music earlier this week, not to bless it, but to deliberate on the future of my own home region, East Asia, in an atmosphere of both divine melody and inspirational silence. About twenty five engaged and active young individuals from East Asia, Europe and North Americas were invited to the Salzburg Global Seminar program on
Leadership for Regional Cooperation in East Asia for the 21st Century.Begun in 1947 by three visionary Harvard students, namely, Clements Heller, Scott Elledge and Richard Campbell, “as an international forum for those seeking a better future for Europe and the world,” Salzburg Global Seminar has been offering an open and neutral platform for people of diverse opinions to come and search for a common ground on issues of grave divide. Out of the wreckage of wars, the Second World War in particular, and amidst complex political and strategic situations, alternative approaches have been found, trust restored and mutual confidence built among former adversaries and bitter foes. The Salzburg Global Seminar also has been successful in bridging the younger generation of leaders of the opposites shores of the Atlantic.Salzburg Global Seminar’s mission of searching the middle ground for understanding and cooperation is not unlike the advice of the Reverend Mother, the Head Nun, of the Salzburg Convent where the story of The Sound of Music originated. She admonished Maria (Julie Andrews) to:
“Climb every mountain, search high and low,
Follow every byway, every path you know.
Climb every mountain, ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow
'Till you find your dream.
A dream that will need all the love you can give,
Every day of your life, for as long as you live.”The scenic views afforded by the surroundings of Schloss Leopoldskron, built in 1736 by the Prince Archbishop of Salzburg Leopold Anton Freiherr Von Firmian (1679-1744), are very inspiring and provide a great ambience for deliberation on critical subjects to humanity.The entire city of Salzburg itself is a precious gem of history, arts, music and cultures. “Nestled at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Salzburg is the stuff of fairy tales,” boasts an introductory pamphlet of Salzburg Global Seminar.Not only is it “alive with the sound of music,” it is also where reason reigns throughout the policy discussions and intellectual exchanges during the past seven decades.“We challenge current and future leaders to solve issues of global concern,” says the mission statement of Salzburg Global. “We challenge countries at all stages of development and institutions across all sectors to rethink their relationships and identify shared interests and goals.”Salzburg Global Seminar now is conducting its high-level intellectual and policy exchanges through three “cross-cutting clusters and addresses the underlying questions that hold keys to human progress: Imagination, Sustainability and Justice.”Dr. Charles Morrison, President of the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, and myself from Bangkok, Thailand were invited to facilitate, probing “high and low” and exploring “every path we know” during the strategy session in designing the project for a series of Salzburg Global sessions on Leadership for Regional Cooperation in Asia in the next several years.Why would the world academic institution like Salzburg Global Seminar be focusing on the issue of leadership for regional cooperation in East Asia? Because our region has become more important to the global community than a mere decade or so ago. Over half of the world’s population (7.3 billion) is residing here, along with the second and third largest economies of the world, a most dynamic group of emerging economies, almost half of the global trade, with a robust trading and investment current and future trend, all these and more are identified with East Asia. An economic derailment, a political tension or a military confrontation now would have grave implications to the rest of the global community beyond repair.And the region is certainly plagued by many fault lines, lacking institutions and processes to manage potential conflicts, with states in the region saddled with historical baggage, carrying a “burden of the past” which threatening to ignite open conflicts at any moments.Both traditional and non-traditional threats are apparent on the regional landscape. Territorial disputes on land and in the open seas, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms built-up, contest over freedom of navigation, etc., abound. Poverty and inequity, urban and rural divide, human migration, education and human resource development, labor quality human trafficking, access to health care and quality education, drugs and international crimes, degradation of the environment, etc., are also to be found in region. These two opposing trends, the phenomenal growth and the potential open instability and conflicts are referred as the East Asian Paradox.We also agreed that the path forward for the region would have to track along the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).It may sound overly ambitious, but it could be the only Key Performance Index (KPI) that we may have, recognized, legitimized and endorsed by the global community as a whole.It will not be easy, but it is an unavoidable task for the younger generation of the East Asian region to seek for an alternative and a better future for themselves and their posterity. And we found them full of passion and optimism to “ford every stream” to the dream that they want. They could find solace and encouragement for their struggle, appealing for the blessing of their own people. Much like Captain von Trapp invoked the Blessings of Edelweiss, the white “blossom of snow” to “Bless my homeland forever.” The difference is that, in the age of integration and interdependence, we know that a “blessed homeland” will no longer be adequate. The wellbeing of the entire region, indeed, we need to work for the prosperity and security of our Little Blue Planet entire.The Salzburg Global Seminar session on
Leadership for Regional Cooperation in Asia for the 21st Century set us on a long journey of hope for our people in the region, and the entire human family, for reasons explained above.
Surin Pitsuwan is Professor Emeritus, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand and the former Secretary General, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He co-facilitated the session Leadership for Regional Cooperation in Asia for the 21st Century with by Charles Morrison, president of the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, who for several years, convened a long-running Salzburg Global Seminar program on Asia-Pacific issues.
