GZERO Daily is a free newsletter!

In a food crisis, export controls are "worst possible" thing to do, says UN Foundation chief

The war in Ukraine has aggravated a global food crisis that started with the pandemic. Is there anything we can do about it?

The UN is trying, but there needs to be a much more ambitious response to what is already a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, UN Foundation President Elizabeth Cousens said during a Global Stage livestream discussion hosted by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She was joined by Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media; Brad Smith, president and vice chair of Microsoft; and moderator Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic.


That means looking "at the underlying fundamentals of this crisis as well beyond the most immediate and acute needs, how we address food security at large."

For instance, Cousens explains, export controls might be tempting when you want to "fall back within your own borders and preserve. But it's the worst possible thing you could do at a moment like this."

Still, many people will want a nationalist response if they can't afford basic food staples. And she gets it: "That's a fair frustration to understand, even if the solutions may not be the right remedy."

Watch more of this Global Stage discussion: "Crisis in a digital world"

More from Global Stage

Is there a path ahead for peace in Ukraine?

As we approach the grim first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – which came on the heels of last year’s Munich Security Conference – GZERO is back in Germany, discussing the past year since the war began, what’s likely to come next, and what it means for the world.

Ian Bremmer: The West is united on Russian energy, the rest of the world is not

With talk at this year’s Munich Security Conference from most of the world’s most powerful countries about decoupling from Russian energy, it can be easy to forget that most of the world’s population has other priorities. “What we're seeing is that a majority of the world's economic strength and certainly military strength really wants to put Russia back in a box, but a majority of the world's population does not,” said Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer during a Global Stage livestream conversation.

AI at the tipping point: danger to information, promise for creativity

Artificial intelligence is on everyone's mind these days. The potential for AI to mess up democracy is scary, but the truth is that it can also make the world a better place. So, are bots good or bad for us? We asked a few experts to weigh in during the Global Stage livestream conversation "Risks and Rewards of AI," hosted by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft at this year's World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Tech innovation can outpace cyber threats, says Microsoft's Brad Smith

AI is having a giant moment of growth, as is the ability for actors to use it nefariously. In an uncertain global environment, how can the US outpace challenges in cyberspace? “One of the things that I find just fascinating about the development of AI…it's actually an area where if you take the problems seriously and you have an engineering team that's willing and prepared to work on a moment's notice, you can correct the problems far faster than you can solve most problems in life,” said Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith at this year’s Munich Security Conference.

We should not underestimate Putin, says NATO’s Benedetta Berti

The war in Ukraine may not have gone the way Vladimir Putin expected, but his objectives remain the same. “I don’t think we underestimated Russia’s strategy and what they were planning in Ukraine … If anything, maybe at the beginning we had overestimated the Russians’ military capabilities,” says Benedetta Berti, NATO’s policy planning chief at the Munich Security Conference.

Mongolia: the democracy between Russia and China

After a peaceful revolution in 1990, Mongolia established a democracy that remains strong today. Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj is one of the founders of Mongolia’s democracy and served as both President and Prime Minister of his nation. As he continues to advocate for freedom globally, he’s speaking out about the importance of supporting Ukraine’s struggle against Russian aggression.

Digital Equity