The WB expects the global economy to contract for the first time since WWII in 2009 and world trade is to decline to the lowest level in 80 years.

A trade dispute has just exploded between Washington and Beijing following the imposition of tariffs on Chinese tires imported into the US.

China’s internet community has gone viral on the topic. And many in the West are thinking. “Isn’t this type of reaction a bit out of date? Given China’s economic power, if they want to sell tires in another country, they can just go ahead and buy a tire manufacturer there. The West has enough broke businesses.”

With the G20 summit opening tomorrow in Pittsburgh, people are wondering what kind of world the aftermath of the financial crisis is likely to produce in the years to come.

The tendency, as we have seen, is to go tribal.

Forbes is heralding the end of Thomas Friedman’s “Flat World” and the beginning of a new “era of decreasing trade”.

I can’t help sensing a strong feeling of hysteria around the whole thing.

Yes, the world is changing. May be much faster than Friedman or anybody else had predicted. But the answer is not to find refuge in protectionism.

Times call for much more creative solutions. Let’s see what comes out of tomorrow and Friday.

Whenever I tell people than my mentor was a city not a person, I get funny looks.

From now on, I will be able to use the speech Obama gave last weekend in Prague to prove that I am right.

I was amazed that the US president and his speechwriter understood it so well … that feeling that makes Prague a very special experience:

“For over 1,000 years Prague has set itself apart from any other city or any other place. You have known war and peace. You have seen empires rise and fall. Through it all, the people of Prague have persisted in pursuing their own path and defining their own destiny”.

That’s exactly how it is. I don’t know how it works.

But after you have lived in Prague for a number of years, you get this feeling that, no matter what comes at you, you will always make it.

It is like an aura surrounding you (I don’t know how else to describe it). And you know you will always be able to face any audience or any vicious committee meeting because of this certainty that has come down to you.

Does it happen by osmosis? Do you get it by walking through the streets of the Old Town at night as I loved to do?

I don’t know but I was certainly thrilled to hear Obama call Prague the “golden city which is both ancient and youthful and stands as a living monument to an unconquerable spirit”.

Barak Obama has really done it for us communicators.

I am talking about his social media campaign. In Europe these days, everybody wants it and everybody wants to be like him.

The interactive web was there before and change had started happening a long time ago. The enormous favour Obama has done to us is to awaken public consciousness to these new tools.

This was the subject of a talk I attended last night.

Obama’s wisdom has been to realise that the world had changed and to go for it.

Through his MyBarakObama.com site, he gave supporters the tools to take ownership of their part of the campaign. 27,000 groups were created on the site. These organised 50,000 events in the last 3 weeks of the campaign (100,000 were organised in total). Control of these events was left to the organisers and their communities.

The Obama campaign was present on YouTube with 14,500 hours. This corresponds to £ 32 million worth of TV spots!

People will be studying the social media side of the Obama phenomenon for many years to come.

But, the most interesting lesson for us communicators is the sense of connection that Obama was able to create through his online presence. This is what we have to able to create in our work.

We have to generate so much passion around an issue that people will want to spend several un-paid hours of their week to comment on it.

I heard something else last night that got me thinking: “where people hung out yesterday is not where they are going to hang out tomorrow”. It’s all part of the acceleration we are going through and it’s all so exciting.

Watching Obama’s interview last night on Al Arabiya was like watching a clip from another planet.

Finally!!!

Time magazine calls it “an unprecedented reach-out to the Muslim world”.

I was delighted to hear Obama talk about the years he spent living in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country.

This is what we need at this moment in history. This kind of connection and ability to relate to people in other parts of the world, their way of living and thinking.

It is amazingly encouraging to hear a US president use this language :

“My job is to communicate the fact that the United States has a stake in the well-being of the Muslim world, that the language we use has to be a language of respect.”

I have enjoyed writing in our book about the way in which journalism is changing in the Arab World and the important role Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya are playing in this process.

It was incredibly smart of Obama to choose Al Arabiya for his first interview granted to a TV channel. This move sets a precedent in international PR.

It is a new kind of outreach we are witnessing, one that lowers barriers.

I hope Obama’s PR strategy will help people understand just how important communication is for the success of peace-making efforts.

Today is the first day of the Year of the Ox.

According to a message I got: “The Ox symbolises prosperity through diligence and hard work. President Obama was born under the sign of the Ox. The Chinese zodiac describes people who share the Ox sign as born leaders. They are steadfast and solid, patient and honest.”

From my friend Gina, I got a little video about Chinese wisdom. Check it out. I have never been happier to be a “cracked-pot” friend and family member!

I just finished listening to President Obama’s magnificent inauguration speech.

And yes… I did cry when he came to the part about being the son of a man who might not have been served in a restaurant 60 years ago.

I thought of the books by Maya Angelou I read.

I thought of all the people who were ever at the receiving end of a racist remark. Being from Southern Europe, I have had my fair share over the years …of course, nothing to compare to what Dr Angelou described… but you can kind of relate to the pain and anger.

I loved the part of Obama’s speech about the world growing smaller and humanity revealing itself (communicators are experiencing this every day through the interactive web).

And I was really relieved by his message of inclusiveness to the Muslim world.

I will remember the prayer spoken at the end of the ceremony. A prayer for “the community of all nations, not just our nation”.

America is becoming again the place I used to love.

It is all about personal branding.

Barack Obama has offered the position of US Surgeon General to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and chief medical correspondent for CNN.

This shows how important it is, these days, to turn your particular way of practicing your profession into a brand.

On top of hosting CNN’s weekend program “House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta”, Dr. Gupta has had appearances on CBS Evening News and writes columns for Time magazine. In 2007, he published a book on the search for immortality.

As you can see from this clip of the Daily Show, Dr. Gupta’s appointment is already making waves and entering pop culture.

The US Surgeon General is the country’s doctor, a face people will need to trust and listen to. Dr. Gupta comes with a loyal public. No wonder Obama went for him.

I wrote last week about the surreal feelings connected with having spent most of my life abroad.

Many thanks to Mike for writing on my Facebook that this post resonated with him.

It’s great to know I’m not the only one.

I am always on the lookout for comforting messages of this kind and a couple of days ago… I hit the jackpot

I was reading in the International Herald Tribute about the life of Barak Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann, and the influence she had on him. And I came across this quote by Obama’s sister, Maya:

“She [Stanley Ann] felt that, somehow, wandering through uncharted territory, we might stumble upon something that will, in an instant, seem to represent who we are at the core”.

Obama’s mother lived in different parts of the US before moving to Hawaii, where she met Obama’s father. She then moved to Indonesia where she became a consultant to the USAID on setting up a village credit program. She also worked for the Ford Foundation in Jakarta specialising in women’s projects.

Ever since I read Maya’s quote, I have been thinking about that “something” that makes up my core.

I think I know what it is.

I was wandering through “uncharted territory” in Eastern Europe and I came across what became the essence of who I am today.

Now that I think of it, it is all quite clear, but you first need someone to explain to you how it works.

That’s why I love this quote.

All of the sudden, it all makes sense. To use the words of an old friend, it is as if someone came into your kitchen and started to make order. The cups with the cups….the plates with the plates….

This quote is exactly what you need to read to yourself when you feel confused. And living in different places can leave you confused. Your path is so different from that of many of the people who sorround you.

So every time you start doubting that path, just read this quote.

Picture: thanks to iht.com