In a world marked by shifting alliances and deepening divides, the Globalisation Seminar in Jodhpur, India, offered our Fellows a rare space to connect, challenge and reflect. Simon Freemantle and Cobus van Wyngaard (Class XIV: Pamoja), both committed to values-based leadership, share their experiences from this unique gathering. Their words remind us of the power of conversation, the weight of global responsibility and the enduring hope that comes from shared purpose.
As you read their reflections, notice the threads of courage, candour and commitment to the Good Society—qualities that define the ALI SA fellowship. Let their insights inspire us all to keep building bridges across borders and beliefs and to lead with integrity as we shape Africa’s future.
By Simon Freemantle
I arrived in Jodhpur with a sense of unease about the conversations that I anticipated I would need to have at the globalisation seminar. The world is in a state of deep flux. We are in the midst of Gramsci’s interregnum, surrounded by the chaotic manifestations, or ‘morbid symptoms’, of a dying order, and the uncertainties related to its successor. Political views carry consequences and can contribute to great harm. Being thrust into a room of strangers, unsure of their opinions on issues that matter greatly to me, I had begun to arm myself for combat. This, I knew, was not the ALI/Aspen way, but the prevailing global unease made it difficult to avoid.
And yet, within minutes of the opening meeting, I knew that my fears were unfounded. Not because there were no people in the room whose views jarred with mine. There were, and there always should be. But because of that indefinable ALI/Aspen alchemy, where these views can be expressed without lazy condemnation, where pathways for understanding and connection can be created, and where discussions over our contemporary personal and societal struggles can be placed in the broader contextual arc of historical and human endeavour. One Fellow spoke at the end of the seminar of how grateful he was for the ‘gift of conversation’; a gift that he fears he will not be as readily afforded when he returns home to the US, where ideological and political debates have become so profoundly polarised.
“As much as we all develop deep connections within our own cohorts, the globalisation seminar provided us with a tantalising sense of the wider fellowship that we are now connected to—and that can continue to challenge us, guide us, and inspire us well beyond our imminent graduation.”
India embraced us during these four magical days. We dined at an ancient palace, walked through bustling markets and, in a state of child-like joy, doused each other in flamboyant colours to celebrate Holi.
As the days passed, I began to dread the seminar’s end: I wanted to suck the marrow out of each possible conversation; each opportunity for connection and learning. And yet, as we closed, one of our moderators reminded us that this is not an end, but a beginning. As much as we all develop deep connections within our own cohorts, the globalisation seminar provided us with a tantalising sense of the wider fellowship that we are now connected to—and that can continue to challenge us, guide us, and inspire us well beyond our imminent graduation.
For all of its challenges and contradictions, there is a sense of such movement in India. It felt to me like a rushing river, foaming and churning as it pushes its way towards the sea. By contrast, South Africa seems still to be stuck in a deeper malaise—our river meanders more slowly, often failing to muster the strength necessary to push through the barriers that it finds in its way. Returning home, I felt more committed than ever to contributing towards a change of course—an invigoration of our collective path.
By Cobus van Wyngaard
Rumour has it that a high number of people who ended up in the India group actually requested India. I, anyway, had a sense that there was some self-selection at play in terms of who made the trek to Jodhpur from all over the world. The resulting dynamic was a group that found each other quickly and deeply, with conversations across geographic and ideological lines running deep into the nights.
Meeting within the first three months of Donald Trump’s current presidency and having space where those who are horrified at what his administration is doing, and those who are in deep support of the choices being made, could go into long conversations and truly hear each other was definitely one of the key things that I’ll remember from Globalisation. The people, the place, and the timing came together to bring out the best of what I would like to believe the Aspen Institute hopes to cultivate.
But there is also something about being a South African in this time. There were repeated remarks from those joining us from around the globe about our loyalty to and love for South Africa. It prompted some reflection among us, and I’m not sure we’ve yet been able to answer what exactly it is that formed us into people who are so deeply committed to South Africa, even while we are quite clear about its problems. But seeing ourselves in the mirror of Fellows from around the world was a reminder that the commitment South Africans from all walks of life hold to making this place work, is not something to be taken for granted. We can lose it. Maybe we are already losing it, and it might take a deep leadership imagination to sustain it through the current phase of seeking a more just society in South Africa.
“The people, the place, and the timing came together to bring out the best of what I would like to believe the Aspen Institute hopes to cultivate.”
But in the end, the bigger global challenge is what spoke to me. I kept returning to the Cobalt Pipeline throughout the week—to how the flow of profit is disconnected from the suffering that funds it. And the disconnect is exactly because of how responsibilities are imagined along the lines of national borders, while money and resources cross those same borders very easily. The challenge of the globe that will remain is that somehow, we will need to take global responsibility in the context of a global market. And as the walls around the world are seemingly being built higher as this year progresses, the value of people across ideological divides committing themselves to a more ethical and just world is something that I would want to keep on nurturing.
Scenes from the Globalisation Seminar
From L-R: Simon Freemantle, Vuyo Radebe, Heather Sonn, Cobus van Wyngaard
Heather Sonn (ALI SA) and James Abraham (Ananta Aspen Centre’s Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellowship)
