In recent weeks, we have been following developments in the Middle East, which at first glance seem quite distant from us, yet this is not necessarily the case. Many of our citizens had difficulties returning home from that region when the conflict there began around three weeks ago. Last weekend, many of us in Slovenia were searching for petrol stations where we could actually refuel.
All of the above is a consequence of “something” happening “somewhere far away” from us. But that distance is meant only geographically. Economically and financially, in trade and in many other ways, the world has long been interconnected and functions in a coordinated way. Stock market indices in Tokyo, London and New York have been closely aligned for years. Just like financial flows, trade flows and supply flows, crises today are also global and interconnected.
The first such global crisis of the present era was the major financial crisis that broke out in the United States in 2008 due to bad loans, and then spread across the world, including Slovenia in the following year, which resulted in a record number of unemployed people and numerous bankruptcies. In 2015, Slovenia faced a major migrant crisis, triggered by the war in Syria – with almost one million migrants crossing the country. We all still remember what happened during the Covid-19 pandemic, which broke out in China.
Shortly said, events on one side of the world have had consequences on the other side for quite some time now.
The current developments in the Middle East are already having consequences for tourism and airlines across the entire region. Fuel prices have also already started to rise. If the conflict in Iran continues for some time, this will also mean higher food production costs in the coming months. If the fighting continues even longer, it will have major consequences for us during the heating season, especially for those who heat with fuel oil or gas.
So what should we do in today’s unpredictable and globally connected environment? Charles Darwin argued that it is not the strongest who survive, but those who are able to adapt. Today’s environment is highly unpredictable and change is the only constant.
That is why today’s students, whom we are preparing for professions that we do not yet even know in precise terms, can only be prepared for the following: changes will be fast and there will be a lot of them. Events on the other side of the world, over which we have no influence whatsoever, will affect us. Those who are prepared for such an environment, will have a significant advantage in the years to come.
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