Alpine Symposium 2017: Trumputin, Brexit and Populism

In the presentations and discussions by high-ranking representatives from politics, business, sports and society, global topics such as the newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump, Putin, China, Europe with Brexit and the worldwide populist trends dominated in front of a sold-out audience. A highlight at the end was offered by the new FC Bayern president Uli Hoeness, who in an interview with moderator Stephan Klapproth spoke emphatically about personal and professional successes and failures as well as his management strategy at the leading German football club.

Europe must find itself anew

In the midst of a Europe in upheaval, an uncertain political and economic development in the USA and China, and in the age of rapid digitalization, Switzerland must find its way again. The speakers at the 15th Alpine Symposium in Interlaken agreed on this. Belgian politician Guy Verhofstadt, Brexit chief negotiator and candidate for the Presidency of the European Parliament, worried as a convinced European that there is no unified view of developments in the EU. And he openly admitted: "Our institutions in Europe are not made for crisis situations!" Verhofstadt saw the UK's exit "as the mother of all divorces," but also as a great opportunity to reinvent the EU as an institution. In the current situation and with Trump as U.S. president, a reorganization is not only a possibility, but a necessity, the committed politician demanded.

For the well-known Middle East correspondent Ulrich Tilgner, the failure of the West in the Middle East with U.S. interventions, combined with the flight into traditions and the past there, has strengthened terrorism and encouraged the emergence of the Islamic State (IS). He made clear that fundamentalist proselytizing and related terrorist ideologies are funded by Saudi Arabia. In Tilgner's view, terrorism cannot be fought by military means, but only with economic and political aid on the ground. In particular, he accuses the Obama administration of having "failed to understand the lesson". He has too often relied on the wrong partners, because partnerships with governments of states where terrorism is gaining a foothold are partnerships with precisely those who create terrorism in the first place, according to Tilgner.

Presidential one-man show and turning away from Europe

SRF presenter and former US correspondent Arthur H. Honegger painted a bleak picture in view of Donald Trump's presidency. He said his voters wanted things to come crashing down, and that the one-man show he apparently intends to pull off even as president has already shaken confidence in institutions. "I'm not particularly optimistic about the next four years," Honegger said. For stock market and finance specialist Dirk Mueller, Trump's election was anything but an accident. The stock market was not unhappy about the election, he said. Müller saw opportunities in the announced tax breaks and government investments that would determine the first half of 2017. US companies are to be lured with low taxes to bring their billions parked abroad back to America. However, he saw major risks in the global advance of nationalists as a reaction to globalization, as well as a high inflation risk and rising interest rates already in the second half of the year.

Monika Rühl, Chairwoman of the economiesuisse Executive Board, also fears that the USA will turn away from Europe and that there will be a tendency toward political populism accompanied by economic protectionism. She made it clear that in view of Brexit, Switzerland would also be affected if there were a structural crisis and economic slump in the UK, an important trading partner. For a strong Swiss economy, Rühl called for a "yes" to tax reform, stable relations with the EU, and a viable solution in the area of pension provision.

Klaus Wowereit, the former mayor of Berlin, was more optimistic. He expressed satisfaction with his 14 years in government in Berlin. From a high level of debt and a subsidy mentality that was prevalent everywhere, he said, he had managed, through a radical program and creative people, to bring Berlin to the point where it could now invest under its own steam in the face of financial surpluses. For the development of larger communities, it is important to form a society that is free. If you allow discrimination, you will not get the creative forces.

More Magic Moments at the Alpine Symposium

Under the motto "Think big. Create future." organizer Oliver Stoldt invited entrepreneurial people to present their ideas to an enthusiastic audience from business and society for the 15th time. A massive load of Swissness was presented by passionate entrepreneur Céline Renaud, Sunrise CEO Olaf Swantee, founder and CEO of pom+, Dr. Peter Staub, and CSS board member Hans Künzle at the company talk. Successful photographer and philanthropist Hannes Schmid, who created the Marlboro Man, photographed hundreds of pop and rock stars and paints hyper-realistically, presented an impressive show of his work.

In its anniversary edition, the Alpine Symposium again offered the best opportunities for valuable personal contacts, business, client relations and social presence. Organizer Oliver Stoldt and conference manager Janin Heukamp succeeded in creating numerous "magic moments" at the innovative conference with innovation strategist Anders Sörman-Nilsson or successful profiler Suzanne Grieger-Langer. She has made it her business to identify the real "whistle blowers" in companies. The audience had to smile about the following dialog between moderator Stephan Klapproth and the speaker: Klapproth: "Where is the whistle quotient highest?" - Grieger-Langer: "In government agencies and corporations." - Klapproth: "50:50?"- Grieger-Langer: "No comment." Furthermore, whatchado founder Ali Mahlodji called for investing in today's 15-year-olds. After all, they will be the new adults in 10 years' time and will have to solve our problems one day. And last but not least, the two athletes Silvan Zurbriggen and Joey Kelly impressed the audience at this year's Alpine Symposium with their reports on how goals can be achieved with willpower and iron discipline.

Link to the event