by Peter A. Arthur-Smith

“Life’s biggest tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.” Benjamin Franklin.

A major newspaper reporter in November 2022 wrote about the enormous migration crisis facing the world. She listed among the main drivers impacting this current phenomenon as “a devastating combination of pandemic fallout, climate change, growing conflict and rising inflation. It is creating a seismic shift in migration, sending millions of people from their homes.” While it is undeniable that all these factors have a significant impact on migration, she completely missed the most important bullet: that is, the lack of country/world leadership competence and “will” that inspires this mass migration.

Starting with Venezuela and countries in Central America – including Mexico – they seem incapable of producing competent leaders. That’s why America is flooded with refugees at its southern border. America’s solution to the issue doesn’t look so good either. We also see the same thing in Africa and the Middle East, where corrupt leaders and incompetent bureaucrats have no idea how to provide stable and protective government. If they were effective leaders, the immigration issue would virtually disappear.

With competent leaders such countries would produce workable solutions to provide safer societies and gainful workplace environments for their populations. They would generate the revenues to support basic human needs. Instead they spend their country’s money on luxury yachts, enormous mansions, feather-bedding their families, and adding corrupt sycophants around them.

Ensuring countries have competent leaders should be one of the key objectives of the United Nations. By succeeding with such a vital mission it would have a significant, positive impact on the world. To accomplish this, it should address two critical issues:

• Establish a World Renowned Leadership Campus to be attended by all those intent on becoming their country’s leader. It should put together an appropriate leadership curriculum combined with a heavy-weight, international faculty. It would require aspiring political and operational leaders – see 2) below – to attend a two year program of theory and in-country practice; along with accomplishing appropriate leadership “discovery” milestones transparent to electorates. (NOTE: Discovery = Assigned key leader-ship projects in their own country/region to “discover” ways to be effective people-leaders.)
• To seriously consider “Paired-Leaders” for every country, where one takes the political lead and the other takes an operational lead. It’s very unusual for political leaders to be good at both. We already have countless roles where people operate in pairs to fulfill their commitments – parents, pilots, police patrols, surgeons, military patrols, even astute business partnerships, and so on.

“Political leaders” would be chosen by their electorate after satisfactory graduation from the UN’s World Leadership Campus. “Operational leaders” would attend also, although would be chosen by their country’s civil servants and influential societal bodies to provide wise and effective “organizational” leadership. These latter individuals would be given a 3-5 year remit to meet their society’s day-to-day operating needs. They would be equal in standing to their political leaders when assigned; that is, they would be Co-Presidents/Prime ministers/Country leaders. So many politicians are clearly not terribly effective operational leaders.

So coming back to the earlier distinguished journalist’s viewpoint about migration; her thesis, while heart-rending, is fraught with a degree of bias as well as misses the main driver of immigration – ineffective leadership. In our tendency to point fingers, we too often overlook this fundamental driver of our world immigration issue. We let our country leaders off-the-proverbial-hook too easily, when they are clearly a key part of the issue.  Only when the United Nations itself commands competent leaders will we begin to put our arms around our world immigration crisis. Right now, we seem poised for another major world conflict purely because we have the wrong leaders in place!

Perhaps it would be a good idea if we all do our best to start instigating a change for the better by:

► Deliberate over passing this article around within your circle and ask for people’s ideas on how things could be changed for the better

► Ponder asking friends and acquaintances if they know of people in influential positions, who would be interested in taking up this important torch

► Look at writing to your local newspaper editor and request that he/she give due importance to the topic

► Think about bringing the matter up at your next professional association, social club and/or social gathering sessions to encourage support for change

► Consider writing to your Senator or Congress person and request they pursue ways to instigate world leadership changes – including challenging the UN leadership to move forward on this issue

► Contemplate sharing your concerns about this issue at every worthwhile venue

Once public opinion gets behind the right movement, feel free to play your part in helping it to succeed.

Let’s get started!