The Kerala International Center, Trivandrum in partnership with the German Consulate
at the Goethe-Zentrum, Trivandrum held a meeting on 1st December 2024 (Sunday), 7 PM
onwards, discussing the topic “World at The End Of 2024”. The event was welcomed by
the host, Dr Zyed Ibrahim, Director, Goethe-Zentrum, while Mr T P Sreenivasan IFS,
Director General, KIC, moderated the session by outlining the issues and sought
comments from the distinguished gathering.

6 Items were put forward as discussion points. They were:

• Elections Around the World: Trends & Significance
• Aggravated Wars: Ukraine & Israel-Palestine
• Ceasefire in Lebanon
• Technology Disruptions: AI
• Environmental Issues: COP 29
• Trump Presidency 2.0 on the Horizon

Dr. Anilkumar opened the discussion by stating that at present, a global trend could be
seen towards liberalism, even though it may be fraught with problems such as biases
towards the rich, use of muscle power and increased election expenditures. In stark
contrast, Dr. Josekutty pointed out that we are witnessing a withdrawal of globalisation,
along with the rise of nationalism and questioning of cosmopolitanism. Mr. T K A Nair
IAS looking upon the state of the USA, opined that currently USA is a polarised and
divisive society, where the judicial system is compromised. He also indicated that with
the election of Donald Trump, transactional policy will be followed among nations. Mr.
Raji Menon looked upon the Ukraine crisis and questioned the legitimacy of President
Zelensky, along with observing that NATO’s Ukraine support is untenable. T
Balakrishnan IAS looked upon the ceasefire in Lebanon and suggested that the ceasefire
will hold, even becoming permanent, while also pointing out that the USA was
instrumental in forcing Israel to a ceasefire. On the flare-up in Syria, he explained that it
may be a diversion by the USA & Turkey to help the crumbling Ukrainian defences. Mr
Dineshan R indicated the ineffectiveness of sanctions on Russia and increasing intra-
Islam schism, of which the way out seems to be shaking hands with Iran. Mr Rajeev
Srinivasan commented that AI will lead to job loss, while at the same time declared that
technology is a geoeconomic issue, with the G-2 (USA & China) set to dominate the world
in terms of technology. He also proposed to nurture our Indian Knowledge System (IKS)
by funding our own “Manhattan Project” for IKS, otherwise we may turn into a digital
colony. Dr. Zyed Ibrahim exclaimed that financial institutions are not supportive of the
IT industry, when the question of why there is no effective start-up ecosystem came up.
Dr Mohanan Pillai was against the notion of the decline of US hegemony and remarked
that there is no alternative for the dollar system. On the issue of climate change, Mr. C
M A Nayar contended the effectiveness of climate negotiations. He maintained that there
are only proclamations, but no implementation on the ground, with his position on carbon
trade being “An Absolute Nonsense”.

The session came to a conclusion with a poem recital by Mrs. Neerada Suresh,
Chairperson, KIC Literary Forum.