Fostering national identities through entrepreneurship

The greatest challenge facing the region is the inability of its nations to preserve their human capital. This is especially true in a world in which national affiliations are being overtaken by a sense of “global citizenship” that is being driven by the desire to pursue economic and social prosperity.  I will focus my remarks on four areas: opportunity, choice, entrepreneurship, and future.

Opportunity
The world has endured several transformations. The current transformation dates back to the collapse of the Soviet Union, which led to US hegemony over the world. The defining moment of the period in which we live today was the catastrophic 9-11 attacks in New York City and Washington DC and the response to those attacks by a violent US administration. The world’s attention focused not on Saudi Arabia, which produced the “stars” of the tragedy, but to the Levant: Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq.  The world was looking at the area from where everything started: The eyes of people around the world were set on this part from which we all—if we truly wish to do so—can trace our roots. The differences that were highlighted carried also the seeds of a common ground on which a new understanding can be achieved, and indeed a new civilization conceived, but not automatically.

Based on the experience of my generation and the generations that preceded us, the intervention of Great Powers has not brought prosperity and peace, but chaos and catastrophe such as the situation that is prevailing today in Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon. An accumulation of bad news credited –whether fairly or not- to our part of the world led to an attempt by the people of the West to understand the complicated—and wealthy—East. Another distinguishing characteristic of the age in which we live today is that this Old World (the East) is now inhabited by New People. This is not because the Old People made a conscious decision to become New but rather because they were forced to change in response to globalization and technology.  The identity of these New People (especially those in the young generation) is now reduced to three elements: his/her first and last name, cellular phone number, and email address. These are mobile elements of one’s identity that travel with you wherever you go in pursuit of prosperity, making him belong to an experience rather than a place.

The third feature of our current age is related to the existence of an unprecedented monetary surplus, as never before seen in human history.
Let us look back at some of the transformations and revolutions that took place in the past: the Agricultural Revolution at the turn of the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution at the end of the same century, along with the “electrification of humanity” with the launch of commercial lamplights at the end of the 19th century. Then came the revolution of war during the 20th century, together with unprecedented innovation in information, technology, and preventive security. One might ask: how will our children and grandchildren name the time in which we live today—the early days of the 21st century? Perhaps they will refer to this period as the Revolution of Wealth.

Today we have people who are ‘globalized’ in the sense they are stimulated by events that created the Western ‘culture of prosperity’, and they model themselves after the personalities behind these events. They grew up and were educated in places or societies that were thriving with hidden opportunities; for them now is the perfect time for wake up the sleeping giant. Technology and globalization granted them a different identity; one that challenges the traditional/patriotic one that defined their parents’ identity. This ‘globalized’ man will have the following choices: to bring this world, with all its development and technology, to his native land; to leave his land for this new world; or to stay behind in his native land and forget the rest of the world.  In all cases, there is an opportunity: an opportunity that will either win for ourselves, or lose to someone else.

Choice
Therefore, a young man or woman stands at a crossroad every day and must decide to leave and survive or to stay behind and surrender and shrink. A third choice would be to take up the challenge and grow. If most young men choose the first or second options (leaving or surrendering) then our country will not benefit from this opportunity. The brain wealth of the Syrian people, which is itself an accumulation of thousands of years of human progress and civilization, will be invested in faraway countries. The same is true with smart economic wealth (with the exception of real estate and services), which will leave for countries that will build upon it, expand it, and give it room to grow.
Globalization and technology produce an identity crisis for us today. Those of us who decide to pack up and leave will not be expatriates in the traditional sense of the word. Those who leave their lands because of what the rest of the world has to offer will not be bound by nationalism or a desire to return home.

Those who choose to surrender on the other hand will live on the margins of life, even if they have an important position in their small community. Because of their weakness, and because they belong neither ‘here’ nor ‘there,’ they will look at the world with awe and bewilderment. In so doing, they will contribute to the partial or perhaps even complete withering of their nation’s economic, social, and political structure.

Those who decide to stay behind and grow, however, belong to a world that combines both identities. They say: I am Syrian. I am proud to be Syrian. But they also say that I am a person of the world, someone who wants to leave this world a better place than it was when I arrived.  They work to build the present and the future and continue to try even if they fail. Those who make this choice want to grow: in terms of production, financial return (thereby providing a better life for themselves), and education (both for them and their children). They also want to provide for their parents and their families.

Entrepreneurship
Those who decide to take up the challenge do not expect immediate results. On the contrary, they believe in “beginnings” and on pursuing whatever goal they have in mind with unlimited determination.  They are not derailed by obstacles along the way but believe instead that it is only the results that are measured at the end—when the curtain falls—that matter.  These kinds of people firmly believe that the smallest of deeds are greater than the biggest of words. They believe in themselves and their ability to change and chart new horizons, not only for themselves, however, but also, for all those around them (friends, families, colleagues, and fellow citizens). Those who take up the challenge see opportunities and transform them into ideas. They then transform ideas into reality.

Nations used to strive for self-sufficiency in agriculture or industry. But a self-sufficient nation in today’s world will mean a nation that has an army of self-sufficient young people, who will build a strong economy and launch private initiatives that support the nation’s priorities and maximize the nation’s strengths.  This is where we can find the common demonstrator—what it is that entrepreneurs and leaders share. They are people who are motivated by a need to achieve and a strong desire to leave behind a positive legacy. Their passion and ambitions drive them to build, create prosperity, and own the future. Entrepreneurs are able to take initiatives and to think in a positive and comprehensive manner, in which obstacles are nothing but small details that must be overcome along the way.  Their eyes are always focused on the end of the play, when the curtain falls.

Entrepreneurs are creative people who spot opportunities and exploit resources to conceive an initiative.  They spread prosperity and move not only money, but real estate as well, along with human capital, technology, and ideas. This spirit is what brings about change and can help to improve industries, especially in rural areas that have been left behind in the rush to modernity.  What inspire business entrepreneurs are their emancipation, and their ability to take charge and stop relying on “the other” whether this “other” is the government, the father, or a friend. It makes them stronger and more determined to achieve great results, all the while maintaining a strong attachment to a prospering nation.

Future
The future is a responsibility we have for ourselves and for the generations that will come after us. The future that we strive for will one day become the ‘past’ for those who succeed us. We must bequeath to future generations a solid ground on which they can build their futures so that they do not spend their time eulogizing ancient achievements that took place hundreds of years ago but from which they have not benefited in any tangible way.  Social entrepreneurs (including many of you) and young entrepreneurs (many of whom are with us this evening on this beautiful Damascene evening), personify the art of the start, and actually commit the act of the start.

What is happening in Syria today might be the start of a whole new experience, one that is unique, the launch of a “fourth sector.” The first was governmental, then the private business sector, the third was civil society, and the fourth is a partnership of all three. Therefore, we can name this fourth sector, which is based on entrepreneurship and initiative, “the sector of common interests.”
This sector will play a leading role in rebuilding the same values that were put forward in the United Nations Global Compact initiative. It lays the groundwork for a renaissance and preservation of social security, promoting growth and inspiring people to respond to the challenge.

It may be that a fourth sector will not emerge.  We won’t know unless—or until—we try.  We need to step onto the stage, to say the opening lines knowing that we will not be judged until the curtain falls at the end of the performance.  There are no beginnings without courage. A wise man said: “kad kurinat al-haybatu bil khaybati.”  Loosely translated it means: fear is associated with failure. Today, we have a real opportunity—thanks to international transformations that are taking place over which we have no control.  We must grab the opportunity and make the right decision. We must pursue business and social entrepreneurship as the fundamental tools of development and the way that is most likely to inspire business entrepreneurs and lead to a better future for us and for our children and their children.

Entrepreneurship is the art of the start. Entrepreneurs are people who look at a seed and see an entire tree—a tree of life with oxygen, flowers, and fruits. And with the seeds that will produce other trees.  In every seed, there is the promise for a new tree. In a start, there is always the promise for change, and in change there is the potential of a new world, that starts again from where the world originally started.

* This editorial is based on a talk that Abdulsalam Haykal, president of the Syrian Young Entrepreneurs Association, delivered at the ceremony to launch the United Nations Global Compact Initiative in Damascus, 7 July 2008.