«We are in the second cold war»

His lecture took place in the very hall where British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his famous “Let Europe Arise!” speech in 1946. Prof. Ferguson sees a central difference in the current situation compared to the first Cold War: Instead of the possibility of mutual nuclear destruction, mutual financial destruction has occurred. Globalization has led to a much stronger economic interdependence between the U.S. and China than ever existed between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. This is economically dangerous for the whole world.

In his presentation, he also goes into more detail on whether the Taiwan conflict could be a repetition of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 with reversed signs. In the event of an intensification of this conflict, Switzerland would also be threatened with severe financial consequences before a shot had even been fired. The importance of neutrality for Switzerland is also discussed.