9 August 2022 — Socires organised its first on 27 June 2022 Socires-lecture at the House of Europe in The Hague. Pieter van Geel, chairman of the Supervisory Board, opened the lecture. Hans Bruning, Acting Director of Socires was a moderator. Professor Haroon Sheikh of the Scientific Board of Government Policy (WRR) gave the lecture followed by a dialogue with the participants on Geopolitical and War in Ukraine: The "weaponization" of economy and food. Socires wants to organise regular lectures for experts, stakeholders, relationships and other interested parties on current social issues.

In the lecture Professor Sheikh outlined the contours of a new world order. Geopolitical power relations have been shifting for some time, but the war in Ukraine will speed up this process. Its core is the shifting power relationship, from a unipolar to a multipolar world where several strong states, notably the US, Russia, China, India and the European Union, are fighting for power and influence. This is the horizontal shift in the classical geopolitical domain. But not only have more players entered the global arena, the arenas where conflicts take place have become more hybrid. Professor Sheikh mentions artificial intelligence, water and space politics, values and ideas, information, standardisation and geo-economy (so-called "weaponization" of food, etc.). The Russian invasion of Ukraine has clearly marked this shift to a new world order, towards a new way of warfare in a world where everything is interconnected and can be used as a weapon. All visible and invisible global connections offer new opportunities to damage the enemy and disrupt its economy. What are the implications for policy, and how can we become more resilient?

The main points in Sheikh's lecture:

1. The new world order forces us to understand geopolitical and geo-economics better and to understand their importance for policy-making, including the real political view that everything can be used as a weapon.
2. It is crucial to understand the importance of strategic autonomy. In order to become more resilient, it may be necessary to (re) locate essential production functions (on-shoring) or in friendly countries (friend-shoring).
3. It is equally important to maintain and strengthen dialogue with countries that are ideologically different. Despite diversity of worldview, there can still be shared values and ideas that can be further developed. From there, conflicts can be de-escalated and steps taken towards new cooperation structures.
4. Strategic policy means compromise. It is essential to understand the policy implications in different dimensions and to see that a price will have to be paid for certain compromises, in the short or long term.
5. It is important to talk to citizens and business about these geopolitical issues, because everything is interconnected. Citizens and business need to be involved in policy-making, including in order to be able to accept the negative effects of certain decisions on their own well-being.

For the full report of this reading and dialogue, see: Socires Lecture on the "Geopolitics and the war in Ukraine " the weaponization of economy and food by Professor Haroon Sheikh.