The world appears to be fraying at the edges, with fundamental social, economic and political divides peppered with overheated and demeaning rhetoric, refusal to compromise, loss of trust, and partisanship all the time.[1]And such a disaffected and divided world is a significant threat to our society.^[2] Addressing these issues is “an economic necessity”, as they are not just bad for effective public policy and governance, but bad for business and the economy.[3]

But why is this happening? Cooperation is an essential aspect of life and society, so what is stopping so many of us – including our political and government leaders – from listening respectfully, communicating civilly, and cooperating?^[4]

The answer, while complicated, can be broken down to this – across the globe, deepening social, economic, and political polarization^[5] and partisan ‘zero-sum’ ideology^[6] is having a profound and negative effect on our society, undermining trust in government and business and in each other, eroding civil discourse and weakening our democratic institutions, the rule of law, and market legitimacy and effectiveness.^[7]  Economic inequality and cultural and political polarization has contributed to a fragmentation in the political process in Western democracies that has undermined trust and civil discourse and complicated the forming of stable co-operative governments or implementing effective policies.^[8]

[T]he global landscape is increasingly fragile and … [a]round the world, frustration with years of stagnant wages, the effect of technology on jobs, and uncertainty about the future – [and unnerved by fundamental economic changes and the failure of government to provide lasting solutions] – have fueled popular anger, nationalism, and xenophobia. In response, some of the world’s leading democracies have descended into wrenching political dysfunction, which has exacerbated, rather than quelled, this public frustration. Trust in multilateralism and official institutions is crumbling.

– Larry Fink, Chair and CEO, Blackrock[9]

When trust is depleted in formerly bedrock institutions, when people – rightly or wrongly – come to believe that the “system” does not reflect their values, is not under their control, and no longer works to their benefit people lose faith and trust in their leaders, institutions do not work effectively, business is impacted, and societies and economies falter.[10]

And when institutional trust declines, all institutions – including business and the legal system – suffer the consequences whether they steer clear of politics or not. In this environment there is a danger that a divided and disaffected society may be influenced by ideologies, anger and fear disconnected from facts, reason and logic. And this is fertile ground for a deeply polarized and reactionary form of politics and societal unrest unsuited to the complex times in which we live.^[11] 

Business, legal and other institutional leaders within civil society (including academia) will need to make a decision whether to maintain their status quo or provide more responsive and principled leadership – to engage in open dialogue and a common search for solutions with government and political leaders – to address these collective societal challenges.  This is a unique opportunity for organizations to consider making purpose and social responsibility a core part of their long-term sustainable strategy and identity, addressing ways to strengthen the political, economic, and social systems of the societies and communities in which they operate. [12]  The “ultimate question” that business and legal leaders need to ask is whether, “in seeking to advance their interests, they can do so in a way which helps to heal, rather than exacerbate, the ills in our political system and political processes” given “their ultimate interest in the maintenance of a healthy constitutional democracy and mixed economy which depends on a functional political system to strike the right balance between sound public policy and sound private ordering”.[13]

Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose. To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society. Companies must benefit all of their stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, and the communities in which they operate.

– Larry Fink, Chair and CEO, Blackrock[14]

Corporate citizenship is no longer simply a corporate social responsibility program, a marketing initiative, or a program led by human resources. It is now a Board and CEO-level business strategy – in many cases defining the organization’s very identity. Issues such as diversity and inclusion, income and wealth inequality, gender pay equity, a changing employment landscape, civility, immigration, the rule of law and democracy, and global warming are being openly discussed by individuals, families, and political leaders around the world. And research shows that many stakeholders are frustrated with political solutions to these problems and now expect business and legal leaders to help address these critical problems[15]:[16]

“The role of business leaders has changed. On one hand, the pressure to deliver customer and shareholder value is as strong as ever, but there is now the expectation of a strong social position as well. The CEO is now the central representative of the company’s values and the causes they choose to speak on determine the way that company is perceived in the public sphere. It speaks to values that consumers, partners and employees consider when deciding to align themselves with a particular brand. …

[T]he end result is that social and commercial domains are becoming increasingly merged … and within that paradigm, pushing a social agenda that is in line with the customer’s values quickly becomes less of a novelty and more of a central requirement for brand trust.”

When social, ethical and leadership responsibility is recognized as part of an organization’s business model, it can attract positive publicity, retain top talent, improve relationships with clients and customers and their communities, and sustain if not amplify financial success.[17]  The benefits can be far and wide, particularly due to the fact that what is good for society also supports and benefits business and our key institutions.

Trust is required by business and business and legal leaders, and “building trust is now the number one job for CEO’s”.[18] Whether it’s ethically the right thing to do, or simply good for business, the fact is that business has a crucial role to play. It is the business sector – and our other key institutions and their leaders – that are uniquely placed to foster positive change, not only through its products and/or services but also by its leadership talent, networks, international perspective, capital, and influence on policy and civil society. Failure to do so risks seriously undermining future prosperity and inflicting unnecessary social, economic and environmental costs on our societies. And only by making these challenges a priority can business and legal leaders rebuild society’s trust and confidence.[19]

Prominent members of the business community can exert real influence on political and social outcomes; and within that paradigm, pushing a social agenda that is in line with the customer’s values quickly becomes less of a novelty and more of a central requirement for brand trust.

– Simon Wilkins, Business Chief[20]

Introduction

In today’s society “we delegate important aspects of our well-being to the four institutions of (1) government (public policy and national security), (2) business (economic well-being), (3) media (information and knowledge), and (4) NGOs (social causes and issues). In order to feel safe delegating important aspects of our lives and well-being to others” citizens in countries across the globe must “trust them to act with integrity and with our best interests in mind. Trust, therefore, is at the heart of an individual’s relationship with an institution and, by association, its leadership. If trust in these institutions diminishes”, people “begin to fear that we are no longer in safe, reliable hands.^[21]

Without trust, civil discourse,^[22] and cooperation “the fabric of society can unravel to the detriment of all”.^[23] And the divisions in our society are now so deep and pervasive that “it could take a generation for us to reconcile these differences, bring” our citizens “together and find a unifying vision of our” society, our institutions, and our countries, and – to build “a sense of purpose and direction that takes us forward into the modern world”.[24]

Not surprisingly, it is hard to avoid becoming cynical.[25] Loss of trust in, and respect for, our institutions and political leaders[26] is one of the central issues of our time. Confidence in government institutions is falling,[27] and a compromised society and political process – one without trust, civil discourse and cooperation – is bad for nations, bad for society, and bad for business.

I can’t remember a time when [a country’s] problems seemed so large and the politicians confronting them felt so small.

– Helen Lewis, New Statesman[28]

So, how do we rebuild trust, civility and cooperation in an increasingly angry and fractured society? This is a fairly important question in these politically polarizing times as we continue to see a loss of faith in our political leaders, our governments (executive, legislative, and judicial), business, and our other major institutions (i.e. media, NGOs)[29] – and our political and government leaders appear in many cases to be “no longer able to tackle some of our toughest challenges”.[30]

Without a basic shared framework of mutual understanding, trust and civility, legitimate public action is very difficult to initiate or sustain.[31] In this environment – of social, economic and political tension, and an increasingly divided and disaffected society – a new approach to building societal trust, civility and cooperation is required. Yes, every institution must play its part to educate its constituents and joining the public debate,[32] including politicians and government officials, but circumstances appear to demand that today’s leadership must come in new and different forms.

Every society needs leadership. Historically, this has been the role of elected officials, while business, legal, academic and other institutional leaders were expected to focus on pursuing their more narrowly defined areas of expertise. But that appears to be no longer sufficient for the 21^st century world we live in today.[33] 

Being a socially responsible company can bolster a company’s image and build its brand. The public perception of a company is critical to customer and shareholder confidence in the company. By projecting a positive image, a company can make a name for itself for not only being financially profitable, but socially conscious as well. … When companies are involved in the community, they stand out from the competition.

– Why is social responsibility important to a business, Investopedia[34]

People today have less trust in their political and social institutions, and many expect business and legal leaders to fill the gap. Increasingly our citizens are “turning to the private sector and asking that” business and legal organizations “respond to broader societal challenges”, demanding that organizations “serve a social purpose”.[35] Organizations are no longer being assessed based only on traditional metrics such as financial performance, or even the quality of their products or services. Rather, organizations today are increasingly being judged on the basis of their relationships with their employees, their customers, and their communities, “as well as their impact on society at large – transforming them from business enterprises into social enterprises. This is not a matter of altruism: doing so is critical to maintaining an organization’s reputation; to attracting, retaining, and engaging critical employees; and to cultivating loyalty among clients and customers”.[36]

In today’s environment, many corporations and businesses have to be far more democratic than democratically elected officials.[37] At a time when Western countries’ political class appear to be catering to ever-narrower slices of the electorate, businesses and their leadership teams must be responsive to a broader swath of society in order to be successful. Not surprisingly, properly addressing and appealing to the widest possible swath of people – and strengthening their brands – is good for business. And, while “inclusiveness” appears to be seen as “not good politics” for politicians in this day of polarization and micro-targeting, it is “good business” for corporations and legal organizations.[38]

Notwithstanding a one-day fall in its stock market value, [for Nike] to embrace [NFL social justice activist Colin] Kaepernick as a spokesperson is to make a shrewd longer term business move.

–  Is Colin Kaepernick’s Nike deal activism – or just capitalism, The Guardian[39]

Business, legal, and institutional leaders are increasingly being judged not just on their stewardship of their organizations, “but also on whether they effectively used their clout to address the greatest societal challenges of our times”.^[40] Leadership is now required from business, law and other institutional leaders in the form of “statesmanship” or “statespersonship”, an “enlightened self-interest” that understands that the well-being of our institutions and businesses is ultimately determined by the well-being of the society within which they operate.[41] 

Statesmanship transcends the basic principles of leadership – “being a type of leadership in action” – that every leader has the capacity to exhibit, even if it is sometimes fleeting and contextually dependent:[42]

“Leaders who engage in statesmanship have made, do make, and can still make a difference. But there are no guarantees we’ll have them. We dare not trust to providence that they will emerge. We must seek out and foster statesmanship. …

Statesmanship is defined as much by who leaders are as the skills they possess. Leaders who forge good societies are not just clever tacticians. Their skills rest on a foundation of moral values and a deep understanding of history. …

To raise the bar still higher, even this is not enough. Acts of statesmanship also call forth moral character in others. Leaders don’t just apply skills to a measureable goal in some strategic plan. They have an understanding of what constitutes a good society. While they cannot command it, they can expect it. Indeed, it is their capacity to elicit higher character in others in pursuit of the good society that turns statesmanship in theory into statesmanship in practice. …

At turning points [in history] statesmanship matters, and the direction of society can hang in the balance”.

In this respect, in discussing business leaders and statesmanship, the Committee for Economic Development described this type of leadership as: “the kind of thinking and behavior that recognizes societal health as part of what it means to be a business leader” – recognizing that societal issues are critical to “businesses and the overall health of our economy and society”.[43] Similarly, legal leaders may give life to the “Lawyer Statesman” – as “reliable guides to wise human conduct” – through the beneficial use of their skills “in service to the larger community”.[44] The essence of being a “lawyer statesman” is to move beyond the question – ‘is it legal?’ – to the ultimate question – ‘is it right?’[45]

[Former General Counsel Benjamin] Heineman articulates a vision of the general counsel’s role that is in many ways at odds with 1980s-era managers’ and lawyers’ ethics. He emphatically rejects the … thesis that the sole task of management is to maximize shareholder value, as measured by short-term share price, and resurrects the managerialist view that the corporation has responsibilities to its many constituencies – including employees, customers, creditors, suppliers, and communities.

– Robert Gordon, The Return of the Lawyer-Statesman?[46]

In this time of political uncertainty and turmoil, the geopolitical and societal risks at home and abroad suggest influential business, legal, academic and other institutional leaders must model appropriate leadership, reach out, and build trust. Business and law – like democracy – is not a spectator sport. There are serious and important policy issues at play that are significantly impacting our institutions, business and the economy, the rule of law, and society. A healthy counter-balance of policy requires leadership and civil discussion not only among those leaders in government able to do so, but also leaders in all of our key institutions, in particular our business and legal leaders.[47]

Business and legal leaders are well-positioned to educate the public and policymakers, and some of these leaders are indeed beginning to embrace societal issues, speaking out and tackling them with a problem-solving mindset.[48] And yet, the number of such leaders that remain silent far outnumbers those stepping up. This despite the fact that our business and legal leaders (and their organizations) are no longer being judged solely on their stewardship of their organizations, but also on whether they are stepping into the void to at least attempt to address “the greatest societal challenges of our times”.^[49]

This does not mean, however, that the business or legal Statesman acts impulsively or recklessly. Just the opposite, the “CEO Statesman” and “Lawyer Statesman” must act strategically and adopt many of the tried-and-true methods employed by traditional diplomats. In particular, the business and legal “Statesperson” must adhere to the values and methods of: authenticity, coalition building, and clear, effective communication and tone-from-the-top (walking the talk). Given the gridlock and pessimism emanating from democratic governments across the globe, this shift holds the prospect for positive major change at scale.[50]

How do we empower those who fear they’ve lost their voice? How do we restore broad-based faith in a system too many feel is broken? The answer may lie, at least in part, in new sources of truth and leadership … to business and business leaders to act with purpose. We now expect CEOs to have an opinion, often on issues that do not directly relate to their business, and to be advocates for positive social change, taking on issues such as equal pay, racial discrimination and climate change.  

– Lisa Kimmel, President and CEO, Edelman Canada[51]

Overview

Today’s deepening social and economic inequality, the rise and intensification of big-money – and untraceable ‘dark money’ – political influence and capture,[52] and the growth in cultural and political polarization and incivility have all contributed to a fragmentation that has complicated forming stable co-operative governments or implementing effective policies.^[53]

Institutional trust is a critical topic for governments and for business. Trust is the foundation upon which the legitimacy and sustainability of political systems, our institutions and business is built. However, the rise of social and economic inequalities observed in most Western, OECD, and emerging economies “is translating into growing political disaffection, anti-market sentiment, disenchantment with globalization,” and social unrest. The ongoing impact of domestic and global political and economic discontent are reflected in the annual findings of the Edelman Trust Barometer, which indicate that “only one in five feels that the system is working for them, with nearly half of the population believing the system is failing them”.[54] Another global survey found that three-quarters of people around the world believe their country’s society is divided – and the majority think their country is now more divided than it was 10 years ago. Differences in political views are seen as the greatest cause of tension, followed by differences between rich and poor.^[55] We have also seen widespread anger over the inability or inaction of governments to address these concerns. And in Western countries most severely affected by these issues, trust in public institutions and business has been hit hard:[56]

“Across countries, trust has plummeted. The Edelman Trust Barometer shows that overall less than half of the general population trust their government. … [W]e have also found that only one third of the population think they have a say in what the government does. This is deeply concerning. … [I]t is critical to restore the trust of citizens in the system, and in order to do so [the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – an intergovernmental economic organization with 36 member countries – is] tackling some of the most pervasive problems [by] working hand in hand with the private sector on its responsibility towards society, beyond shareholders, through initiatives like [the OECD’s] recently launched Business for Inclusive Growth. …

[The OECD sees] immense opportunities for the public sector to regain citizens’ trust. It requires [leadership and] investing in good public governance and moving towards a more inclusive society.”

Many business, legal and academic leaders are of the opinion that a disaffected and divided society is a significant threat to our society, which includes the success of business,^[57] with Apple CEO Tim Cook stating that “addressing inequality” is “an economic necessity”^[58] and one of the biggest issues facing the world today.^[59]  It is not just bad economics, it is bad public policy and governance. Economic inequality, cultural polarization, and lack of trust and civil discourse have contributed to a fragmentation in the political process in Western democracies that has not only complicated forming stable co-operative governments, but also hindered the implementation of appropriate lasting solutions.^[60]

Business and legal leaders are the central representatives of their organization’s values, and the causes they choose to address (or not address) will determine the way that their organization will be perceived in the public area. These choices will speak to the values that clients and consumers, partners, employees and other stakeholders will consider when deciding whether to align themselves with a particular business or legal brand.[61] Accordingly, taking an appropriate stance on important societal issues can reinforce and improve an organization’s corporate brand and set the organization up to stand out from the competition.[62]

With income inequality rising to the same levels as the Gilded Age of the 1920s, which was of course followed by the Great Depression, even billionaires are sounding the alarm on the possible side effects coming from when so few people control so much wealth. … [B]illionaire Ray Dalio … and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon have said populism and a trend toward more extreme political stances are inevitable results of this inequality.

– Business Insider[63]

When societies divide into partisan camps with profoundly different worldviews, and when those differences are viewed as existential and irreconcilable, democratic norms and mutual toleration and trust are eroded. Substantially altering in some cases the zone of acceptable civil and political behaviour. The lessons of history are clear – extreme polarization can undermine even established democratic societies[64]:[65]

A collaborative research project on polarized democracies around the world examines the processes by which societies divide into political ‘tribes’ and democracy is harmed. … [W]hen political leaders cast their opponents as immoral or corrupt, they create ‘us’ and ‘them’ camps – called by political scientists and psychologists ‘in-groups’ and ‘out-groups’ – in the society.

In this tribal dynamic, each side views the other ‘out group’ party with increasing distrust, bias and enmity. … Perceptions that ‘If you win, I lose’ grow. Each side views the other political party and their supporters as a threat to the nation or their way of life if that other political party is in power. For that reason, the incumbent’s followers tolerate more illiberal and increasingly authoritarian behavior to stay in power, while the opponents are more and more willing to resort to undemocratic means to remove them from power. This damages democracy. …       

[R]esearch shows that in extreme polarization, people feel distant from and suspicious of the ‘other’ camp. At the same time, they feel loyal to, and trusting of, their own camp – without examining their biases or factual basis of their information.

Although this is a common phenomenon long identified by social psychology, it is even more pronounced in the age of social media 24-hour news cycles and more politicized media outlets who repeat and amplify the political attacks.

Most dangerously, words can unleash actual violence by avid supporters seeking approval from the leader or simply inspired to carry out an attack against the designated ‘enemy’.”

[I]t’s hard to avoid becoming cynical. … but in this digital-media age when those who run campaigns have developed message manipulation into a science, and when leaders of all stripes seem unashamed to have their outright hypocrisy exposed, and when transparent liars stand around shouting “fake news” at each other, it feels acute.

– Edward Keenan[66]

And the fragmentation is not only ‘right versus left’, ‘us versus them’ tribalism, and ‘rural versus urban’,[67] but also a split between a country’s citizens who fear the system is failing them and those who are more trusting of our traditional institutions and more optimistic about the future for themselves and their families. And even countries like Canada are not immune:[68]

“As Canada heads into a federal election, we are – more so than at any point in the past 20 years – a nation divided. … This year, the Edelman Trust Barometer, a global study measuring trust in government, business, NGOs and the media, recorded the largest-ever trust gap between the informed public – educated and informed upper-quartile income earners – and the mass population. The 20-point split was the second-highest among the 27 markets Edelman includes in the survey, behind only Britain (where acute polarization is heavily influenced by Brexit, among other factors).

The disparity in trust tells the story of a country that feels out of balance – one where the ability to rely on and trust in institutions differs greatly depending on your level of income and education. This, in turn, drives a strong sense of injustice and pessimism among the mass population in Canada. In fact, 50 per cent of Canadian respondents feel the system is failing them, and only 34 per cent believe they and their families will be better off in five years’ time.

Some of the factors driving both the trust gap and the lack of optimism are clear.”

Societies in the United States and Europe are being fundamentally challenged in ways we have not seen for decades—with nationalistic rhetoric and agendas from the far right and a deep distrust of business, globalization, and technology from the far left.

– Boston Consulting Group[69]

While there are many causes, and they vary from country to country across Western society, the polarization and lack of trust in our society is in large part a reflection of economic anxiety and cultural anxiety,[70] the “widespread and growing dissatisfaction with entrenched economic and social inequality and greater personal uncertainty in a fast-changing global economy. It also reflects people’s mistrust of political and corporate elites, who are seen as the architects of this state of affairs”. Brexit, for example (similar to the U.S. experience with the current administration), “was a watershed. The British vote to leave the European Union was motivated in large part by frustration with economic stagnation and inequality, and it has created fertile ground for nationalistic, anti-immigrant sentiment”.[71]

This fragmentation, largely along socioeconomic lines, influence and colour the major issues each of our nations face across Western society,[72]  from the UK and the EU to the U.S. and Australia to Canada and New Zealand. And when institutional trust declines, all institutions – business and otherwise – suffer the consequences whether they look to avoid politics or not.[73] In this environment our society and its institutions “need a fair set of rules and a referee. We tend to forget the value of regulation” and independent, meritocratic and impartial institutions, but these values and “the rule of law” are basic conditions for a trustworthy government, a sound economy[74] and a healthy society:[75]

“In all societies there are rules defining good conduct, and there are supposed to be impartial, honest referees that enforce those rules and make sure the game is fair.

And today, across society, two things are happening: Referees are being undermined, and many are abandoning their own impartiality. (Think of the Wall Street regulators, the [U.S.] Supreme Court, [certain ‘divide-and-conquer’ government officials and politicians], even [certain elements of] the media.) Things begin to topple.

It’s easy to recognize when you are attacked head-on. But [many Western democratic countries are] being attacked from below, at the level of the foundations [of our society that] we take for granted.”

It is hard to imagine that the renowned [academic] Jared Diamond’s new book ‘Upheaval’ could have arrived in the UK at a more timely moment. The subtitle screams its urgent relevance: ‘How Nations Cope with Crisis and Change’. If that advice isn’t needed by our political class right now, you wouldn’t want to see when it was.

– Andrew Anthony, So how do states recover from crisis? Same way as people do[76]

The challenges facing democratic countries across the Western world confront all of us. Social, economic and geopolitical risks – including income and wealth inequality, immigration, social conflict and corruption that undermines the rule of law, climate disruption, etc. – represent serious threats to society, our institutions, and business.[77]  In such a world divided, and an unprecedented trust gap, citizens across the world are looking for leaders who can engage with the core challenges of our time in a manner that addresses the underlying issues while supporting and safeguarding the social, economic and political fabric of our nations.

In this time of political uncertainty and turmoil, the geopolitical risks at home and abroad suggest influential business, legal, academic and other institutional leaders are well positioned to step up – to lead, to reach out, and to build trust. To channel national energies into key social, economic and political issues and solutions. To succeed in this “high-stakes, high-visibility environment”, our institutional leaders must begin to foster trust and consensus, and look to bring our society together around the idea of core values and making public decisions as confident citizens working together to address these polarizing social, economic and political concerns – “rather than as members of rival armies doing battle over the trappings and privileges of power”.^[78] All of this points us towards the need for leadership, civility and rational discussion, honest self-appraisal, and identifying vehicles of bipartisan compromise and realistic concessions in order to achieve big societal rewards:[79]

“[O]ne of the biggest roadblocks to resolving any crisis is partisanship. … An argument can reach a stage in which neither side can move towards each other and nor can they run away. It’s the classic recipe for civil conflict.”

Many corporate leaders are of the opinion that a disaffected and divided society is a significant threat to the success of business, with Apple CEO Tim Cook stating that “addressing inequality” is “an economic necessity” and one of the biggest issues facing the world today.

– Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World[80]

But where are these leaders that we need to build the bridges within our divided societies? With some exceptions, they certainly do not appear to be emerging from elected officials. And they do not appear to be rising in meaningful numbers from our business, legal, academic, or other institutions despite the fact that “as trust in institutions drops, trust in experts” – and expert leadership[81] – “is rising”.[82] Although business and legal leaders are well-positioned to educate and set an appropriate leadership ‘tone’ for the public and policymakers,[83] one could hardly be blamed for thinking that many of our business, legal and academic leaders have been “napping” on what may be the biggest existential risk facing our world today. Yes, “the risk of acting needs to be balanced against the risk of inaction”, but if business, legal and other institutional leaders remain passive we may soon find our society, our institutions, and our economy severely undermined, if not irreparably damaged, by an environment of escalating political and societal risk.[84] Thankfully our institutional leaders are beginning to embrace societal issues, speaking out and many tackling them with a problem-solving mindset.^[85] Why, because businesses, legal organizations, and other organizations have to recruit and retain workforces with a wide diversity of backgrounds, and serve a growing, changing population. As such, businesses and other organizations and institutions need to be much more in sync with public opinion, because they must appeal to people and stakeholders across the spectrum.[86]

Unnerved by fundamental economic changes and the failure of government to provide lasting solutions, society is increasingly looking to companies, both public and private, to address pressing social and economic issues. 

– Larry Fink, Chair and CEO, Blackrock[87]

Leading society back from the precipice demands a new and enlightened approach to building trust[88] and restoring civility and hope – and leadership in the form of business, legal and academic leaders may be exactly what we need today to “provide the playbook for how to have constructive conversations across differences”.[89] Fundamentally these type of leaders, to be successful within their organizations, are by definition effective at inclusive leadership, cooperation and multi-disciplinary problem solving.[90]

Leadership matters. In nearly every aspect of public and private life, the ability to inspire others to work towards positive and ethical change is critical to the success of organizations, businesses, governmental institutions, and most importantly our communities.  In these times of political uncertainty and turmoil, the geopolitical risks suggest business, legal and academic leaders must lead, reach out, and build trust. There are serious and important societal and policy issues at play that require leadership and input from leaders across civil society.

Business leaders have an increased role to play in the macro issues confronting nations. Despite what some government officials might believe, the destinies of business and government are inextricably intertwined. If one fails, so can the other fail; and if one prospers so can the other prosper. As a result, nations need corporate executives to have a larger vision of how their work helps or hinders their economic prosperity.

– The Demand for Corporate Statesmanship, Columbia Journal of World Business[91]

Institutional leaders in business, law and academia “should not fear their greater advocacy of the contract between business and society. More than two centuries ago, Rousseau’s social contract helped to seed the idea among political leaders that they must serve the public good, lest their own legitimacy be threatened. The CEOs of today’s big corporations” for example, “should take the opportunity to consider, restate and reinforce their own social contracts in order to help secure, for the long term, the invested billions of their shareholders”[92]:[93]

The business community is increasingly stepping up on sustainability and corporate responsibility (CR), not least because of growing evidence of a positive link with financial performance. …

In essence, CR is a long-term maximization of self-interest in which companies ensure that they don’t damage themselves by undermining their own environments. CR is fundamentally about individual action, in ways that are compatible with common interest—in other words, “doing well by doing good” within an existing policy framework.

Statesmanship … goes a step further. It is about shaping the policy framework to advance the public and private interests and changing the game by influencing the collective will. It tackles problems that can’t be resolved through the enlightened self-interest of individual companies. In economics, the prisoner’s dilemma describes situations in which without collective action all actors tend to undermine one another, which leads to suboptimal individual outcomes. In other words, because each company follows its own path, an entire industry or economy ends up hurting itself. In those cases, statesmen are needed to foster cooperation and lift everyone to a better equilibrium by changing the nature of the game. ..

Taking the lead is meant to trigger collective action. … Business leaders need to face the inconvenient truth that some aspects of collective welfare can’t come from individual maximization efforts, even enlightened ones. They require the “technology of leadership” to solve the prisoner’s dilemma of noncooperation leading to poorer outcomes for all.

Corporations [and legal and academic leaders] that lead will be trusted more and accepted as partners by governments and citizens. Actions will foster more actions, and [this year] could well be a foundational year for corporate statesmanship.”

[Citizens] see CEO activists as purpose-driven – affecting government, defending workplace values, and being the new public servants.

– ‘CEO Activism in 2018: The Purposeful CEO’^[94]

Many of today’s politicians have failed to solve real problems collaboratively, and our society cannot continue to wait – “a society that is bereft of competent leaders is invariably thrown into dissatisfaction at a small scale and turmoil and anarchy at a larger scale”.[95] Business, legal and academic leaders (and other leaders within civil society) will need to make a decision whether to maintain their status quo or provide more responsive and principled leadership – to engage in open dialogue and a common search for solutions with government and political leaders – to address these collective societal challenges.  This is a unique opportunity for organizations and their leadership to consider making purpose and social responsibility a core part of their long-term sustainable strategy and identity, addressing ways to strengthen the political, economic, and social systems of the societies and communities in which they operate.[96] Leadership is not just limited to the legal and business frontiers, it extends to all of society and is a much-needed counterweight to polarized and partisan governments undermining societal bonds and common identity. As noted by the eminent lawyer and former General Counsel Benjamin Heineman, also a noted advocate of the lawyer-statesman model of leadership:[97]

“The ultimate question that major corporations [and their business and legal leaders] need to ask is whether, in seeking to advance their interests, they can do so in a way which helps to heal, rather than exacerbate, the ills in our political system and political processes. We submit that it is an issue major corporations – with important contributions from wise counsel—should evaluate given their ultimate interest in the maintenance of a healthy constitutional democracy and mixed economy which depends on a functional political system to strike the right balance between sound public policy and sound private ordering. These issues of political process—in addition to select substantive positions—should be central to a company’s future debates about what constitutes, for each entity, being a “good corporate citizen.” …

Fusing high performance with high integrity—and, in so doing, advancing a robust view of corporate citizenship … is essential to achieving the broad trust and respect for a major corporation that is the foundation of sustainability. We have emphasized that the role of the General Counsel and the inside lawyers is an essential (but hardly sole) element of this effort.”

Your ability to influence is … based on trust and requires integrity, which is the foundation of real and lasting influence.

– Brigette Hyacinth^[98]

The “tone at the top” is critical, and leaders must emphasize and highlight integrity at every turn. In short, a leader’s actions speak to who they are and what they represent, and integrity and humility – important dimensions of character^[99] – are the most powerful, differentiating and controllable leadership strengths any leader can possess.^[100]  Trust is not a benefit that comes packaged with a leader’s title or a “nameplate on your door. It must be earned”.^[101] Leaders “need to model and then actively, visibly, reinforce integrity for everyone in the organization” – and this is true for business, legal, government and political leaders. Regardless of job description or title, every leader must be responsible for modeling integrity.^[102] Leaders with integrity and character walk the talk – as citizens, employees, and people generally “learn best through example” (both the good and the bad).^[103]

The link between integrity, character and trust cannot be overestimated in the leader-follower relationship.^[104] So it is perhaps no surprise that integrity was chosen as the most important leadership competency in a recent survey of leaders from around the world.^[105]

People want to believe in the ability of our leaders to effectively and ethically guide change and achieve success.[106] In nearly every aspect of public and private life, principled leadership inspires trust, civility, cooperation, and the ability in others to work cooperatively towards positive and ethical change. This is critical to the success of our institutions (locally, nationally and internationally), our communities, and our societies.   The qualities of principled leadership matters[107] – effective leadership rebuilds trusting cooperative societies, and healthy societies build strong nations, effective political systems, and inclusive economies.[108]

[W]e live in a moment when our collective faith in national figures – be they from government, business, or religion – is waning. When we think about the latest election or most recent financial scandal and take stock of the people we call leaders, we grow concerned that the men and women capable of tackling the problems and delivering on the promise of this age aren’t among their ranks.

– Nancy Koehn, Forged in Crisis – The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times[109]

Statespersonship – a pathway for Business, Legal and other institutional leaders

In today’s world of populism, polarization and partisanship, our business, legal and other institutional leaders have a responsibility to speak up about the issues important to the nations in which they operate, and they need to come forward on these issues at the intersection of business, law, and society. And fortunately, there is an evolving statesmanship leadership model – bypassing the domain of politicians – that incorporates this type of required leadership into meaningful actions.^[110]

‘Alarm bells’ should be ringing in corporate boardrooms over the challenges facing our communities. … Long term business success depends on community success.

– Jamie Dimon, CEO JPMorgan Chase, Business Insider op-ed[111]

Pessimism, Populism and Societal Unrest – A Primer

One cannot read international headlines today without touching on the ups and downs of a volatile global economy (globalization, technology and automation, and trade), terrorism, failing security measures, immigration and demographic changes,^[112] a changing employment landscape (i.e. job insecurity; underemployment, precarious and non-standard gig work; wage stagnation; polarization of labour market between high earners and everyone else),[113] or the growing disparity in both income and opportunity.[114]  For example, in Canada 48% of its citizens are $200 or less away from financial insolvency, while in the U.S. almost 40% of its citizens cannot afford a $400 surprise expense (living paycheque to paycheque).[115]

These are profound changes that are impacting and transforming society in post-industrial economies.[116] There is growing anxiety and uncertainty about the future, and amid the political, economic, and social change many see not only less economic and social opportunity for themselves, but also for their children going forward.[117]

As trust and confidence in our institutions has eroded,^[118] the International Monetary Fund has noted that too many people in Western societies feel left behind by globalization and technological change.^[119] This broad perception is unquestionably rooted in fact: “big slices of society, in big chunks of the developed world, have seen real wages stagnate even as returns rapidly escalated in small pockets. Ultimately this creates both growing inequality in wealth and income and — perhaps more troubling — a sense that gaps in opportunity have widened”.^[120] As noted in the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer:^[121] 

“Pessimism is widespread. Only one-in-five of mass population respondents believe that the system is working for them; in developed markets, only one-in-three of that cohort believes his or her family will be better off in five years’ time. Fears of job loss among the general population remain high, whether caused by a lack of retraining and skills (59 percent) or automation and innovation (55 percent). More than twice as many of these respondents say the pace of innovation is too fast (54 percent) versus those who say it is too slow (21 percent).”

Economic precarity is matched by social division in Brexit Britain. 

– Nick Pearce, Wired^[122]

This represents real costs to real people.[123] It undermines the aspirations of middle class and working people and their families, eroding hope and trust. As noted by many political scientists and commentators, people across the western world live in a time of fear: “workers everywhere fear lost jobs and wages” (as a shifting global economy and technological change leave them behind) and many citizens fear the changing cultural “face and voice of the country they know”.^[124] And the resultant public anger over the deepening social and economic inequality as a result of technology and globalization is cited as a cause of myriad social ills—from rising nationalism and identity politics, to loss of trust and disdain for institutions, and a fracturing of the rules-based international system.^[125]

It is not surprising that these issues and others have been identified as having contributed to the rise of populism(i.e. authoritarian leaders, nationalism, traditional values, anti-establishment, etc.^[126]) in light of the anger and fear being expressed by vulnerable populations of people who feel they “don’t have control over their futures”.^[127] 

And these signs of democratic discontent are particularly visible in Anglo-American democracies and other post-industrial societies.^[128] In this context, it may be fair to say that contemporary populism^[129] has taken a not so surprising twist over the last few years, with rich country electorates in the U.S. (i.e. Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential election win^[130]), the UK (i.e. Brexit^[131]), and Europe opting for what appear to be the extreme alternatives to the status quo. Populist leaders are gaining support, votes and seats in Western countries including Canada.^[132]

Voters everywhere are in no mood for the same-old. … I hesitate to use the term ‘populism’ because it conveys so many different things to different people right now. But what I do see is a clear appetite for change, anxiety about the status quo and a desire among a growing number of voters to see less-traditional options as vehicles for that change – a way to reject the status quo.

– Vassy Kapelos, host of Power & Politics, CBC News[133]

This phenomenon may be explained by two leading theories. Perhaps the most widely-held view of mass support for populism is the economic insecurity perspective. This theory emphasizes the consequences of profound changes transforming the workforce and society in post-industrial economies.^[134] The cultural backlash perspective suggests that support can be explained as a retro reaction by once-predominant sectors of the population to progressive value change. Throughout advanced industrial society, massive cultural changes have been occurring that seem shocking – even threatening – to those with traditional values^[135] who fear cultural displacement (loss of social dominance) and long for a more stable hierarchical past.^[136]

Economically marginalized voters played a critical role in Trump’s rise, Brexit, and a shift to the far right in Europe.

– Andrew Cumbers, Professor of Regional Political Economy, University of Glasgow^[137]

Both theories – cultural anxiety and economic anxiety – likely have relevance,^[138] with some commentators indicating that “populism draws strength from public opposition to mass immigration (i.e. raising cultural and security concerns, and fear of economic displacement), cultural liberalization, and the perceived surrender of national sovereignty to distant and unresponsive international bodies”.^[139] And we don’t need a poll to tell us that people in the United States, the EU, the UK and across Western society are deeply divided. These divisions are playing out on television, in the political arena, on college campuses, and in our cities and communities every day^[140]:^[141]

“In Austria, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Sweden, Hungary, and the Netherlands [- including the UK, Australia and Canada -], far-right ideas have also surged in popularity. The same is true in the United States, where Donald Trump’s presidency has energized white supremacists. Far-right politicians and activists have successfully tapped into concerns about economic uncertainty, unemployment, and globalization. But they have built most of their support base around the issues of immigration and terrorism.”

“Elite-led populism” is also on the rise, with some politicians and elected officials undermining trust in their own society and their own institutions as a political tool.[142] In this global environment of political polarization and lack of trust in politicians and government and business, complicated truths may become distorted into simplistic narratives^[143] by opportunistic political parties, politicians and special interest groups, leading to social, economic and political tension, and significant unrest.

Around the world, dominant majorities increasingly see themselves as imperiled minorities. That dynamic, sometimes known as a majority with a minority complex, is thought to be a major factor in the rise of right-wing populism in Europe, religious nationalism in Asia, and white nationalist terrorism in the United States and New Zealand.

– New York Times^[144]

In countries with weakened institutions and polarizing political leadership, this unrest can – and has – lead to a cycle of violence.^[145]

For example, the horrific attacks against immigrants and Muslims at prayer in New Zealand last month, and Jewish worshipers during services in a California synagogue this month, are just the latest in attacks by white extremists across Western society. There have been more than a dozen deadly white supremacist attacks across the globe in the last eight years,^[146] and within the U.S. itself white supremacists or nationalists have been responsible for more attacks than any other domestic extremist group over the last 16 years,^[147] with a noticeable rise in hate crime under the current U.S. Administration.^[148] Although it appears that many Western governments (although certainly not all)[149] are beginning to take the threat of extremism, particularly right-wing nationalism and white supremacy, more seriously as a global terror threat to democratic societies^[150] – in line with terrorism implemented by ISIS and Al Qaeda and Daesh^[151] – such attacks by home grown nationalist extremists is still growing. For some, white nationalism is the new face of domestic terrorism, and “in the atmosphere of willful indifference”^[152] the toxic rhetoric has broken into the mainstream – and it is anti-semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-black, misogynistic, and homophobic.^[153]

Nationalism, particularly on the far right, is re-emerging. We know where that leads. Europe knows better than anyone where that leads. It leads to conflict, bloodshed and catastrophe. … I believe that creating tolerance and respect in our countries is vital.

– Former U.S. President Barack Obama[154]

Although we like to believe that politicians govern with integrity and are motivated to serve in public office by interests that transcend partisan politics,^[155] unfortunately that is not always the case.  There is a direct connection between “hate-filled speech and hate-filled violence”.^[156] With a “wink and a nudge” prejudice, intolerance, and hatred is “legitimized”.^[157] Across the Western world we are seeing a rise in violence and intolerance against visible minorities, certain religions, and immigrants, by certain elements of society acting on a toxic belief system — one that has been long nurtured by (a) opportunists in politics^[158] prioritizing their political fortune and power over institutional norms, evidence-based policymaking, and civil discourse, and (b) certain constituents of social-media platforms^[159] and the media proper (whose “formula animates a thriving strain of conservatism, one that pairs conditional values rooted in the naked pursuit of self-interest with the fetishization of debate”)^[160].^[161]

Why does it seem so hard for people to grasp the connection between hate-filled speech and hate-filled violence? … The term “dog-whistle politics” may be widely used in the United States, but it has become ubiquitous here – so perfectly capturing what has become a common technique. The politician chooses his words carefully, avoiding explicit racism, but crafting a message that will still be heard by those for whom it’s intended.

– Richard Glover, In the shadow of Christchurch, let’s drive racism out of Australian politics[162]

Identity politics such as this brings to mind the worst chapters of human history,^[163] and globally the number of hate-motivated acts of terror and crime are continuing to increase,^[164] with – as noted above – the most recent tragedy taking place in New Zealand, where at least 50 innocent victims “reaped what others have sown”^[165]:[166]

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said ‘there is [also] work to be done’ in Germany to face up to the dark forces that are finding mainstream support there and in other parts of the world. …

Addressing the rise in anti-Semitism, Merkel said that [in] Germany … ‘there is to this day not a single Synagogue not a single daycare center for Jewish children, not a single school for Jewish children that does not need to be guarded by German policemen’. …

With Merkel’s final term as Chancellor ending in 2021, backers of her brand of politics fear it’s on the way out as populism from both the left and right erodes the political center.”

Extremists continue to launch a steady series of assaults on religious institutions and immigrants around the Western world. And the nature and frequency of these attacks have raised urgent questions about how to fight extremism in a time of political polarization and diminished trust in our political leaders and our institutions.[167]

[The current U.S. Administration appears to have] abandoned most of the core principles that have defined Republicans for the past century. … What’s left of the party is a rigid adherence to tax cuts, a social agenda that repels most younger Americans, and rampant xenophobia and race-based politics that regularly interfere with the basic functioning of the federal government. 

– Joe Lockhart, New York Times[168]

Should we all care that we have become numb to all this? Absolutely, this is dangerous[169] to society and democracy. There is indeed a negative impact on the social fabric of our society, on civility and cooperation that demands leaders across the board to come forward and be heard, particularly when hate-speech and thuggish behaviour appears to be the current order of the day.[170] No one is above the law, and that includes politicians fanning the waves of extremism for political gain, putting citizens of our nations across Western society in danger:[171]

“’It takes two to lie, Marge,’ Homer Simpson once told his wife. ‘One to lie, and one to listen.’ It’s a hilarious line, yes, but you know what else? It’s true. … Most people believe the lies they’re told because they want the lies to be true. They want the world they live in to operate according to a series of principles and practices that make sense to them, confirming their suspicions, fulfilling their deepest wishes, and absolving them of blame for how they feel and what they do.”

Successfully addressing extremism as a geopolitical risk requires leadership, tone from the top, transparency of factual information, and a coordinated effort to address “real-world discontent and confusion”.[172]

Once citizens lose confidence in the fairness of the legal and political system, they may turn to other means to assert their basic rights, and inevitably this results in violence and loss of human life.

– Daniel C. Préfontaine QC and Joanne Lee^[173]

Geopolitical Risk

For companies and major institutions, geopolitical risk is fundamentally about the probability that a political action or environment will significantly affect their business or organization – whether positively or negatively.[174] In this context, the next decade will be a period of political uncertainty across the world. Business, legal and institutional leaders can expect to face daunting leadership and strategic challenges amid the turbulence and policy ambiguity, in particular with respect to a shifting social, economic and political landscape, accelerated technological change, and – most importantly – an increasingly disaffected and divided society.[175]

Western democratic states and their institutions appear to be under increasing strain from a potent combination of external and internal challenges. The lack of coherence and cooperation at the national and international level is provoking additional uncertainty, anxiety, and division across Western society, including undermining democratic norms and values,[176] and a stable ‘rules-based’ national and international order[177]:[178]

To function well, democratic constitutions must be reinforced by two basic norms, or unwritten rules. The first is mutual toleration, according to which politicians accept their opponents as legitimate. When mutual toleration exists, we recognize that our partisan rivals are loyal citizens who love our country just as we do.

The second norm is forbearance, or self-restraint in the exercise of power. Forbearance is the act of not exercising a legal right. In politics, it means not deploying one’s institutional prerogatives to the hilt, even if it’s legal to do so.

We rarely think about forbearance in politics, and yet democracy cannot work without it. … If our leaders deploy their legal prerogatives without restraint, it could bring severe dysfunction, and even constitutional crisis. Mark Tushnet, a law professor at Harvard, calls such behavior — exploiting the letter of the law to undermine its spirit — ‘constitutional hardball’.

Look at any failing democracy and you will find constitutional hardball. … History suggests, however, that democratic norms are vulnerable to polarization. Some polarization is healthy, even necessary, for democracy. But extreme polarization can kill it. When societies divide into partisan camps with profoundly different worldviews, and when those differences are viewed as existential and irreconcilable, political rivalry can devolve into partisan hatred.

Parties come to view each other not as legitimate rivals but as dangerous enemies. Losing ceases to be an accepted part of the political process and instead becomes a catastrophe. When that happens, politicians are tempted to abandon forbearance and win at any cost. If we believe our opponents are dangerous, should we not use any means necessary to stop them? …

Norm erosion alters the zone of acceptable political behavior. …

[O]ur parties are more polarized than at any time during the last century. … According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, [in the U.S.] 49 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of Democrats say the other party makes them ‘afraid’. … This is not a traditional liberal-conservative divide. …

Whereas 50 years ago both parties were overwhelmingly white and equally religious, advances in civil rights, decades of immigration and the migration of religious conservatives to the Republican Party have given rise to two fundamentally different parties: one that is ethnically diverse and increasingly secular and one that is overwhelmingly white and predominantly Christian.

White Christians are not just any group: They are a once-dominant majority in decline. When a dominant group’s social status is threatened, racial and cultural differences can be perceived as existential and irreconcilable. The resulting polarization preceded (indeed, made possible) the Trump presidency, and it is likely to persist after it.

American democracy retains important sources of strength, including vast national wealth, a vibrant media and civil society, and a robust judiciary and rule of law. But the norms that once protected our institutions are coming unmoored. President Trump has accelerated this norm erosion, but he didn’t start it. Intensifying polarization, driven by an extremist Republican Party, is making constitutional hardball a new norm for party politics.

The lessons of history are clear. Extreme polarization can wreck even established democracies. America [the UK, the EU, Australia, and even Canada are] no exception[s]. As long as [societies] do not overcome their deepening partisan animosities, democracy [and Western societies] remains at risk.”

However much we bootstrap our democracy with laws and constitutional provisions, its lifeblood will always be our respect for a democratic culture and the informal conventions that breathe life into it.

– The Conversation[179]

Across the world, the erosion and decline of societal trust and civil discourse^[180] – the descent into what looks like a full on ‘civility crisis’ – has profound and negative effects on our society, the rule of law,^[181] and on our democracies.^[182] Inequality, the unequal distribution of wealth and economic opportunity (as a result of globalization, technology, and policy failure),[183] challenging labour markets, immigration and demographic changes, social and cultural unrest, identity politics,[184] political polarization, election meddling[185] and political disarray (i.e. burgeoning nationalist and populist movements from both the left and right of the ideological spectrum[186]), corruption,[187] tariffs and trade protectionism, climate change,^[188] terrorism[189] and war crimes,[190] etc., are among the factors playing a role in a world divided, undermining trust in government and business, and weakening democratic institutions and market legitimacy and effectiveness.^[191]  On many of these issues and influences, effective leadership involving broad skills, civility, empathy, and deep ethical commitment appear too many legal, academic and political commentators to be lacking as the ever deepening polarization and partisanship undermines trust, rational discussions and evidence-based policymaking. Leadership is not about papering over or masking deep disagreements, fear or even injustice,[192] but rather to help “nudge us away from our most basic impulses” and create a space for listening, the exchange of ideas, and improved political and societal discourse.

I guess my ask is that you declare your own personal declaration of interdependence and decide to become a weaver instead of a ripper. This is partly about communication. Every time you assault and stereotype a person, you’ve ripped the social fabric. Every time you see that person deeply and make him or her feel known, you’ve woven it.

– David Brooks, A Nation of Weavers^[193]

Discussion and dialogue is taking a back seat to ‘winning’ at any cost, and there appears to be a loss of thoughtful discourse between people of differing views.[194] When political leaders are increasingly seen as beholden to special interest groups and out of touch and unaccountable, it is hardly surprising that ordinary people who have been “playing by the rules become so angry that they will put their faith in anyone who promises to shake up the system”.^[195]

There are solutions, and the key is to avoid the perils of extremism. Why, because “in an age of extremes, most people are really pretty moderate” and open to acting in the best interest of society when choices involve a sliding scale of reasonable compromise as opposed to being “forced into binary-choice boxes”.[196] Moderation offers the healthy pathway forward for Western society:[197]

“Reflecting on the tumultuous American political landscape of the late 1960s, an eminent American statesman believed that his country faced a genuine danger from the ‘extremes of the Far Left and the Far Right.’ He believed that the nation could do better by following a pragmatic course ‘great enough to accommodate all reasonable citizens, from the moderate conservative to the moderate liberal.’ These are the people, he reminded readers, ‘who get things done’.

This appeal to sanity and bipartisanship … was penned by Republican former president Dwight Eisenhower in the final article he wrote shortly before his death, published in Reader’s Digest 50 years ago. …

Written over the last weeks of 1968 … this essay was an attempt to come to grips with a country he struggled to recognize, rocked by assassinations, riots, student strikes, cultural upheaval and deep fractures. … Eisenhower set out to cobble together an optimistic outlook during this moment of profound political turbulence. … Yet the published version evolved into a warning, a better reflection of the divisive times and Eisenhower’s deep concern: ‘We Must Avoid the Perils of Extremism’. …

The Middle Way is not the approach of some ‘fence sitter’, he argued. ‘It often takes more courage to occupy the Center than any other position in the political arena, for you are then subject to attack from both flanks’. … [I]n our moment of polarization, the broader argument for decency, bipartisanship and pragmatic problem-solving holds great appeal. Eisenhower’s approach was hardly the stuff of passion and instant gratification. That’s the point. What’s often needed is steady and thoughtful leadership — the kind of courage from those who get things done. … In many cases, their achievements have proved durable precisely because they managed to chart a moderate course that achieved some level of buy-in from a broad swath of [citizens].”

Surely we can forge better leadership everywhere. We don’t have a lot of time. There is a true moral vacuum right now into which very dangerous simplistic leaders can step.

– New Zealand PM shows us what’s missing in most leaders, Toronto Star[198]

Leadership is the Solution

It appears “clear to many that we have to save our communities from rising hate and tribalism, from political and corporate malfeasance and from such a profound lack of trust”.[199] To rebuild faith in each other.[200]  How can this be accomplished when many of our Western countries appear to have divisive, demoralizing and ethically shameless political leaders who appear to project a view that certain people (whether by race, religion, etc.) are not “real” Americans, Canadians, English, Australians, French, Germans, or what have you. It appears that some of our political leaders are inflaming tensions within our communities for deliberate political gain –  “othering” if you will[201] – looking to utilize “our lack of healthy connection to each other, our inability to see the full dignity of each other, and the resulting culture of distrust, tribalism, and strife”.[202]

In the current political context with a vacant political centre and an extreme left and extreme right we need our lawyers [and our leaders] to stand for up for what people died in trenches for.

– Ciarán Fenton[203]

Is there a way out of this wilderness of civic disorientation? The answer is yes, but the path forward must be illuminated by strong leadership, principled cooperation, and multi-disciplinary collaboration and diverse perspectives.  What is required are leaders “who can bring people together”, leaders across the board who have a history of non-partisan approaches to decision-making – consolidators, as opposed to polarizers.[204] Such leaders are well aware that today’s challenges are too big to tackle on their own – they require a systems-approach as the problems we confront today are simply to complex and too broad in scope to think that solutions can be cobbled independently and piecemeal,[205] particularly in light of the current social, cultural, technological and economic conditions that appear to be driving discontent.

And how these leaders present themselves is critical in stopping the “cycle of polarization and enmity”: if leaders simply mirror the “bitter rhetoric with similar political hardball and demonizing language, they risk locking in place a cycle that leads to entrenching the politics of polarization”.[206] To be relevant for society, leaders across the business, legal and academic spectrum need to be relevant to the pressing challenges at hand, whether that be advocating for a strategy, an evidence-based policy, or speaking out against unethical behaviour:[207]

“[A]n effective leader is one who promotes free speech, engages in civil discourse, and remains open to compromise. Even when a decision doesn’t go someone’s way, that person will want – and deserves – to be heard. … [E]ffective leadership means delivering excellent and responsive service to one’s customers or constituents…. When people do not feel that their leaders are working in their interest or addressing genuine needs, they lose confidence. To restore it, government officials must build and defend robust civic institutions and political processes that serve the public interest.”

[T]he lawyer-statesman must ask what is right as well as what is legal. And more than that, he [or she] must ask what the long-term global economic, policy, and cultural tendencies are that may affect the corporation’s future and to develop strategies to anticipate them. [Former General Counsel Benjamin] Heineman calls for … a powerful and proactive general counsel … and is particularly interested in ‘citizenship and the primacy of public policy’.

– Robert Gordon, The Return of the Lawyer-Statesman?[208]

There has been a significant loss of trust in major institutions, organizations, leaders and many sources of information over the last decade. We appear to be at an inflection point where our legal, business and academic leaders, businesses and institutions must take action and become trust builders.[209] From an institutional standpoint, trust is a forward-looking metric. Unlike reputation, which is based on an organization’s historical behavior, trust is a predictor of whether stakeholders will find you credible in the future, will embrace new innovations you introduce and will enthusiastically support or defend you. For these reasons, trust is a valuable asset for all institutions, and ongoing trust-building activities should be one of the most important strategic priorities for every organization.[210]

As noted again in the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer report, “while needing to continue to project an image of calm, collected and certain leadership, particularly ahead of a potential economic downturn”, business (and legal and academic) leaders “must clearly also consider the significantly heightened expectations on them to be advocates for change in a world that is still confused and uncertain”:[211]

“CEOs must speak up directly on social issues, such as immigration, diversity and inclusion. But they must do more than talk; they must demonstrate their personal commitment, inside and outside the company. Seventy-six percent of people expect CEOs to take a stand on challenging issues. … This is the path that business must follow to help restore trust, the greatest moral challenge of our era. …

In the face of heightened expectations on CEOs to step into the trust vacuum left by government, pressure is on them to do more— and quickly—to invoke a sense of certainty, reassurance and confidence with employees as well as the general public. …

This year, the call to action appears to be yet more urgent—a rise by 11 points in the public’s expectation that CEOs will speak up and lead change. Today, some 76 percent of respondents believe CEOs need to step up. And stepping up proactively is required. …

There are heightened expectations on CEOs as a result, but generally they are not stepping up to the challenge. This is a miss.”

As a CEO myself, I feel firsthand the pressures companies face in today’s polarized environment and the challenges of navigating them. Stakeholders are pushing companies to wade into sensitive social and political issues – especially as they see governments failing to do so effectively. … [T]he world needs your leadership. As divisions continue to deepen, companies must demonstrate their commitment to the countries, regions, and communities where they operate, particularly on issues central to the world’s future prosperity. Companies cannot solve every issue of public importance, but there are many … that cannot be solved without corporate leadership.

– Larry Fink, Chair and CEO, Blackrock[212]

Our business, legal and academic leaders must provide the playbook for how to have constructive conversations across differences: The techniques and tools of leadership are there “to clear the fog of doublespeak and neutralize polarization. In the midst of all the shouting in the public square”, our political leaders and our citizens “need to be reminded that there are proven ways to have constructive conversations that lead to deeper understanding”:[213] 

“The deep truth about diversity and inclusion is that the goal is not to get to full agreement across our many different ways of being, thinking, or doing. In fact, it’s to understand and actually activate and leverage those very differences for a more engaging, productive, and innovative environment. And to do this we need to better understand how others experience life and work. ‘Empathy is the capacity to understand that …. someone else’s pain is as meaningful as your own’ …   But empathy must be coupled with [being very clear about their values and what they believe is right and wrong]. While there is plenty of room to be empathetic of someone with whom you don’t agree, we’ve got to draw the line when it comes to hatred and the devaluing of others based on who they are [i.e. skin colour, religion, immigrant status, gender, and sexual orientation]. 

This is not a time for CEOs and other leaders to allow written statements published in press releases be their only response no matter how forthright and noble-sounding they may be. Leaders must get out in front of their people and talk from the heart about how they are experiencing these times and what they are doing personally to lower the tensions, and role-model how to be empathetic and have the difficult conversations. 

If a critical mass of business [legal, and academic] leaders take these risks of being more authentic, transparent, and courageous they will have the unprecedented opportunity to expand their value propositions well beyond their corporate walls and markets—and, in that, by being inclusive leaders, contribute to keeping our society from shattering because of differences.”

Leadership today is filled with difficult challenges and ethical dilemmas, and in the face of a political and substantive legislative vacuum to a deepening dysfunctional culture, there appears to be an uncertainty, a paralysis in how to respond.  The greatest challenge today may well be the hesitancy of many of our legal, business and academic leaders to step into the institutional void to ensure a positive community and society for all citizens (i.e. defending the rule of law, ensuring access to justice, preserving a free press, equality, diversity, and other important public policy positions which fairly balance private concerns and the public interest, etc).[214] 

The impact of business and law on society, and of society on business and law, is an enduring theme of our history and a matter of great moment for contemporary business, legal, and academic leaders across the globe.[215] To “avoid deepening the state of division and distrust that seems to pervade our society”, both our leaders and citizens must play a part and try to fill the gap. “Simply withdrawing from politics is not effective”.[216] This is an opportunity for our legal, business and academic leaders to help build trust and cooperation, to guide citizens to step outside our ‘ideological boxes’ and engage – on civility, on mutual toleration, and the search for common ground – for all of us to renew and relearn to trust, take care of and rely on our neighbours, our communities, and our societies.  To help us “knit together the social fabric” toward a more tolerant and civil society that recognizes “that we are all in this together”. To rebuild our communities and our national identities we must recognize the dignity and worth of our fellow citizens:[217]

“The quality of our lives depends on our relationships. Getting to know our neighbours means greater co-operation, understanding and tolerance. It means acceptance of difference of opinions.”

We know business, legal and academic leaders “alone cannot solve today’s biggest challenges”, but together we need leaders to “step up and work with government and community leaders to offer solutions. The private sector has tremendous capacity to expand opportunity for those who need it most, and it’s a role and responsibility” that must be embraced in today’s volatile political environment. If societies’ leaders “play the opportunity long game, we all win”.[218]

[L]eadership began as a societal phenomenon much before it evolved into a professional one. In fact, many of the present-day leadership qualities that corporate and professional leaders aspire to are based on the social and political leaders of the yesteryears.

– Patrick Alain, The Impact of a Good Leader and Good Leadership In Society[219]

Only when a critical mass of our leaders – business leaders, legal leaders, and yes, our political leaders – and ultimately our citizens brings these essential civic virtues to our common life will we be able to come together to put long-term stability ahead of short-term gain. It is primarily within civil society that we come together as a society – and our leaders in law, business and government are essential to ensure we can appropriately position ourselves to take on the challenge of creating a shared vision and a new social contract for the 21st century.[220]

Going forward – from a geopolitical risk perspective – business, legal, academic and other institutional leaders may consider taking a broader view of their mandate in society beyond short-term gains,[221] in particular the strategic benefits of their organizations being perceived by civil society and their corporate stakeholders as part of the solution (working together with governments, NGOs, and citizens) to create space for economic and social policies that benefit society and the communities in which they operate[222]:[223]

“Corporate social responsibility now has a significant impact on an organization’s brand and reputation – particularly impacting ‘trust’ and financial performance. In this environment, stakeholders today are taking an intense look at the impact organizations have on society, and their expectations for corporate purpose and social responsibility – good corporate citizenship – are rising. An accomplished CEO and leadership team can achieve more than simply avoiding catastrophe, they can also create sustainable value and benefits in the corporation, in the marketplace, and in the broader national and global community. This ultimately creates the basic trust which is the foundation for corporate durability and sustainability, and which endures beyond changes in governments.

The next decade is a pivotal time period for business and corporations to build trust and a corporate advantage, but it will require strategic new thinking about long-term sustainable value creation, corporate stakeholders, and corporate purpose.”

And statespersonship may be seen as the next step – looking to appropriately influence the societal challenges and “foster collective action in support of the common good” (and potentially solving the “prisoners’ dilemma of non-cooperation that lead to poorer outcomes for all):[224]

“The major issues of society are well-known. Sometimes even the solutions are obvious but political, social or economic conditions prevent those solutions from being implemented. Statesmen do not use this as an excuse and will instead take the lead and demonstrate that action is possible.”

Investors increasingly consider a company’s environmental, societal, and governance performance in the way they value it. They are looking, in particular, for companies that integrate societal responsibilities into their core business strategies. … Leading asset managers increasingly recognize that their investors are in it for the long term, and that delivering positive societal impact is critical to managing risks and increasing resilience.

–  Rich Lesser, CEO, Boston Consulting Group[225]

The right strategy includes principled leadership and participation in the national and international conversations. The hard news is that C-suite leadership teams, corporate boards, and organizational and institutional leaders will face some difficult choices in the years ahead as they grapple to balance their organizations’ strategic visions (corporate purpose, values, culture, and bottom line) with rising geopolitical issues, the challenges of civil society and anti-establishment populism, and the demands of an increasingly volatile political, economic and social environment.[226]  

Although textbook economics suggest the state is in charge of correcting market failures and income or wealth inequality, this may be an area of particular strategic importance for business, legal and institutional leaders that operate in jurisdictions in which governments are unable or unwilling to act (i.e. political capture by special interest groups; global nature of the issue; values not shared by law-makers).[227] Society’s demand for corporate and institutional purpose, social responsibility and leadership are becoming more prominent and continue gaining momentum across the world.[228]

In this light, corporate purpose and leadership “is no longer simply a corporate social responsibility program, a marketing initiative, or a program led by the CHRO”. For leading organizations it is a “CEO-level business strategy” defining the organization’s identity. Issues such as diversity and inclusion, income inequality, immigration, and global warming “are being openly discussed by individuals, families, and political leaders around the world”. [229]

Many stakeholders are frustrated with political solutions to these problems and now expect business (and legal and academic) leaders to help address these key problems.[230] And, the evidence is mounting that long-term strategic perspectives and service to a broader agenda benefiting  all stakeholders (including shareholders, employees, customers, and the communities in which they operate) drives not just trust and brand reputational value, but success as well.[231] Boards, CEOs and other institutional leaders would be strategic to rethink the long view over “short-termism”, and the role of business and our institutions in society. The way forward: “the company’s health—not its shareholders’ wealth—should be the primary concern of those who manage corporations. That may sound like a small change, but it would make companies less vulnerable”[232]:[233]

“As stakeholder expectations rise, an inauthentic or uneven commitment to citizenship can quickly damage a company’s reputation, undermine its sales, and limit its ability to attract talent. For organizations, a new question is becoming vital: When we look in the mirror held up by society, do we like what we see?”

For those who have a broader perspective focused on the collective interests and welfare of the society, understanding the logic of polarization that blocks cooperative problem-solving could instill the courage to cross the divide rather than reciprocate pernicious polarizing strategies.

– Jennifer Lynn McCoy, Professor of Political Science[234]

Leadership from our Business, Legal and other Institutional Leaders

In this time of political uncertainty and turmoil, the geopolitical risks at home and abroad suggest influential business, legal, academic and other institutional leaders must lead, reach out, and build trust. There are serious and important leadership and policy issues at play that are significantly impacting government, business and society.^[235]

The solution to these issues may be difficult to achieve, but they are easy to describe. We must restore civility to our public discourse, and we must reduce partisanship and polarization in governance. We must begin to make public decisions as citizens working together to address concerns “rather than as members of rival armies doing battle” out of fear and “over the trappings and privileges of power”.^[236]

[A]s the defining issues of our time, it is no longer a question of companies doing the right thing by doing no harm, or simply focusing on compliance and reputation management. It’s whether, as major engines of our economies, they can be relied upon to respond proportionately to the challenges we face.

– P. Courtice, Business leaders must prioritise sustainability to gain society’s trust[237]

To succeed in this “high-stakes, high-visibility environment”, our business, legal and other institutional leaders need to get involved, think through the ethical implications of these daily challenges, address each situation from many different angles or perspectives,^[238] and demand civility and inclusive rational discourse. But why should business and other institutional leaders get involved? Because:

• Organizations are no longer assessed based only on traditional metrics such as financial performance, or even the quality of their products or services. Rather, organizations today are increasingly judged on the basis of their relationships with their workers, their customers, and their communities, as well as their impact on society at large – transforming them from business enterprises into social enterprises. This is not a matter of altruism: Doing so is critical to maintaining an organization’s reputation; to attracting, retaining, and engaging critical workers; and to cultivating loyalty among customers.[239]
• Corporate citizenship is no longer simply a corporate social responsibility program, a marketing initiative, or a program led by the CHRO. It is now a CEO-level business strategy—defining the organization’s very identity. Issues such as diversity and inclusion, gender pay equity, income inequality, immigration, and global warming are being openly discussed by individuals, families, and political leaders around the world. And research shows that many stakeholders are frustrated with political solutions to these problems and now expect businesses to help address these critical problems.[240]
• People today have less trust in their political and social institutions than they have in years; many expect business leaders to fill the gap. This point was made by BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. In his annual letter to CEOs, Mr. Fink noted that people are increasingly “turning to the private sector and asking that companies respond to broader societal challenges” and demanding that organizations “serve a social purpose”.[241]
• Trust is required by business and business leaders, and “building trust is now the number one job for CEO’s”.[242] Whether it’s ethically the right thing to do, or simply good for business, the fact is that business has a crucial role to play in driving change for sustainability. It is the business sector – and our other institutions and their leaders – that are uniquely placed to foster positive change, not only through its products and/or services but also via its capital, leadership talent, networks, international perspective, and influence on policy and civil society. Failure to do so risks seriously undermining future prosperity and inflicting unnecessary social, economic and environmental costs on our societies. And only by making these challenges a priority can business leaders rebuild society’s trust and confidence.[243]
• Social and commercial domains are becoming increasingly merged, and for the past two years, chief executives have often talked about the new sense of social responsibility and purpose that corporations have to help their communities and address societal challenges.[244] The CEO is now the central representative of the company’s values, and the causes they choose to speak on determine the way that company is perceived in the public sphere. It speaks to values that consumers, partners, employees and other stakeholders consider when deciding to align themselves with a particular brand.[245] Taking an appropriate stance on important societal issues can reinforce and improve a company’s corporate brand and stand out from the competition.[246]
• When social, ethical and leadership responsibility is recognized as part of an organization’s business model, it can attract positive publicity, retain top talent, improve relationships with customers and their communities, and financial success.[247]  The benefits can be far and wide, as ultimately what is good for society benefits business and our institutions.
• At a time when Western countries’ political class appears to be catering to ever-narrower slices of the electorate, Fortune 500 corporations and business leaders are responsive to a broader swath of society, properly addressing and appealing to (or at least avoid offending) the widest possible swath of people and burnish their brands. “Inclusiveness” may not be good politics in this day of polarization and micro-targeting, but it is good for business.[248]
• Corporations and other organizations are now trying to recruit and retain workforces with a wide diversity of backgrounds, and serve a growing, changing population. Businesses and other institutions need to be much more in sync with public opinion, because they are appealing to people across the spectrum.[249]
• There’s been a major transformation in thinking, such that today “corporations have stakeholders, not just shareholders”. Those stakeholders include customers and employees – as well as anyone else affected by the actions of the company – a far broader array of people with more diverse backgrounds and values than simply the investor class.[250]
• Ironically in today’s environment, a lot of corporations have to be far more democratic than democratically elected officials.[251]
• Society, consumers and citizens are increasingly judging our business and institutional leaders not just on their stewardship of their organizations, “but also on whether they effectively used their clout to address the greatest societal challenges of our times”.^[252]

I just think it’s insincere to not stand up for those things that you believe in. So, I don’t think it’s something we should do every day, but I do think we’re also stewards of our companies, we’re representatives of the people that work with us. And I think we’re cowards if we don’t take a position occasionally on those things that are really consistent with what our mission is and where our people stand.

– Jeff Immelt, CEO, GE^[253]

Conclusion

The world faces a crisis of trust in institutions and political leadership that continues to deteriorate. Lack of trust, civility, and cooperation in our modern world fosters polarization and partisanship rather than community; enmity and contempt rather than understanding and tolerance; and alienation instead of involvement. It is well-established that our society – its democratic institutions, the rule of law, and market legitimacy and effectiveness – can be undermined and eroded in such an environment, limiting the potential for problem-solving as fewer voices and ideas are heard and factored into decision-making.

Unfortunately, as noted by the Harvard Business Review, “simple answers make us feel safer, especially in disruptive and tumultuous times. But rather than certainty, modern leaders need to consciously cultivate the capacity to see more ­— to deepen, widen, and lengthen their perspectives. Deepening depends on our willingness to challenge our blind spots, deeply held assumptions, and fixed beliefs. Widening means taking into account more perspectives ­— and stakeholders — in order to address any given problem from multiple vantage points. Lengthening requires focusing on not just the immediate consequences of a decision but also its likely impact over time”.[254]

If running the country isn’t a job worth taking seriously, it’s not clear what is. Indeed, if the past decade’s worth of financial and political crises have taught us anything, it is surely that we could use more leaders in politics and business who … seek the opinions of others and who lie awake worrying about the consequences of their actions.

– Financial Times[255]

The moment seems propitious for a revival of the statespersonship model of professional leadership for business, legal and other institutional leaders. And we are indeed seeing well positioned CEOs, business and legal leaders increasingly embracing societal issues, speaking out publicly and taking stands on controversial issues. These leaders now have a track record of speaking up about social, political and environmental issues, such as climate change, gender pay equity, income and wealth inequality, civility and hate speech, same-sex marriage, immigration, gun control and discrimination, etc.^[256] As noted by a number of commentators, including leading business journals,[257] as we move forward into the 21^st century it is clear that business, legal and other institutional leaders have an increased role to play in the macro issues confronting Western society (and silence on an issue can be conspicuous and consequential). Today’s leaders need to speak for all stakeholders:[258]

• More and more business and legal leaders are now taking a stand on social issues. Businesses, “it has been argued, have to be responsible even on matters that don’t directly affect the company’s line of work”. It is an evolving dynamic in which private sector leaders are beginning to speak out publicly on controversial issues, and others have gone so far as to actually “wade into political waters”.^[259]
• Over the past two years, it may be fair to say that is has become more common for leaders of companies and organizations to speak out on policy issues, “and the public is paying attention to this new brand of business purpose and activism”. Citizens across Western society are beginning to believe that such actions can influence government policy. While most business and legal leaders are not accustomed to participating in the political arena, they and their organizations need to be prepared to navigate these “uncharted waters, whether they remain silent or not”.^[260]
• Due to the strong link between senior leaders and company reputation and market value, the reputation of the CEO and senior leaders are at a premium today, and is only going to grow more valuable. Keeping a low profile is no longer an option in our increasingly connected and transparent world. Although there are risks that come with public visibility, taking business, legal and other institutional leaders “out from behind closed doors actually puts control of the” leaders and their organizations’ “reputation in their own hands”.^[261]
• Of course, such leaders “have to be comfortable in their own skins when taking on this new mantle, but as a new generation takes the reins, public engagement with a greater purpose will only increase, and will become the new corporate imperative”. ^[262]

One of the reasons people come to work at Starbucks is because we stand for something. It’s about human connection and having a sense of humanity. We think that’s part of what makes Starbucks a special place that both partners and customers want to be associated with. And, I think there should be more publicly traded companies that also think about not only creating shareholder value but how to contribute in a positive way to society.

– Kevin Johnson, CEO Starbucks^[263]

As vulnerable populations question the legitimacy of our prevailing economic and political institutions, it appears to be “clear that the answers we seek will not be found within the politics of today” in isolation. Civil discourse, compromise, and cooperation are “not weak words” but rather “magical words pointing toward” a healthy and successful society.[264] This is a call “for inclusive governance, for deliberative”, collaborative, “and thoughtful decision-making”, and for passionate leaders across society willing to change the tone, shape and nature of the current discussion.[265]

Eric Sigurdson

Endnotes:

---

[1] Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Carrie Dann, Where some see tragedy in toxic politics, Trump sees opportunity, NBC News, October 29, 2018.

[2] Tom Monahan, Populism Unleashed: 5 Steps for Business Leaders to Shape a Healthy Society and Boost Performance, CEB Global, November 9, 2016; Editorial Board, The Patriotic Response to Populism, Bloomberg, January 3, 2017; Oscar Williams-Grut, Brexit and Trump are just the start – populism will strike Europe next, Business Insider, November 10, 2016; Andrew Cumbers, Economically marginalized voters played a critical role in Trump’s rise, Brexit, and a shift to the far right in Europe, Business Insider, January 13, 2017. [Originally published in The Conversation.com: Andrew Cumbers, New index of economic marginalisation helps explain Trump, Brexit, and alt.right, The Conversation, January 12, 2017].

[3] The Global Risks Report 2017 (12 edition), World Economic Forum, 2017; Apple CEO: Cooperation to eliminate inequality, deeply encouraged by China’s progress, Medium, March 25, 2018; Chance Miller, Tim Cook encourages fearlessness, echoes Steve Jobs during Duke commencement, 9to5Mac.com, May 13, 2018; Kif Leswing, Apple CEO Tim Cook tells Duke grads that technology has made this ‘the best time in history to be alive’, Business Insider, May 13, 2018.

[4] Friederike Mengel, What stops us cooperating?, World Economic Forum, April 12, 2019; Matthew Robison, Are People Naturally Inclined to Cooperate or Be Selfish?, Scientific American, September 1, 2014; Friederike Mengel, Risk and Temptation: A Meta-Study on Social Dilemma Games, The Economic Journal, Vol. 128, Issue 616, December 2018.

[5] Ian Bremmer, A world in turmoil: What we must do to survive the coming political crisis, Globe and Mail, April 20, 2018.

[6] Matthew Yglesias, American democracy is doomed, Vox, October 8, 2015; David Moss, Fixing What’s Wrong with U.S. Politics, Harvard Business Review, March 2012.

[7] For example: Edward Lawler, Corporate Stewardship, Forbes, September 22, 2015; Insight Report, The Global Risks Report 2017 (12^th ed), World Economic Forum, January 2017. For example, see: Jennifer Epstein and Justin Sink, What’s Next: Who Gets Hit When U.S. Resumes Iran Sanctions, Bloomberg, May 8, 2018; David Meyer, These 6 Companies Have a Lot to Fear from Trump’s Iran Sanctions, Fortune, May 9, 2018; Brigham McCown, What Companies Need to Know About Trump’s Iran Decision, Forbes, May 8, 2018; Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018; Eric Sigurdson, Civility, Advocacy, and the Rule of Law: From Wall Street t Main Street, From the Boardroom to the Courtroom – lawyer civility is crucial in an uncivil world, Sigurdson Post, June 30, 2018; Eric Sigurdson, A Toxic Brew: The Politicization of the Rule of Law and Judicial Independence, September 30, 2018; Eric Sigurdson, Global Populism: Corporate Strategy, Engagement & Leadership in 2017 – ‘the year of living dangerously’, Sigurdson Post, January 18, 2017.

[8] The Global Risks Report 2017 (12 edition), World Economic Forum, 2017.

[9] Larry Fink (Chairman and CEO, BlackRock), Larry Fink’s Annual Letter to CEOS: Purpose & Profit, BlackRock.com, January 2019. Also see, Larry Fink (Chairman and CEO, BlackRock), Larry Fink’s Annual Letter to CEOS: A Sense of Purpose, BlackRock.com, January 2018.

[10] David Lipton, Trust and the Future of Multilateralism, IMF Blog: Insights and Analysis on Economic & Finance, May 10, 2018; Richard Edelman, A crisis of trust: A warning to both business and government, Economist, The World In.com, 2016; Paul Glader, Americans Are Disgusted With American Leaders and Institutions, Forbes, August 20, 2018; Angel Burria (OECD Secretary-General), 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer, OECD.org, January 30, 2019. Also see, 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019.

[11] See for example, Saskia Brechenmacher, Comparing Democratic Distress in the United States and Europe, Carnegie Endowment.org, June 21, 2018; E.J. Dionne Jr., Are Republicans abandoning democracy?, Washington Post, December 9, 2018; David Leonhardt, The Corporate Donors Behind a Republican Power Grab, New York Times, December 9, 2018.

[12] Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018.

[13] Ben W. Heineman Jr., William F. Lee, and David B. Wilkins, Lawyers as Professionals and as Citizens: Key Roles and Responsibilities in the 21^st Century, Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School, November 20, 2014. See generally, Benjamin W. Heineman Jr., The General Counsel as Lawyer-Statesman, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, September 5, 2010; Ben Heineman Jr., The Inside Counsel Revolution: Resolving the Partner-Guardian Tension, 2016; Ben Heineman, Jr., Inside the in-house counsel revolution, The Lawyer Daily, April 25, 2017; Ben Heineman, Jr., The Inside Counsel Revolution, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, March 29, 2016.

[14] Larry Fink (Chairman and CEO, BlackRock), Larry Fink’s Annual Letter to CEOS: A Sense of Purpose, BlackRock.com, January 2018. Also see, Andrew Ross Sorkin, BlackRock’s Message: Contribute to Society, or Risk Losing our Support, New York Times, January 15, 2018.

[15] Dimple Agarwal, Josh Bersin, and Gaurav Lahiri, Citizenship and social impact: Society holds the mirror – 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte Insights, March 28, 2018. Also see, Dimple Agarwal, Josh Bersin, and Gaurav Lahiri, Introduction: The rise of the social enterprise – 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte Insights, March 28, 2018.

[16] Simon Wilkins, Should business leaders get involved in social and political issues?, Business Chief, May 11, 2017.

[17] Chris Murphy, Why is social responsibility important to a business?, Investopedia, June 18, 2018; Josh Bersin, Yes, CEOs, You Do Need To Speak Up On Social Issues, Forbes, September 5, 2018.

[18] Josh Bersin, Yes, CEOs, You Do Need To Speak Up On Social Issues, Forbes, September 5, 2018; 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2018; 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2018. Also see, 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019; 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2019; CanTrust Index 2019, Proof Inc. (getproof.com), 2019; Canada is seeing cracks in the foundation of trust, Proof Inc. (getproof.com), 2019.

[19] Polly Courtice, Business leaders must prioritise sustainability to gain society’s trust, Guardian, December 3, 2014; Simon Wilkins, Should business leaders get involved in social and political issues?, Business Chief, May 11, 2017.

[20] Simon Wilkins, Should business leaders get involved in social and political issues?, Business Chief, May 11, 2017.

[21] 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019; 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2019.

[22] Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness, Yale University Press, 2008, page 235 [Note: Richard Thaler is the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics. Named a Best Book of the Year by The Economist and the Financial Times]. Also see, Jennifer Kavanagh and Michael Rich, Truth Decay: An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life, Rand, 2018, page 195-197; Jennifer Kavanagh and Michael Rich, Truth Decay in public discourse and how to fight it, World Economic Forum, May 17, 2018 [note: article part of World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform]; Jeffrey Goldberg, A Senior White House Official Defines the Trump Doctrine: ‘We’re America, Bitch’, The Atlantic, June 11, 2018; Christine Porath, Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace, Grand Central Publishing, 2016; Christine Porath, The hidden toll of workplace incivility, McKinsey Quarterly, December 2016; Christine Porath and Christine Pearson, The Price of Incivility, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2013; Aloke Chakravarty, A Call For Ethics and Civility in Governance and Litigation: Changing Culture and Increasing Accountability, 4 Emory Corporate Governance and Accountability Review 37, 2017; Andray Domise, It’s too late for civility in American politics, MacLeans.ca, June 26, 2018; Philip Bump, The irony of Washington’s ‘civility’ debate: Trump already proved that incivility works, Washington Post, June 25, 2018.

[23] 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019; 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2019.

[24] Harriet Sherwood, Reconciliation in UK could take a generation, says Gordon Brown, Guardian, May 12, 2019.

[25] Edward Keenan, Dave Meslin exposes our perverse political system – and your blood might boil at how simple the fixes are, Toronto Star, May 11, 2019.

[26] See generally, 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019; 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2019; CanTrust Index 2019, Proof Inc. (getproof.com), 2019; Canada is seeing cracks in the foundation of trust, Proof Inc. (getproof.com), 2019.

[27] Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, BCG.com, March 1, 2018; Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, Arabesque.com, March 20, 2018.

[28] Helen Lewis, On both the left and the right, I’ve never despaired more at British politicians, New Statesman, February 15, 2018.

[29] Judith Timson, How we learn to trust each other again, Toronto Star, March 25, 2019; 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019; 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2019; 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2018; 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2018; CanTrust Index 2019, Proof Inc. (getproof.com), 2019; Canada is seeing cracks in the foundation of trust, Proof Inc. (getproof.com), 2019.

[30] Alan Fleischmann, It’s Time For CEOs To Be the New Leaders of the World, Fortune, December 29, 2016; Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, BCG.com, March 1, 2018; Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, Arabesque.com, March 20, 2018.

[31] Building Greater Trust and Civility, Report of the 108^th Congress Stennis Congressional Staff Fellows, 2004.

[32] Richard Edelman, Richard Edelman on the battle for the truth, Unilver.com, January 22, 2018.

[33] Rich Lesser, 2018 – A moment of truth for CEOs, LinkedIn, January 9, 2018.

[34] Chris Murphy, Why is social responsibility important to a business?, Investopedia, June 18, 2018.

[35] Dimple Agarwal, Josh Bersin, and Gaurav Lahiri, Introduction: The rise of the social enterprise – 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte Insights, March 28, 2018. Also see, Dimple Agarwal, Josh Bersin, and Gaurav Lahiri, Citizenship and social impact: Society holds the mirror – 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte Insights, March 28, 2018.

[36] Dimple Agarwal, Josh Bersin, and Gaurav Lahiri, Introduction: The rise of the social enterprise – 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte Insights, March 28, 2018. Also see, Dimple Agarwal, Josh Bersin, and Gaurav Lahiri, Citizenship and social impact: Society holds the mirror – 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte Insights, March 28, 2018.

[37] Frank Bruni, The Sunny Side of Greed, New York Times, July 1, 2015.

[38] Emily Cadei, How Corporate America Propelled Same-Sex Marriage, Newsweek, June 30, 2015; Frank Bruni, The Sunny Side of Greed, New York Times, July 1, 2015; Gail O’Brien, Why More Companies Are Speaking Out on Social Issues, Business Ethics, July 13, 2015; Diane Smith-Gander, When should business leaders speak out on social issues?, The Resolution, May 15, 2019; Chris Murphy, Why is social responsibility important to a business?, Investopedia, June 18, 2018.

[39] Ben Carrington and Jules Boykoff, Is Colin Kaepernick’s Nike deal activism – or just capitalism?, The Guardian, September 6, 2018.

[40] See generally, Michael Toffel and Auden Schendler, The Climate Needs Aggressive CEO Leadership, Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge (hbswk.hbs.edu), September 24, 2014.

[41] Mark Mizruchi, Why the Decline in Corporate Statesmanship?, Harvard Business Review, April 24, 2013.

[42] Terry Newell, Statesmanship, Character, and Leadership in America, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012; Chuck Hollingsworth, Statesmanship Takes Leadership and Governance to the Next Level, The Public Manager, Vol. 42, No. 2, Summer 2013.

[43] Elliot Schwartz, In the Nations Interest: Business Statesmanship, CED.org. Also see, Elliot Schwartz, Business Statesmanship, Trustee Call (ced.org), June 19, 2013; Working Paper: Business Statesmanship and Sustainable Capitalism: Can Corporate Leaders Help Put America and American Business Back on Track?, Committee for Economic Development (ced.org), May 28, 2013.

[44] Timothy Sullivan, The Legal Profession and Its Future: Recapturing the Ideal of the Statesman-Lawyer, Faculty Publications (William & Mary Law School Scholarship Repository), Paper 475, 1998. Also see, Ben W. Heineman Jr., William F. Lee, and David B. Wilkins, Lawyers as Professionals and as Citizens: Key Roles and Responsibilities in the 21^st Century, Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School, November 20, 2014.

[45] Benjamin W. Heineman Jr., The General Counsel as Lawyer-Statesman, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, September 5, 2010. Also see, Ben W. Heineman Jr., William F. Lee, and David B. Wilkins, Lawyers as Professionals and as Citizens: Key Roles and Responsibilities in the 21^st Century, Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School, November 20, 2014. For example see, Editorial Board, The President and His Power to Pardon: Donald Trump’s use of executive clemency may be lawful, but it is in no way normal, New York Times, May 19, 2019; Eric Sussman, I prosecuted Conrad Black – and this presidential pardon is a mockery of justice, Financial Post, May 17, 2019.

[46] Robert W. Gordon, The Return of the Lawyer-Statesman?, 69 Stanford Law Review 1731, 2017. Also see, Richard Moorhead, Against Babbitry: What Legal History and Practical Leadership Can Tell Us About Lawyer’s Ethics, Jotwell.com, October 10, 2017; Benjamin W. Heineman Jr., The General Counsel as Lawyer-Statesman, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, September 5, 2010; Ben W. Heineman Jr., William F. Lee, and David B. Wilkins, Lawyers as Professionals and as Citizens: Key Roles and Responsibilities in the 21^st Century, Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School, November 20, 2014.

[47] Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018; Ben W. Heineman Jr., William F. Lee, and David B. Wilkins, Lawyers as Professionals and as Citizens: Key Roles and Responsibilities in the 21^st Century, Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School, November 20, 2014.

[48] The Dawn of CEO Activism, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2016; CEO Activism in 2017: High Noon in the C-Suite, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2017; CEO Activism in 2018: The Purposeful CEO, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2018; Jon Mertz, Business Leader Activism: Are You Ready to Do Good for Business and Society?, Thin Difference.com, September 11, 2018; The CEO Reputation Premium: Gaining Advantage in the Engagement Era, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2015; Carmen Nobel, When CEOs Become Activists, Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge (hbswk.hbs.edu), April 20, 2016; Michael Toffel and Auden Schendler, The Climate Needs Aggressive CEO Leadership, Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge (hbswk.hbs.edu), September 24, 2014.

[49] See generally, Michael Toffel and Auden Schendler, The Climate Needs Aggressive CEO Leadership, Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge (hbswk.hbs.edu), September 24, 2014.

[50] Alan Fleischmann, It’s Time For CEOs To Be the New Leaders of the World, Fortune, December 29, 2016.

[51] Lisa Kimmel, Canada’s unprecedented trust gap: Who will build the bridge for a country divided?, Globe and Mail, February 14, 2019.

[52] See generally, Eric Sigurdson, Taxation, Corporations, and the Financial Elite: a pathway for leadership, social responsibility, and economic growth – can society avoid the dangerous ‘race to the bottom’?, Sigurdson Post, March 31, 2019; Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018. Also see, for example: Jeff Lewis and Shawn McCarthy, Conservative politicians, oil executives map out strategy for ousting federal Liberals in growing collaboration, Globe and Mail, April 25, 2019; Bob Hepburn, Doug Ford – a premier ‘For the (Rich) People’, Toronto Star, April 24, 2019; Campbell Clark, Scheer leaves himself open to claims he’s in cahoots with Big Oil, Globe and Mail, April 25, 2019.

[53] The Global Risks Report 2017 (12 edition), World Economic Forum, 2017.

[54] Angel Gurria (OECD Secretary-General), 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer, OECD.org, January 30, 2019. Also see, 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019.

[55] BBC Global Survey: A World Divided?, Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute (IPSOS.com), April 23, 2018 (global Ipsos MORI study, carried out in 27 countries, for the BBC highlights the extent to which people think their society is divided). Also see, Alexa Larieri, Survey: Majority of People Around the World Feel Divided, U.S. News, April 25, 2018.

[56] Angel Gurria (OECD Secretary-General), 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer, OECD.org, January 30, 2019. Also see, 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019.

[57] Tom Monahan, Populism Unleashed: 5 Steps for Business Leaders to Shape a Healthy Society and Boost Performance, CEB Global, November 9, 2016; Editorial Board, The Patriotic Response to Populism, Bloomberg, January 3, 2017; Oscar Williams-Grut, Brexit and Trump are just the start – populism will strike Europe next, Business Insider, November 10, 2016; Andrew Cumbers, Economically marginalized voters played a critical role in Trump’s rise, Brexit, and a shift to the far right in Europe, Business Insider, January 13, 2017. [Originally published in The Conversation.com: Andrew Cumbers, New index of economic marginalisation helps explain Trump, Brexit, and alt.right, The Conversation, January 12, 2017].

[58] Apple CEO: Cooperation to eliminate inequality, deeply encouraged by China’s progress, Medium, March 25, 2018.

[59] Chance Miller, Tim Cook encourages fearlessness, echoes Steve Jobs during Duke commencement, 9to5Mac.com, May 13, 2018; Kif Leswing, Apple CEO Tim Cook tells Duke grads that technology has made this ‘the best time in history to be alive’, Business Insider, May 13, 2018;

[60] The Global Risks Report 2017 (12 edition), World Economic Forum, 2017.

[61] Simon Wilkins, Should business leaders get involved in social and political issues?, Business Chief, May 11, 2017; Chris Murphy, Why is social responsibility important to a business?, Investopedia, June 18, 2018.

[62] Kelli Ell, Business leaders should take a stand on social issues such as curbing gun violence, says Yale management guru, CNBC, February 21, 2018; Chris Murphy, Why is social responsibility important to a business?, Investopedia, June 18, 2018.

[63] Bradley Saacks, Even billionaires are acknowledging that the system that created their crazy amount of wealth is unsustainable, Business Insider, May 4, 2019.

[64] Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Wobbly Is Our Democracy?, New York Times, January 27, 2018; David Runciman, How Democracies Die review – Trump and the shredding of norms, Guardian, January 24, 2018; Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die, What History Tells Us About Our Future, Broadway Books, 2018. See for example: Jonathan Montpetit, Quebec is divided, polarized as hearings set to begin on secularism bill, CBC, May 6, 2019.

[65] Jennifer Lynn McCoy, Extreme political polarization weakens democracy – can the US avoid that fate?, The Conversation, October 31, 2018. Also see, Jennifer McCoy, Tahmina Rahman and Murat Somer, Polarization and the Global Crisis of Democracy: Common Patterns, Dynamics, and Pernicious Consequences for Democratic Polities, American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 62, Number 1, 2018.

[66] Edward Keenan, Dave Meslin exposes our perverse political system – and your blood might boil at how simple the fixes are, Toronto Star, May 11, 2019.

[67] Doug Saunders, Why our politics pits rural parties against urban parties, Globe and Mail, May 18, 2019.

[68] Lisa Kimmel, Canada’s unprecedented trust gap: Who will build the bridge for a country divided?, Globe and Mail, February 14, 2019. Also see, Andrew Cardozo, Canada’s becoming more divided than ever; time to stop and think about that, Hill Times, February 25, 2019.

[69] Rich Lesser, Martin Reeves, and Johann Harnoss, Saving Globalization and Technology from Themselves, BCG.com, July 26, 2016.

[70] Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018; William Galston, The rise of European populism and the collapse of the center-left, Brookings, March 8, 2018.

[71] Rich Lesser, Martin Reeves, and Johann Harnoss, Saving Globalization and Technology from Themselves, BCG.com, July 26, 2016.

[72] Lisa Kimmel, Canada’s unprecedented trust gap: Who will build the bridge for a country divided?, Globe and Mail, February 14, 2019.

[73] John Hall, The No. 1 Priority For Business Leaders in 2018, Forbes, February 11, 2018.

[74] Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, BCG.com, March 1, 2018; Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, Arabesque.com, March 20, 2018.

[75] David Brooks, It’s Not the Collusion, It’s the Corruption, New York Times, April 18, 2019. Also see, Peter Baker, A President of the People or a President of His People?, New York Times, April 16, 2019; Tim Dunlop, Inequality is a political problem, not an economic one, ABC News (abc.net.au), November 27, 2013; Dana Milbank, This is what happens when corporations run the government, Washington Post, March 15, 2019; Jeffrey Sachs, Scott Pruitt sums up America’s big challenge, CNN, April 10, 2018; Eric Sigurdson, A Toxic Brew: The Politicization of the Rule of Law and Judicial Independence, September 30, 2018.

[76] Andrew Anthony, Jared Diamond: So how do states recover from crisis? Same way as people do, Guardian, April 21, 2019.

[77] Allen White, A moment for business statesmanship, GreenBiz.com, April 24, 2017.

[78] Mickey Edwards, The Case for Transcending Partisanship, Daedalus, Vol. 142, Issue 2, Spring 2013.

[79] Tim Stanley, Why Finland’s war-torn past offers lessons for Brexit Britain, Telegraph, May 4, 2019; Jared Diamond, Upheaval: How Nations Cope with Crisis and Change, Little, Brown and Company, 2019 [Also published as Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis]. Also see, Peter Coy, Jared Diamond’s new book, Upheaval, makes a persuasive case for why some nations succeed – and others don’t, Bloomberg, May 1, 2019.

[80] Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018. Also see, Apple CEO: Cooperation to eliminate inequality, deeply encouraged by China’s progress, Medium, March 25, 2018; Chance Miller, Tim Cook encourages fearlessness, echoes Steve Jobs during Duke commencement, 9to5Mac.com, May 13, 2018; Kif Leswing, Apple CEO Tim Cook tells Duke grads that technology has made this ‘the best time in history to be alive’, Business Insider, May 13, 2018; Tom Monahan, Populism Unleashed: 5 Steps for Business Leaders to Shape a Healthy Society and Boost Performance, CEB Global, November 9, 2016; Editorial Board, The Patriotic Response to Populism, Bloomberg, January 3, 2017; Oscar Williams-Grut, Brexit and Trump are just the start – populism will strike Europe next, Business Insider, November 10, 2016; Andrew Cumbers, Economically marginalized voters played a critical role in Trump’s rise, Brexit, and a shift to the far right in Europe, Business Insider, January 13, 2017. [Originally published in The Conversation.com: Andrew Cumbers, New index of economic marginalisation helps explain Trump, Brexit, and alt.right, The Conversation, January 12, 2017].

[81] Art Markman, Can You Be a Great Leader Without Technical Expertise?, Harvard Business Review, November 15, 2017; Amanda Goodall, A Theory of Expert Leadership, IZA Discussion Papers 6566, Institute for the Study of Labor, 2012; Sarah Green Carmichael, Why Technical Experts Make Great Leaders, Harvard Business Review, April 24, 2018.

[82] John Hall, The No. 1 Priority For Business Leaders in 2018, Forbes, February 11, 2018; 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2019; Andres Tapia, Stepping Up, Korn Ferry Institute, August 18, 2017.

[83] The Dawn of CEO Activism, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2016; CEO Activism in 2017: High Noon in the C-Suite, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2017; CEO Activism in 2018: The Purposeful CEO, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2018; Jon Mertz, Business Leader Activism: Are You Ready to Do Good for Business and Society?, Thin Difference.com, September 11, 2018; The CEO Reputation Premium: Gaining Advantage in the Engagement Era, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2015; Carmen Nobel, When CEOs Become Activists, Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge (hbswk.hbs.edu), April 20, 2016; Michael Toffel and Auden Schendler, The Climate Needs Aggressive CEO Leadership, Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge (hbswk.hbs.edu), September 24, 2014.

[84] Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, BCG.com, March 1, 2018; Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, Arabesque.com, March 20, 2018.

[85] The Dawn of CEO Activism, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2016; CEO Activism in 2017: High Noon in the C-Suite, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2017; CEO Activism in 2018: The Purposeful CEO, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2018; Jon Mertz, Business Leader Activism: Are You Ready to Do Good for Business and Society?, Thin Difference.com, September 11, 2018; The CEO Reputation Premium: Gaining Advantage in the Engagement Era, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2015; Carmen Nobel, When CEOs Become Activists, Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge (hbswk.hbs.edu), April 20, 2016; Michael Toffel and Auden Schendler, The Climate Needs Aggressive CEO Leadership, Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge (hbswk.hbs.edu), September 24, 2014.

[86] Emily Cadei, How Corporate America Propelled Same-Sex Marriage, Newsweek, June 30, 2015; Frank Bruni, The Sunny Side of Greed, New York Times, July 1, 2015; Gail O’Brien, Why More Companies Are Speaking Out on Social Issues, Business Ethics, July 13, 2015;

[87] Larry Fink (Chairman and CEO, BlackRock), Larry Fink’s Annual Letter to CEOS: Purpose & Profit, BlackRock.com, January 2019. Also see, Larry Fink (Chairman and CEO, BlackRock), Larry Fink’s Annual Letter to CEOS: A Sense of Purpose, BlackRock.com, January 2018.

[88] 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019; 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2019; CanTrust Index 2019, Proof Inc. (getproof.com), 2019; Canada is seeing cracks in the foundation of trust, Proof Inc. (getproof.com), 2019.

[89] Andres Tapia, Stepping Up, Korn Ferry Institute, August 18, 2017.

[90] Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, BCG.com, March 1, 2018; Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, Arabesque.com, March 20, 2018; Rich Lesser, 2018 – A moment of truth for CEOs, LinkedIn, January 9, 2018.

[91] Gene Bradley and Cynthia Howells, The demand for corporate statesmanship, The Columbia Journal of World Business, Vol. 29, Issue 3, Autumn 1994.

[92] Ian Davis, Business and Society: The biggest contract – building social issues into strategy, big business can recast the debate about its role, The Economist, May 26, 2005.

[93] Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, BCG.com, March 1, 2018; Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, Arabesque.com, March 20, 2018; Douglas Beal, Robert Eccles, Gerry Hansell, Rich Lesser, Shalini Unnikrishnan, Wendy Woods, and David Young, Total Societal Impact: A New Lens for Strategy, BCG.com, October 25, 2017.

[94] CEO Activism in 2018: The Purposeful CEO, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2018.

[95] Patrick Alain, The Impact of a Good Leader and Good Leadership in Society, Industry Leaders (industryleadersmaganize.com), January 21, 2012; Jon Mertz, Business Leader Activism: Are You Ready to Do Good for Business and Society?, Thin Difference.com, September 11, 2018.

[96] Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018.

[97] Ben W. Heineman Jr., William F. Lee, and David B. Wilkins, Lawyers as Professionals and as Citizens: Key Roles and Responsibilities in the 21^st Century, Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School, November 20, 2014. See generally, Benjamin W. Heineman Jr., The General Counsel as Lawyer-Statesman, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, September 5, 2010; Ben Heineman Jr., The Inside Counsel Revolution: Resolving the Partner-Guardian Tension, 2016; Ben Heineman, Jr., Inside the in-house counsel revolution, The Lawyer Daily, April 25, 2017; Ben Heineman, Jr., The Inside Counsel Revolution, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, March 29, 2016.

[98] Brigette Hyacinth, Integrity is the single most important leadership skill, LinkedIn, April 2, 2019.

[99] Bill Furlong, Character: Your most powerful, differentiating and controllable leadership strength, Ivey.uwo.ca, April 3, 2019.

[100] Bill Furlong, Character: Your most powerful, differentiating and controllable leadership strength, Ivey.uwo.ca, April 3, 2019.

[101] David Horsager, You Can’t Be a Great Leader Without Trust – Here’s How You Build It, Forbes, October 24, 2012; David Horsager, The Trust Edge: How Top Leaders Gain Faster Results, Deeper Relationships, and a Stronger Bottom Line, Free Press, 2009. Also see, Jason Wingard, Do You Trust Facebook? Zuckerberg’s Leadership Dilemma, Forbes, March 20, 2019.

[102] Terri Williams, Why Integrity Remains One of the Top Leadership Attributes, The Economist.

[103] Tatiana Compton, The Single Most Important Trait of Great Leaders, Ivy Exec.com, 2016.

[104] Terri Williams, Why Integrity Remains One of the Top Leadership Attributes, The Economist, March 21, 2017.

[105] Tatiana Compton, The Single Most Important Trait of Great Leaders, Ivy Exec.com, 2016.

[106] Eric Sigurdson, Lawyers and Leadership: effective and ethical judgement and decision-making required to address societal and professional challenges, Sigurdson Post, September 5, 2016; Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018; Donald J. Polden (Dean and Prof of Law, Santa Clara University), Leadership Matters: Lawyers’ Leadership Skills and Competencies, Santa Clara Law Review, Vol. 52, No. 3, September 21, 2012; Ben W. Heineman Jr., William F. Lee, and David B. Wilkins, Lawyers as Professionals and as Citizens: Key Roles and Responsibilities in the 21^st Century, Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School, November 20, 2014; Deborah L. Rhode, Lawyers as Leaders, Oxford University Press, 2013.

[107] Eric Sigurdson, Leadership Qualities: from Wells Fargo to Donald Trump – character, integrity, and ethics are necessities, not luxuries, Sigurdson Post, October 17, 2016.

[108] Patrick Alain, The Impact of a Good Leader and Good Leadership in Society, Industry Leaders (industryleadersmaganize.com), January 21, 2012.

[109] Nancy Koehn, Forged in Crisis – The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times, Scribner, 2017.

[110] Jon Mertz, Business Leader Activism: Are You Ready to Do Good for Business and Society?, Thin Difference.com, September 11, 2018.

[111] Jamie Dimon, ‘Alarm bells’ should be ringing in corporate boardrooms over the challenges facing our communities, Business Insider, April 18, 2019.

[112] For example, see: Ryan Maloney, Immigration Survey Shows ‘Clear Measure of Racial Discrimination’: EKOS Pollster – attitudes to non-white newcomers are poised to become ballot box issues, a new poll suggests, Huffington Post, April 16, 2019; Ana Gonzalez-Barrera and Phillip Connor, Around the World, More Say Immigrants Are a Strength Than a Burden, Pew Research Center, March 14, 2019.

[113] Caitlin Zaloom, Does the U.S. Still Have a ‘Middle Class’?: White-collar work today is fundamentally insecure, The Atlantic, November 4, 2018; Jeff Schwartz, Robin Jones, Steve Hatfield, and Siri Anderson, What is the future of work? Redefining work, workforces, and workplaces, Deloitte Insights, April 1, 2019; Stephen Harper, Populism’s rise points to real problems in our world. We ignore them at our peril, Globe and Mail, October 6, 2018; Overhaul tax for the 21^st century, The Economist, August 9, 2018; Daniel Tencer, OECD Report Warns of ‘Unprecedented Wage Stagnation’ in Developed Countries, Huffington Post, July 9, 2018; Pedro Nicolaci da Costa, There’s one simple explanation for the wage stagnation ‘puzzle’ confounding top Fed officials, Business Insider, August 29, 2018; Steve Johnson, Global unemployment hits lowest point for 4 decades: UBS survey highlights impact of labour flexibility, lower wages and interest rates, Financial Times, December 5, 2018; Leonid Bershidsky, Underemployment is the New Unemployment: Western countries are celebrating low joblessness, but much of the new work is precarious and part-time, Bloomberg, September 26, 2018; Josephine Moulds, ‘You can’t really win’: 4m Britons in poverty despite having jobs, Guardian, May 14, 2019; Suresh Naidu, Eric Posner, and Glen Weyl, More and more companies have monopoly power over workers’ wages. That’s killing the economy, Vox, April 6, 2018; Nick Hanauer, To My Fellow Plutocrats: You Can Cure Trumpism – pay your workers a decent wage, Politico.com, July 18, 2017; Aleksandra Sagen, Loblaw shareholders reject proposal to study feasibility of paying a living wage, Globe and Mail, May 3, 2018; Jesse M. Fried (Harvard Law School) and Charles C.Y. Wang (Harvard Business School), Short-Termism and Capital Flows, Working Paper 17-062, 2017; Amy Minsky, Average hourly wages in Canada have barely budged in 40 years, Global News, June 15, 2017; Drew DeSilver, For most U.S. workers, real wages have barely budged in decades, Pew Research Center, August 7, 2018.  Note: re wage stagnation also see – Stephen J. Rose, How Different Studies Measure Income Inequality in the US: Piketty and Company Are Not the Only Game in Town, Income and Benefits Policy Center, Urban Institute (urban.org), December 2018; Rajeshni Naidu-Ghelani, Number of temp workers jumped by 50% in last 20 years, StatsCan says, CBC, May 14, 2019.

[114] Richard Partington, Britain risks heading to US levels of inequality, warns top economist, Guardian, May 14, 2019.

[115] April Fong, ‘Maxed out’: 48% of Canadians on brink of insolvency, survey says, BNN Bloomberg, April 22, 2019; Lalita Clozel, One-Third of Middle Class Can’t Afford $400 Surprise Expense, Fed Finds, Wall Street Journal, May 10, 2019; Matthew Boesler, Almost 40% of Americans Would Struggle to Cover a $400 Emergency, Bloomberg, May 23, 2019; Neal Gabler, The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans: Nearly half of Americans would have trouble finding $400 to pay for an emergency. I’m one of them, Atlantic, May 2016; Andrew Van Dam, Are Americans benefiting from the strong economy – aside from the rich? A Fed report raises questions, Washington Post, May 23, 2019.

[116] The economic inequality perspective — emphasizes the consequences for electoral behavior arising from profound changes transforming the workforce and society in post-industrial economies. There is overwhelming evidence of powerful trends toward greater income and wealth inequality in the West, based on the rise of the knowledge economy, technological automation, and the collapse of manufacturing industry, global flows of labor, goods, peoples, and capital (especially the inflow of migrants and refugees), the erosion of organized labor, shrinking welfare safety-nets, and neo-liberal austerity policies.  According to this view, rising economic insecurity and social deprivation among the left-behinds has fueled popular resentment of the political classes. This situation is believed to have made the less secure strata of society – low-waged unskilled workers, the long-term unemployed, households dependent on shrinking social benefits, residents of public housing, single-parent families, and poorer white populations living in inner-city areas with concentrations of immigrants– susceptible to the anti-establishment, nativist, and xenophobic scare-mongering exploited of populist movements, parties, and leaders, blaming ‘Them’ for stripping prosperity, job opportunities, and public services from ‘Us’. [Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and Cultural Backlash, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series, August 2016]. Also see, Suresh Naidu, Eric Posner, and Glen Weyl, More and more companies have monopoly power over workers’ wages. That’s killing the economy, Vox, April 6, 2018.

[117] Caitlin Zaloom, Does the U.S. Still Have a ‘Middle Class’?: White-collar work today is fundamentally insecure, The Atlantic, November 4, 2018; Stephen Harper, Populism’s rise points to real problems in our world. We ignore them at our peril, Globe and Mail, October 6, 2018; Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018.

[118] Christine Lagarde, The Role of Business in Supporting a more Inclusive Global Economy, Conference on Inclusive Capitalism, New York, International Monetary Fund, October 10, 2016; Klaus Schwab, Five Leadership priorities for 2017, World Economic Forum, January 2, 2017; Richard Edelman, A crisis of trust: A warning to both business and government, Economist, The World In.com, 2016; Jim Norman, Americans’ Confidence in Institutions Stays Low, Gallup.com, June 13, 2016; Clare Malone, Americans Don’t Trust Their Institutions Anymore, FiveThirtyEight, November 16, 2016; Jake Johnson, As Millions of Workers Face Pension Cuts Thanks to Wall Street Greed, Executive Benefits Remain Lavish, Common Dreams.org, April 29, 2016; Matt Taibbi, Looting the Pension Funds, Rolling Stone, September 26, 2013; M.B., Busted Trust: Faith in world leaders, Economist, January 23, 2012; James Crisp, Juncker admits Europeans have lost faith in the EU, EurActiv.com, April 19, 2016; Nathaniel Persily and Jon Cohen, Americans are losing faith in democracy – and in each other, Washington Post, October 14, 2016.

[119] Christine Lagarde, The Role of Business in Supporting a more Inclusive Global Economy, Conference on Inclusive Capitalism, New York, International Monetary Fund, October 10, 2016; A perfectly timed book on populism: John Judis has written a powerful account of the forces shaking Europe and America, The Economist, December 3, 2016. See, John Judis, The Populist Explosion, 2016; Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and Cultural Backlash, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series, August 2016.  Also see: Nouriel Roubini, The Political Left and Right Are Being Upended by Globalization Politics, Huffington Post, August 23, 2016: “The backlash against globalization is real and mounting in advanced economies. But it can be managed through policies that ensure that the benefits of globalization continue, that mitigates collateral damage to those who lose out and that makes losers more likely to eventually join the ranks of the winners.”

[120] Tom Monahan, Populism Unleashed: 5 Steps for Business Leaders to Shape a Healthy Society and Boost Performance, CEB Global, November 9, 2016; Klaus Schwab, Five Leadership priorities for 2017, World Economic Forum, January 2, 2017;  Also see, Annie Lowrey, 2016: A Year Defined by America’s Diverging Economies, The Atlantic, December 30, 2016; Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and Cultural Backlash, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series, August 2016; Richard Partington, Britain risks heading to US levels of inequality, warns top economist, Guardian, May 14, 2019.

[121] 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019; 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2019.

[122] Nick Pearce, The political forecast for 2017? Economic precarity and social division – strap yourself in; the UK post-Brexit will be a bleaker, more fragile place, Wired.co.uk, January 7, 2017.

[123] Rana Dasgupta, The demise of the nation state, The Guardian, April 5, 2018. Also see, Hilary Matfess and Michael Miklaucic (editors), Beyond Convergence: World Without Order, Center for Complex Operations at National Defense University, 2016 (see, Chapter 2, Nils Gilman, The Twin Insurgencies: Plutocrats and Criminals Challenge the Westphalian State, etc).

[124] Ian Bremmer, A world in turmoil: What we must do to survive the coming political crisis, Globe and Mail, April 20, 2018; Kemal Dervis and Laurence Chandy, Are technology and globalization destined to drive up inequality? Understanding inequality and what drives it, Brookings.edu, October 5, 2016.

[125] Kemal Dervis and Laurence Chandy, Are technology and globalization destined to drive up inequality? Understanding inequality and what drives it, Brookings.edu, October 5, 2016.

[126] Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and Cultural Backlash, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series, August 2016. For example, also see: overviews of the literature in Hans-Georg Betz, Radical Rightwing Populism in Western Europe, New York: St Martin’s Press, 1994; Piero Ignazi, Extreme right parties in Western Europe, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003; Herbert Kitschelt with Anthony J. McGann, The Radical Right in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1995; Pippa Norris, Radical Right: Voters and Parties in the Electoral Market, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005; Cas Mudde, Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2007; Ruth Wodak, Majid KhosraviNik and Brigitte Mral, Eds., Right-Wing Populism in Europe, London: Bloomsbury, 2013; Carlos de la Torre, Ed., The Promise and Perils of Populism: Global Perspectives, Lexington, KT: University of Kentucky Press, 2015; Matt Golder, ‘Far Right Parties in Europe’, Annual Review of Political Science 19:477-97, 2016; Thomas Piketty, Capital, Cambridge, MA: Bellnap Press, 2014; Jacob Hacker, The Great Risk Shift: The New Economic Insecurity and the Decline of the American Dream, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006; Ronald Inglehart, Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic and Political Change in 43 Societies, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997; Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel, Modernization, Cultural Change and Democracy: The Human Development Sequence, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005; Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, Sacred and Secular, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011; Pippa Norris, Radical Right: Voters and Parties in the Electoral Market, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005; Pippa Norris, Its not just Trump. Authoritarian populism is rising across the West. Here’s why, Washington Post, March 11, 2016; Classic works on the rise of populism, The Economist, December 3, 2016. Also see: Peter Murphy, Populism Rising, Quadrant, May 25, 2016: “Populism’s electoral success is a function of voter anxiety. It appeals to stressed, dissatisfied and angry voters who have lost confidence in the political system. These alienated voters reach the conclusion that no conventional party or candidate is responsive to their problems. So they turn elsewhere.”

[127] Stephen Fussell, How Business Leaders Can Best Respond to the Rise of Populism: populism reflects worry about the economy and sagging faith in political institutions – insightful business leaders will respond by offering stability and purpose, Entrepreneur, September 19, 2016; Klaus Schwab, Five Leadership priorities for 2017, World Economic Forum, January 2, 2017. Also see, Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and Cultural Backlash, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series, August 2016; Anand Giridharadas, When Technology Sets off a Populist Revolt, New York Times, August 29, 2016;  ‘The risk is very high, and we need to pay very close attention to what’s happening in Europe’, Business Insider, December 30, 2016; Peter Murphy, Populism Rising, Quadrant, May 25, 2016; Rick Noack, Nope, it’s not just you: The world around you really is getting angrier, Washington Post, April 26, 2019; Report: Gallup 2019 Global Emotions Report, Gallup.com, 2019. For example, also see: overviews of the literature in Hans-Georg Betz, Radical Rightwing Populism in Western Europe, New York: St Martin’s Press, 1994; Piero Ignazi, Extreme right parties in Western Europe, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003; Herbert Kitschelt with Anthony J. McGann, The Radical Right in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1995; Pippa Norris, Radical Right: Voters and Parties in the Electoral Market, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005; Cas Mudde, Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2007; Ruth Wodak, Majid KhosraviNik and Brigitte Mral, Eds., Right-Wing Populism in Europe, London: Bloomsbury, 2013; Carlos de la Torre, Ed., The Promise and Perils of Populism: Global Perspectives, Lexington, KT: University of Kentucky Press, 2015; Matt Golder, ‘Far Right Parties in Europe’, Annual Review of Political Science 19:477-97, 2016; Thomas Piketty, Capital, Cambridge, MA: Bellnap Press, 2014; Jacob Hacker, The Great Risk Shift: The New Economic Insecurity and the Decline of the American Dream, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006; Ronald Inglehart, Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic and Political Change in 43 Societies, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997; Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel, Modernization, Cultural Change and Democracy: The Human Development Sequence, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005; Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, Sacred and Secular, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2011; Pippa Norris, Radical Right: Voters and Parties in the Electoral Market, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005; Pippa Norris, Its not just Trump. Authoritarian populism is rising across the West. Here’s why, Washington Post, March 11, 2016; Classic works on the rise of populism, The Economist, December 3, 2016. Also see: – Pankaj Mishra, Welcome to the age of anger, The Guardian, December 8, 2016; Donna Twombly, Letter to the Editor: Those left behind by economy turn to populism, Portland Press Herald, November 20, 2016; Donna Twombly, Opinion: Want to understand Trump’s populist uprising? Just look at the rural Maine left behind, Bangor Daily News, November 16, 2016.

[128] Torrey Taussig and Bruce Jones, Democracy in the new geopolitics, Brookings.edu, March 22, 2018.

[129] What is populism?, The Economist, December 19, 2016.

[130] Victor Li, The top legal stories of 2016: Do you have others?, ABA Journal, December 23, 2016.

[131] Victor Li, The top legal stories of 2016: Do you have others?, ABA Journal, December 23, 2016.

[132] Europe and nationalism: A country-by-country guide, BBC News, April 25, 2019; William Galson, The rise of European populism and the collapse of the center-left, Brookings, March 8, 2018; Editorial Board, Macron, at the Barricades, Warns of Rising Nationalism in Europe, New York Times, April 18, 2018; James Griffiths, Elections in EU and India tilt the world’s largest democracies towards populism, CNN, May 28, 2019; Associated Press, Governing parties suffer as far-right, Greens surge in European parliamentary elections, CBC News, May 26, 2019; Editorial Board, Leaders worldwide are falling for a ‘deadly illusion’, Washington Post, April 18, 2018; Spain election: Socialists win amid far-right breakthrough, BBC News, April 28, 2019; Yascha Mounk, Even Canada is Not Immune to the Rise of Populism, Slate, June 8, 2018; Adam Fleming, France’s Macron urges EU to shun nationalism, BBC.com, April 17, 2018; Pablo Gorondi, Populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban Wins Third Consecutive Term in Hungary, Time, April 9, 2018; Neil Buckley and Andrew Byrne, The rise and rise of Viktor Orban – the man who has turned Hungary into a semi-authoritarian regime was once a democratic activist. What happened?, Financial Times, January 25, 2018; Eric Reguly, Analysts fear economic repercussions as Italy’s anti-establishment parties agree to form government, Globe and Mail, May 14, 2018; Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Hilary Clarke, and Euan McKirdy, Italy’s voters choose populists, deliver stinging rebuke to Europe, CNN, March 5, 2018; Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Italy’s voters ditch the centre and ride a populist wave, The Guardian, March 5, 2018; Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and Cultural Backlash, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series, August 2016; Hendrik Brakel, Oscar Williams-Grut, Brexit and Trump are just the start – populism will strike Europe next, Business Insider, November 10, 2016; Pippa Norris, Its not just Trump. Authoritarian populism is rising across the West. Here’s why, Washington Post, March 11, 2016; Andrew Cumbers, Economically marginalized voters played a critical role in Trump’s rise, Brexit, and a shift to the far right in Europe, Business Insider, January 13, 2017; Elaine Ganley, Marine Le Pen’s new, less racist, vision for France has her ahead in the polls: Le Pen sees ‘grand return’ of nationalism and a new France, Toronto Star, January 12, 2017; 5 Minutes for Business: Rise of the Trumps – Why Populism is all the Rage, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Burnaby Board of Trade, February 9, 2016; Barclays: ‘Markets may have taken the wrong lessons from Donald Trump and Brexit’, Business Insider, January 13, 2017; Torrey Taussig and Bruce Jones, Democracy in the new geopolitics, Brookings.edu, March 22, 2018; Pippa Norris, Its not just Trump. Authoritarian populism is rising across the West. Here’s why, Washington Post, March 11, 2016. Also see, for example: Cas Muddle, The Trump phenomenon and the European populist radical right, Washington Post, August 26, 2015; Paul Krugman, Populism, Real and Phony, New York Times, December 23, 2016; Emma Paling, Fox Host Says Doug Ford Is Proof Trump’s Style is Taking Off, Huffington Post, April 30, 2019; Editorial, Canadian politicians who flirt with populism are playing with fire, Globe and Mail, May 19, 2019; Shannon Proudfoot, Canadians are primed for some Trump-style populism: new survey finds half of Canadians are open to populism given their distrust of government and fear of being left behind – and it’s a right-of-centre phenomenon, Macleans, May 15, 2019.

[133] Vassy Kapelos, Voters everywhere are in no mood for the same-old, CBC, May 5, 2019.

[134] The economic inequality perspective — emphasizes the consequences for electoral behavior arising from profound changes transforming the workforce and society in post-industrial economies. There is overwhelming evidence of powerful trends toward greater income and wealth inequality in the West, based on the rise of the knowledge economy, technological automation, and the collapse of manufacturing industry, global flows of labor, goods, peoples, and capital (especially the inflow of migrants and refugees), the erosion of organized labor, shrinking welfare safety-nets, and neo-liberal austerity policies.  According to this view, rising economic insecurity and social deprivation among the left-behinds has fueled popular resentment of the political classes. This situation is believed to have made the less secure strata of society – low-waged unskilled workers, the long-term unemployed, households dependent on shrinking social benefits, residents of public housing, single-parent families, and poorer white populations living in inner-city areas with concentrations of immigrants– susceptible to the anti-establishment, nativist, and xenophobic scare-mongering exploited of populist movements, parties, and leaders, blaming ‘Them’ for stripping prosperity, job opportunities, and public services from ‘Us’: Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and Cultural Backlash, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series, August 2016.

[135] The cultural backlash perspective — suggests that the surge in votes for populist parties can be explained not as a purely economic phenomenon but in large part as a reaction against progressive cultural change. This argument builds on the ‘silent revolution’ theory of value change, which holds that the unprecedentedly high levels of existential security experienced by the people of developed Western societies during the postwar decades brought an intergenerational shift toward post-materialist values, such as cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism, generating rising support for left-libertarian parties such as the Greens and other progressive movements advocating environmental protection, human rights, and gender equality.  A large body of empirical evidence documents these developments, which first became evident in affluent societies during the early-1970s, when the postwar generation first surfaced into political relevance, bringing an era of student protest.  This cultural shift has sometimes been depicted as an inexorable cultural escalator moving post-industrial societies steadily in a more progressive direction, as opportunities for college education have expanded to more and more sectors of the population and as younger cohorts have gradually replaced their parents and grandparents in the population. But it has been clear from the start that reactions to these developments triggered a counterrevolutionary retro backlash, especially among the older generation, white men, and less educated sectors, who sense decline and actively reject the rising tide of progressive values, resent the displacement of familiar traditional norms, and provide a pool of supporters potentially vulnerable to populist appeals.  Sectors once culturally predominant in Western Europe may react angrily to the erosion of their privileges and status: Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris, Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and Cultural Backlash, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series, August 2016. Also see, Diana C. Mutz, Status Threat, not economic hardship, explains the 2016 presidential vote, PNAS.org, March 26, 2018; Daniel Cox, Rachel Lienesch, and Robert Jones, Beyond Economics: Fears of Cultural Displacement Pushed the White Working Class to Trump, PRRI.org, May 9, 2017; Niraj Chokshi, Trump Voters Driven by Fear of Losing Status, Not Economic Anxiety, Study Finds, New York Times, April 24, 2018; Michael Gerson, How do we tame Trumpism’s virulent nostalgia for an old status quo?, Washington Post, April 26, 2018; Nancy LeTourneau, Trump’s Tribalism and the Durability of His Support Among Nostalgia Voters, Washington Monthly, March 28, 2018.

[136] Diana C. Mutz, Status Threat, not economic hardship, explains the 2016 presidential vote, PNAS.org, March 26, 2018; Daniel Cox, Rachel Lienesch, and Robert Jones, Beyond Economics: Fears of Cultural Displacement Pushed the White Working Class to Trump, PRRI.org, May 9, 2017; Nancy LeTourneau, Trump’s Tribalism and the Durability of His Support Among Nostalgia Voters, Washington Monthly, March 28, 2018; Niraj Chokshi, Trump Voters Driven by Fear of Losing Status, Not Economic Anxiety, Study Finds, New York Times, April 24, 2018; Olga Khazan, People Voted for Trump Because they were Anxious, Not Poor, The Atlantic, April 23, 2018.

[137] Andrew Cumbers, Economically marginalized voters played a critical role in Trump’s rise, Brexit, and a shift to the far right in Europe, Business Insider, January 13, 2017. [Originally published in The Conversation.com: Andrew Cumbers, New index of economic marginalisation helps explain Trump, Brexit, and alt.right, The Conversation, January 12, 2017].

[138] Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018.

[139] William Galston, The rise of European populism and the collapse of the center-left, Brookings, March 8, 2018.

[140] Scott DeRue, How Leaders Bring an Organization Together in a Time of Divisiveness, Forbes, February 8, 2017.

[141] Ryan Gallagher, British Neo-Nazis Are on the Rise – And They’re Becoming More Organized and Violent, Intercept, May 3, 2018.

[142] Marie-Danielle Smith, Appetite for populism on the decline in Canada – except among politicians: report, National Post, May 7, 2019.

[143] See, Eric Sigurdson, Global Populism: Corporate Strategy, Engagement & Leadership in 2017 – ‘the year of living dangerously’, Sigurdson Post, January 18, 2017. 

[144] Max Fisher and Amanda Taub, ‘Overrun’, ‘Outbred’, ‘Replaced’: Why Ethnic Majorities Lash Out Over False Fears, New York Times, April 30, 2019.

[145] Max Fisher and Amanda Taub, ‘Overrun’, ‘Outbred’, ‘Replaced’: Why Ethnic Majorities Lash Out Over False Fears, New York Times, April 30, 2019.

[146] John Haltiwanger, Trump says he doesn’t see white nationalism as a rising threat around the world after New Zealand terror attack, Business Insider, March 15, 2019; Sam Levin, ‘It’s a small group of people: Trump again denies white nationalism is rising threat, The Guardian, March 16, 2019; Editorial Board, Trump sends the wrong message on New Zealand. World leaders must denounce the attack, Washington Post, March 15, 2019; Matt Kwong, Despite Trump’s view, white nationalism is a growing threat, data shows, CBC, March 19, 2019; Oliver Laughland, Trump’s record on white nationalism under new scrutiny after synagogue shooting, Guardian, April 28, 2019.

[147] Oliver Laughland, Trump’s record on white nationalism under new scrutiny after synagogue shooting, Guardian, April 28, 2019. (“The president stated last month … that he did not believe white nationalism presented a growing threat. … The administration [had] already been warned by security agencies of the growing dangers of white supremacy in the US. In May 2017 the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security authored a joint bulletin declaring that white nationalists had been responsible for more attacks than any other domestic extremist group in the US over the past 16 years and ‘likely will continue to pose a threat of lethal violence over the next year’.”)

[148] John Haltiwanger, Right-wing violence has ‘acclerated’ in the US since Trump took office, Business Insider, November 26, 2018; Wesley Lowerly, Kimberly Kindy and Andrew Ba Tran, In the United States, right-wing violence is on the rise, Washington Post, November 25, 2018; Benjamin Goggin, Most Americans think Trump has encouraged white supremacists, and some are worried he has become a ‘legitimizing voice’ for hate groups, Business Insider, October 30, 2018; Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2018, ADL.org, 2018; Samantha Vinograd, Nationalism is trending, and Trump isn’t doing anything about it, CNN, March 17, 2019; David Choi, Hate crimes increased 226% in places Trump held a campaign rally in 2016, study claims, Business Insider, March 23, 2019; Matt Kwong, Despite Trump’s view, white nationalism is a growing threat, data shows, CBC, March 19, 2019; Marshall Cohen, FBI director says white supremacy is a ‘persistent, pervasive threat’ to the US, CNN, April 4, 2019.

[149] UK and EU: Catherine Stupp, Tougher EU hate speech guidelines urge tech giants to prevent ‘digital wild west’, Euractiv.com, September 28, 2017; Roxana Pana, EU Steps for Fighting Online Hate Speech – Possible Censorship of Social Media, Mondaq.com, January 26, 2018; Nataxha Bernal, Social media firms ‘have a long way to go’ to tackle hate speech despite record figures, The Telegraph, February 5, 2019; Canada: Daniel Leblanc, Goodale turns up heat on social-media companies over hateful and violent content, Globe and Mail, April 5, 2019; Tamsin McMahon, Facebook bans several Canadians for supporting white nationalism as Ottawa eyes new regulations for social platforms, Globe and Mail, April 8, 2019; Alex Boutilier, Marco Chown Oved, Craig Silverman and Jane Lytvynenko, Canadian government says it’s considering regulating Facebook and other tech giants, Toronto Star, April 8, 2019;  Mike Blanchfield, Canada, international allies butting heads over Ottawa’s focus on dangers of white supremacism, Globe and Mail, April 23, 2019; Ryan McKenna, Far-right, neo-Nazi, white supremacist groups an increasing concern to Canadians: Goodale, Globe and Mail, January 15, 2019; New Zealand: Charlotte Graham-McLay and Adam Satariano, New Zealand Seeks Global Support for Tougher Measures on Online Violence, New York Times, May 12, 2019; Elise von Scheel, New Zealand thanks Canada for condemning online extremism after Christchurch attacks, CBC, May 11, 2019; Salimah Shivji, Trudeau set to sign New Zealand PM’s pledge to tackle violent, extremist online content, CBC, May 14, 2019; 17 countries and the European Commission signed “Christchurch Call to Action” for governments and industry to improve fighting the spread of terrorist and extremist content online: Howard Solomon, Seventeen countries sign promise to fight spread of online extremist content, IT World Canada.com, May 15, 2019; The U.S. under the current Administration did not sign the “Christchurch Call to Action”:

• Despite the rise in hate crime and white extremism in the U.S. under the current Administration, in March of this year, the U.S. “president told reporters that social media companies silence conservative voices online”, limit their online reach, and “we have to get to the bottom of it”. Republican Congressman Steve King noted that being labelled a ‘white nationalist’ should not be a bad thing. The current president stated that he did not see white nationalism as a rising threat around the world after the New Zealand terror attack – despite more than a dozen deadly white supremacist attacks across the globe in the last eight years, and responsibility for more U.S. attacks than any other domestic extremist group over the last 16 years – and tweeted support for far-right figures banned by Facebook for toxic content, declining to take action on combating online extremism. The current president, who proposed a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the US during his 2015 campaign, has a history of sparking widespread criticisms for his response to far-right violence and support for autocrats and authoritarian leaders.
• See generally: Sebastian Murdock, White House Declines to take Action on Combating Online Extremism: other governments and tech companies are reportedly supporting the call to action following the shootings at New Zealand mosques earlier this year, Huffington Post, May 15, 2019; John Haltiwanger, Right-wing violence has ‘acclerated’ in the US since Trump took office, Business Insider, November 26, 2018; Wesley Lowerly, Kimberly Kindy and Andrew Ba Tran, In the United States, right-wing violence is on the rise, Washington Post, November 25, 2018; Benjamin Goggin, Most Americans think Trump has encouraged white supremacists, and some are worried he has become a ‘legitimizing voice’ for hate groups, Business Insider, October 30, 2018; Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2018, ADL.org, 2018; Samantha Vinograd, Nationalism is trending, and Trump isn’t doing anything about it, CNN, March 17, 2019; David Choi, Hate crimes increased 226% in places Trump held a campaign rally in 2016, study claims, Business Insider, March 23, 2019; Matt Kwong, Despite Trump’s view, white nationalism is a growing threat, data shows, CBC, March 19, 2019; Marshall Cohen, FBI director says white supremacy is a ‘persistent, pervasive threat’ to the US, CNN, April 4, 2019; Tony Romm, Facebook and Google to be quizzed on white nationalism and political bias as Congress pushes dueling reasons for regulation, Washington Post, April 8, 2019; Isobel Asher Hamilton, Facebook and Google will be grilled by Congress today on white nationalism as they struggle to silence hate speech, Business Insider, April 9, 2019; John Haltiwanger, Trump says he doesn’t see white nationalism as a rising threat around the world after New Zealand terror attack, Business Insider, March 15, 2019; Sam Levin, ‘It’s a small group of people: Trump again denies white nationalism is rising threat, The Guardian, March 16, 2019; Editorial Board, Trump sends the wrong message on New Zealand. World leaders must denounce the attack, Washington Post, March 15, 2019; Matt Kwong, Despite Trump’s view, white nationalism is a growing threat, data shows, CBC, March 19, 2019; Oliver Laughland, Trump’s record on white nationalism under new scrutiny after synagogue shooting, Guardian, April 28, 2019; Oliver Laughland, Trump’s record on white nationalism under new scrutiny after synagogue shooting, Guardian, April 28, 2019. (“The president stated last month … that he did not believe white nationalism presented a growing threat. … The administration [had] already been warned by security agencies of the growing dangers of white supremacy in the US. In May 2017 the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security authored a joint bulletin declaring that white nationalists had been responsible for more attacks than any other domestic extremist group in the US over the past 16 years and ‘likely will continue to pose a threat of lethal violence over the next year’.”); Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy, Trump tweets support for far-right figures banned by Facebook, CNN, May 4, 2019.

[150] Weiyi Cao and Simone Landon, Attacks by White Extremists Are Growing. So Are Their Connections, New York Times, April 3, 2019; Sylvia Stead, Saturday’s front page needed more emphasis on New Zealand mosque shootings, Globe and Mail, March 19, 2019; Luke McGee, Angela Merkel warns against dark forces on the rise in Europe, CNN, May 28, 2019; Art Jipson and Paul Becker, White nationalism, born in the USA, is now a global terror threat, Conversation, March 19, 2019; Shirin Jaafari and Marissa Lorusso, White supremacy isn’t just a national problem – it’s global, PRI.org, June 22, 2015; Why white nationalist terrorism is a global threat, The Economist, March 21, 2019; The new face of terror, much like the old: violent white nationalists increasingly resemble the jihadists they hate, The Economist, March 21, 2019; Matt Stieb, Report: Domestic Terrorism Is Still a Greater Threat than Islamic Extremism, Intelligencer, March 10, 2019. Also see, Bradford Betz, Easter bombings were retaliation for Christchurch mosque attacks ‘preliminary investigation’ shows: Sri Lankan state minister, Fox News, April 23, 2019; ISIS claims Sri Lankan bombings that official says were ‘retaliation’ for New Zealand attack, CBS News, April 23, 2019; Mike Blanchfield, Canada, international allies butting heads over Ottawa’s focus on dangers of white supremacism, Globe and Mail, April 23, 2019; Alex Lo, White supremacists the new face of terror, South China Morning Post, March 17, 2019. Also see, Samantha Michaels, Why So Many Violent White Supremacists Aren’t Charged With Domestic Terrorism, Mother Jones, April 26, 2019; Shannon Carranco and Jon Milton, Canada’s new far right: A trove of private chat room messages reveals an extremist subculture – An analysis of 150,000 chat room messages paints a picture of a group that is actively recruiting new members, buying weapons and trying to influence political parties, Globe and Mail, April 27, 2019; Terry Gross (host), Elis Saslow Traces ‘Straight Line’ From White Nationalism to Alleged Synagogue Shooter, National Public Radio (npr.org), October 29, 2018; Ben Collins and Andrew Blankstein, Anti-Semitic open letter posted online under name of Chabad synagogue shooting suspect: A user identifying himself as John Earnest posted an open letter to the far-right message board, NBC.news, April 27, 2019; Charlie Warzel, Mass Shootings Have Become a Sickening Meme: online messages from suspects in shooting at a California synagogue and a New Zealand mosque were similar, New York Times, April 28, 2019; Editorial Board, Poway synagogue shooting: Hate-driven violence strikes again, Los Angeles Times, April 27, 2019; Dana Milbank, Trump’s America is not a safe place for Jews, Washington Post, October 28, 2018.

[151] Daniel Byman, How terrorism undermines democracy, Brookings, March 5, 2019; Daniel Byman, Report: Terrorism and the threat to democracy, Brookings, February 2019; Daniel Byman, Policy Brief: Terrorism and the threat to democracy, Foreign Policy at Brookings, Vera Mironova, The New Face of Terrorism in 2019, Foreign Policy, January 1, 2019; Eric Schmitt, ISIS May Be Waning, but Global Threats of Terrorism Continue to Spread, New York Times, July 6, 2018; Eric Schmitt, Two Decades After 9/11, Militants Have Only Multiplied, New York Times, November 20, 2018; Robert Muggah, Terrorism is on the rise – but there’s a bigger threat we’re not talking about, World Economic Forum, April 8, 2016; 2018 Risk Maps: Aon’s guide to Political Risk, Terrorism & Political Violence, Aon, The Risk Advisory Group, and Continuum Economics, 2018; Insight Report, The Global Risks Report 2018 (13^th ed), World Economic Forum, January 2018; Veronica Rocha and Brian Ries, 7 key takeaways from Elizabeth Warren’s town hall, CNN, March 18, 2019; Bjorn Ihler, The Global Threat of White Terror, Project Syndicate, March 19, 2019.

[152] Alex Lo, White supremacists the new face of terror, South China Morning Post, March 17, 2019; Janet Reitman, U.S. Law Enforcement Failed to See the Threat of White Nationalism. Now They Don’t Know How to Stop It, New York Times, November 3, 2018; John Haltiwanger, Trump says he doesn’t see white nationalism as a rising threat around the world after New Zealand terror attack, Business Insider, March 15, 2019; Sam Levin, ‘It’s a small group of people: Trump again denies white nationalism is rising threat, The Guardian, March 16, 2019; Editorial Board, Trump sends the wrong message on New Zealand. World leaders must denounce the attack, Washington Post, March 15, 2019; Matt Kwong, Despite Trump’s view, white nationalism is a growing threat, data shows, CBC, March 19, 2019; Oliver Laughland, Trump’s record on white nationalism under new scrutiny after synagogue shooting, Guardian, April 28, 2019; Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy, Trump tweets support for far-right figures banned by Facebook, CNN, May 4, 2019; Sebastian Murdock, White House Declines to take Action on Combating Online Extremism: other governments and tech companies are reportedly supporting the call to action following the shootings at New Zealand mosques earlier this year, Huffington Post, May 15, 2019; Mike Blanchfield, Canada, international allies butting heads over Ottawa’s focus on dangers of white supremacism, Globe and Mail, April 23, 2019; Emma Teitel, Andrew Scheer can’t be tough on crime if he is soft on hate, Toronto Star, March 25, 2019.

[153] Alex Boutilier, Politicians must combat, not court, anti-immigrant hatred, Trudeau says, Toronto Star, March 18, 2019.

[154] Katrin Bennhold, Obama Evokes Nostalgia in Germany, but Message Focuses on Future Struggles, New York Times, April 6, 2019.

[155] Carol Toller, Amplify: Jacinda Ardern is the leader the world needs right now, Globe and Mail, March 22, 2019.

[156] Colby Itkowitz, An expert on ‘dangerous speech’ explains how Trump’s rhetoric and the recent spate of violence are and aren’t linked, Washington Post, October 29, 2018; Richard Glover, In the shadow of Christchurch, let’s drive racism out of Australian politics, Washington Post, March 16, 2019; Jennifer Lynn McCoy, Extreme political polarization weakens democracy – can the US avoid that fate?, The Conversation, October 31, 2018; Greg Sargent, Just say it: Trump’s attacks on Ilhan Omar are designed to incite hatred, Washington Post, April 15, 2019. Also see, Jennifer McCoy, Tahmina Rahman and Murat Somer, Polarization and the Global Crisis of Democracy: Common Patterns, Dynamics, and Pernicious Consequences for Democratic Polities, American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 62, Number 1, 2018.

[157] Alex Boutilier, Politicians must combat, not court, anti-immigrant hatred, Trudeau says, Toronto Star, March 18, 2019. Also see, Katie Dangerfield, 1 in 4 Canadians say it’s becoming ‘more acceptable’ to be prejudiced against Muslims: Ipsos poll, Global News, May 21, 2019.

[158] See general: Oliver Laughland, Trump’s record on white nationalism under new scrutiny after synagogue shooting, Guardian, April 28, 2019; Peter Walker, Nigel Farage under fire over ‘antisemitic tropes’ on far-right US talkshow, The Guardian, May 6, 2019; Camille Busette, Charlottesville and Donald Trump’s crass political opportunism, Brookings, August 14, 2017; Benjamin Goggin, Most Americans think Trump has encouraged white supremacists, and some are worried he has become a ‘legitimizing voice’ for hate groups, Business Insider, October 30, 2018; Kevin Roose and Ali Winston, Far-Right Internet Groups Listen for Trump’s Approval, and Often Hear It, New York Times, November 4, 2018; Richard Glover, In the shadow of Christchurch, let’s drive racism out of Australian politics, Washington Post, March 16, 2019; Luke Pearson, There’s no excuse for justifying the racist attitudes that plague Australia, Guardian, January 3, 2019; Paul Daley, White supremacy was the mainstay of Australian federation. Little has changed, Guardian, August 16, 2018; Sam Hall, Ukip candidates urge followers to switch to far-right social network GAB, Guardian, May 11, 2019; Andrew Coyne, Why does Andrew Scheer find it so difficult to say the right thing: Scheer has been to eager to appease, or to afraid to offend, a section of opinion that is at best filled with fear and at worst filled with hate, National Post, March 15, 2019; Michelle Zilio, Canadian Labour Congress and Muslim group accuse Scheer of emboldening far-right actors, Globe and Mail, March 21, 2019; John Paul Tasker, ‘There is no racism in Canada’: Beyak leaves controversial letters online as minister calls for action – Ontario senator describes letters calling indigenous peoples lazy whiners as ‘edgy and opinionated’, CBC News, March 29, 2019; Emma Teitel, Andrew Scheer can’t be tough on crime if he is soft on hate, Toronto Star, March 25, 2019; Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman, Trump Gives White Supremacists an Unequivocal Boost, New York Times, August 15, 2017; Rod McGuirk, Australian senator censured for blaming Muslim victims, Toronto Star, April 3, 2019; Dan Bilefsky and Stephen Castle , British Far-Right Group Exults Over Attention from Trump, New York Times, November 29, 2017; Ryan Gallagher, British Neo-Nazis Are on the Rise – And They’re Becoming More Organized and Violent, Intercept, May 3, 2018; Frank Giustra, The United States needs leaders to bring together a divided America, Vancouver Sun, November 12, 2018; Robert Reich, Trump is cornered, with violence on his mind. We must be on red alert, The Guardian, March 16, 2019; Matt Kwong, Despite Trump’s view, white nationalism is a growing threat, data shows, CBC, March 19, 2019; Chris Van Hollen and Gerald Connolly, Congress cannot afford to ignore Netanyahu’s embrace of the far right, Washington Post, April 10, 2019; Allyson Chiu, ‘I am as American as everyone else’: Rep. Ilhan Omar fires back at critics questioning her patriotism after 9/11 remark, Washington Post, April 11, 2019; Olivia Messer, Ilhan Omar Calls Out Fox News and GOP for ‘Dangerous Incitement’ Over Her 9/11 Comments, Daily Beast, April 10, 2019; Alex Boutilier, Scheer denounces white supremacy after Conservative senator questions threat, Toronto Star, April 10, 2019; Liz Goodwin, For the UK’s nationalists, President Trump is a ‘role model’, Boston Globe, November 10, 2018; Nick Robins-Early, Trump and the American Far Right Stoke Hate in Canada, Huffington Post, May 23, 2018; Jason Wilson, Alt-right infiltrators find soft targets in Australia’s moribund political parties, Guardian, November 8, 2018; Kristy Campion, Right-wing extremism has a long history in Australia, and support is surging, ABC.net.au, March 21, 2019; David Mastracci, Doug Ford’s Victory is Also One for White Nationalists: Ford’s alleged dog whistles and connections to the far-right will further embolden white supremacists and normalize hatred, Huffington Post, June 11, 2018; Karen Mock, Why is it so hard for Doug Ford to say Nazis are bad: White supremacy, racism and xenophobia are on the rise again, but this time a sitting premier is cavorting with them, Now, October 8, 2018; Doug Ford’s History of Flirting with the Alt-Right and White Nationalists, North99.org, September 24, 2018; Jen Kirby, Far-right Australian senator blames New Zealand attack on Muslim immigrants, Vox, March 15, 2019; Rachel Withers, In Australia, Anti-Immigrant Racism is Everywhere: the alleged Christchurch shooter is a product of the dog whistles and overt bigotry in the political mainstream, Slate, March 15, 2019; Patrick Strickland, White Nationalism Is an International Threat – Christchurch attacks point to a disturbing web reaching from the United States, to the United Kingdom, to Greece, and beyond, New Republic, March 15, 2019; David Leonhardt, It Isn’t Complicated: Trump Encourages Violence, New York Times, March 17, 2019;  Lenore Taylor, Morrison sees votes in anti-Muslim strategy, Sydney Morning Herald, February 17, 2011; Mike Blanchfield, Canada, international allies butting heads over Ottawa’s focus on dangers of white supremacism, Globe and Mail, April 23, 2019; Felicia Sonmez and Ashley Parker, As Trump stands by Charlottesville remarks, rise of white nationalist violence becomes an issue in 2020 presidential race, Washington Post, April 28, 2019; Michelle Zilo, Canadian views on immigrants, refugees hold steady, despite increasing political rhetoric: polls, Globe and Mail, April 29, 2019; Neil Macdonald, Why is conservative politics such a natural home for white supremacists?, CBC, April 16, 2019.

[159] Tony Romm, Facebook and Google to be quizzed on white nationalism and political bias as Congress pushes dueling reasons for regulation, Washington Post, April 8, 2019; Isobel Asher Hamilton, Facebook and Google will be grilled by Congress today on white nationalism as they struggle to silence hate speech, Business Insider, April 9, 2019; Daniel Leblanc, Goodale turns up heat on social-media companies over hateful and violent content, Globe and Mail, April 5, 2019; Shona Ghosh, Apple, Google, and Facebook could be forced to censor apps and sites featuring ‘harmful’ content under new UK laws, Business Insider, April 9, 2019; Jake Kanter, Facebook and Google will be punished with giant fines in the UK if they fail to rid their platforms of toxic content, Business Insider, February 28, 2019; Shona Ghosh, Britain just laid out plans to end the internet’s Wild West days and take a world-leading role in regulating big tech, Business Insider, April 9, 2019; Dominique Mosbergen, Facebook ‘Are Morally Bankrupt’ Liars, New Zealand’s Privacy Commissioner Says, Huffington Post, April 8, 2019; Tamsin McMahon, Facebook bans several Canadians for supporting white nationalism as Ottawa eyes new regulations for social platforms, Globe and Mail, April 8, 2019; Patrick Strickland, White Nationalism Is an International Threat – Christchurch attacks point to a disturbing web reaching from the United States, to the United Kingdom, to Greece, and beyond, New Republic, March 15, 2019; Josee St-Onge, Social media fuelling rise of ‘new generation of extremism’ in Alberta, report says, CBC, April 23, 2019; Ellen Cranley, Gunmen in attacks on New Zealand mosques and Poway synagogue were tied to racist manifestos on the same website. The founder says the online community would likely be responsible for future tragedies, Business Insider, April 28, 2019.

[160] Zak Cheney-Rice, Tucker Carlson and the Folly of Debating Bigots on Their Terms, Intelligencer (nymag.com), March 12, 2019.

[161] Richard Glover, In the shadow of Christchurch, let’s drive racism out of Australian politics, Washington Post, March 16, 2019:

“In its general programming, Sky News Australia has turned into our version of Fox News. (Both are controlled by the Australian-turned-American media baron Rupert Murdoch.) Sky’s attention-seeking programming even included an interview last year with Blair Cottrell, a Hitler-admiring, far-right extremist who had been found guilty of inciting contempt, revulsion or ridicule of Muslims.

In a Murdoch-owned tabloid in Melbourne, prominent columnist Andrew Bolt has written of ‘us’ disappearing as ‘a tidal wave of immigrants sweeps away what’s left of our national identity’.

Meanwhile, the politician in charge of immigration, Peter Dutton, has seized on criminal behavior by some young immigrants in Melbourne to condemn a wave of ‘African gang violence’ so severe that Victorians were “scared to go out to restaurants” — a statement that was widely mocked.

It was also Dutton who suggested Australia should provide special help to white farmers from South Africa — arguing that they were being persecuted and needed help from a ‘civilized country’ like Australia.

The Australian media and politicians, in other words, have form when it comes to flirting with racism. Sometimes the racism is explicit, as seen in the rise of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation; sometimes it’s more guarded.

The term ‘dog-whistle politics’ may be widely used in the United States, but it has become ubiquitous here — so perfectly capturing what has become a common technique. The politician chooses his words carefully, avoiding explicit racism, but crafting a message that will still be heard by those for whom it’s intended.”

Erik Wemple, Fox News struggles to balance Trump’s fans and ad dollars, Washington Post, March 18, 2019; Mary Papenfuss, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Links Jeanine Pirro’s Attack on Rep. Omar To Death Threat, Huffington Post, April 7, 2019; Aiden Pink, Why Do White Supremacists Love Tucker Carlson So Much?, Forward, March 17, 2019; Ellen Cranley, Tucker Carlson ignored white supremacist message of suspected New Zealand shooter, instead criticizing Democrats and journalists, Business Insider, March 16, 2019; Olivia Messer, Ilhan Omar Calls Out Fox News and GOP for ‘Dangerous Incitement’ Over Her 9/11 Comments, Daily Beast, April 10, 2019; Sheena McKenzie, How Australia’s ‘everyday racism’ moved from political fringe to mainstream media, CNN, April 16, 2019; Brian Stelter, Trump tells Fox to ‘bring back’ Jeanine Pirro; source says she was suspended for Islamophobic remarks, CNN, March 17, 2019.

[162] Richard Glover, In the shadow of Christchurch, let’s drive racism out of Australian politics, Washington Post, March 16, 2019.

[163] Martin Leng, Blood and soil: How hate speech is destroying political discourse, Euractiv.com, September 7, 2018.

[164] Elizabeth Moore, Fighting organized hate requires new tactics for a new era, Globe and Mail, April 30, 2019.

[165] Richard Glover, In the shadow of Christchurch, let’s drive racism out of Australian politics, Washington Post, March 16, 2019.

[166] Luke McGee, Angela Merkel warns against dark forces on the rise in Europe, CNN, May 28, 2019.

[167] Marc Fisher, Roxana Popescu, and Kayla Epstein, Ancient hatreds, modern methods: How social media and political division feed attacks on sacred spaces, Washington Post, April 28, 2019.

[168] Joe Lockhart, There’s a Bigger Prize Than Impeachment: Keeping Trump in office will destroy the Republican Party, New York Times, April 22, 2019. Also see, Steven Dennis, Romney Says He’s ‘Sickened’ by Trump After Reading Mueller’s Report, Bloomberg, April 19, 2019.

[169] Pat Wiedenkeller, World Stunned by explosion of hate, CNN, March 18, 2019.

[170] Ed Pilkington, Preet Bharara: “I didn’t call Trump back and it’s one of the best decisions I ever made’, Guardian, March 15, 2019.

[171] Jordan Furlong, The moral issue here, Law Twenty One (law21.ca), March 21, 2019.

[172] Elizabeth Moore, Fighting organized hate requires new tactics for a new era, Globe and Mail, April 30, 2019.

[173] Daniel C. Préfontaine and Joanne Lee, The Rule of Law and the Independence of the Judiciary, World Conference on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Montreal, Canada, December 7-9, 1998. Also see, Erik Schatzker, Hedge fund billionaire warns of ‘revolution’ over income inequality, Toronto Star, April 5, 2019; Richard Feloni, Hedge-fund billionaire Ray Dalio says ‘the American dream is lost’, Business Insider, April 8, 2019; Mark Niquette, Dalio Says Capitalism’s Income Inequality is National Emergency, Bloomberg, April 7, 2019.

[174] Condoleezza Rice and Amy Zegart, Managing 21^st-Century Political Risk, Harvard Business Review, May-June 2018.

[175] Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018.

[176] Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Wobbly Is Our Democracy?, New York Times, January 27, 2018; David Runciman, How Democracies Die review – Trump and the shredding of norms, Guardian, January 24, 2018; Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die, What History Tells Us About Our Future, Broadway Books, 2018; Danielle Celermajer, We all have a role in protecting democracy’s unwritten rules, Conversation, December 14, 2015; Robert Reick, Be afraid of the president who refuses to lose, San Francisco Chronicle, March 8, 2019; Jeffrey Toobin, The Constitutional System Is Not Built To Resist Trump’s Defiance of Congress, New Yorker, May 10, 2019.

[177] Torrey Taussig and Bruce Jones, Democracy in the new geopolitics, Brookings.edu, March 22, 2018; James Bacchus, Might Unmakes Right: The American Assault on the Rule of Law in World Trade, Centre for International Governance Innovation (cigionline.org), May 2018; Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018. 

[178] Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Wobbly Is Our Democracy?, New York Times, January 27, 2018. Also see, David Runciman, How Democracies Die review – Trump and the shredding of norms, Guardian, January 24, 2018; Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die, What History Tells Us About Our Future, Broadway Books, 2018; Danielle Celermajer, We all have a role in protecting democracy’s unwritten rules, Conversation, December 14, 2015 (Australia). Also see, for example: Editorial Board, The President and His Power to Pardon: Donald Trump’s use of executive clemency may be lawful, but it is in no way normal, New York Times, May 19, 2019.

[179] Danielle Celermajer, We all have a role in protecting democracy’s unwritten rules, Conversation, December 14, 2015.

[180] Jennifer Kavanagh and Michael Rich, Truth Decay: An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life, Rand, 2018, page 195-199; Jennifer Kavanagh and Michael Rich, Truth Decay in public discourse and how to fight it, World Economic Forum, May 17, 2018 [note: article part of World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform]; Phoebe Griffith, Will Norman, Carmel O’Sullivan, and Rushanara Ali, Charm Offensive: Cultivating civility in 21^st Century Britain, Young Foundation.org, 2011; Christine Porath, Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace, Grand Central Publishing, 2016; Christine Porath, The hidden toll of workplace incivility, McKinsey Quarterly, December 2016; Christine Porath and Christine Pearson, The Price of Incivility, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2013; Aloke Chakravarty, A Call For Ethics and Civility in Governance and Litigation: Changing Culture and Increasing Accountability, 4 Emory Corporate Governance and Accountability Review 37, 2017; David Goodhart, The age of incivility: how social media amplifies our differences, The Spectator.co.uk, June 9, 2018; Peter Baker and Katie Rogers, In Trump’s America, the Conversation Turns Ugly and Angry, Starting at the Top, New York Times, June 20, 2018; Jayne Reardon, Civility in America – It Matters, 2civility.org, November 6, 2017; Daniel Dale, Bruce Campion-Smith, and Tonda Maccharles, ‘Special place in hell’: Trump aides hurl insults at Trudeau in unprecedented U.S. attack on Canadian leader, Toronto Star, June 10, 2018; Thomas Plante, Ph.D, ABPP, Stand Up for Civility, Psychology Today, July 17, 2017; Harry Eyres, Civilisation, or civility?, Financial Times, October 14, 2011; John Hall, The importance of Being Civil: The Struggle for Political Decency, Princeton University Press, 2013; Rupert Myers, Respect and civility in public discourse have evaporated with Brexit, The Guardian, June 27, 2016; James Graham, Enemies, traitors, saboteurs: how can we face the future with this anger in our politics: first step must be greater civility, The Guardian, February 17, 2018; Adam Lent, A crisis of civility, Renewal: a journal of social democracy, Vol. 16 No. 3 / 4, 2008; Clare Beckton, Canada Has Lost Its Civility, Huffington Post, June 17, 2016; Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Allyson Volinsky, Ilana Weitz, and Kate Kenski, The Political Uses and Abuses of Civility and Incivility, Oxford Handbook of Political Communication, August 2017; John McCormick, Before we blame the EU for all our woes, is there anyone doing any better, Guardian, May 8, 2013 (“… incivility in public discourse…”); Angelo Antoci, Alexia Delfino, Fabio Palieri, Fabrizio Panebianco, and Fabio Sabantini, Civility vs. Incivility in Online Social Interactions: An Evolutionary Approach, journals.plos.org (PLoS One, vol. 11(11)), November 1, 2016; Andray Domise, It’s too late for civility in American politics, MacLeans.ca, June 26, 2018; Jonathan Bernstein, Civility is Important in a Democracy. So Is Dissent, Bloomberg.com, June 26, 2018; Philip Bump, The irony of Washington’s ‘civility’ debate: Trump already proved that incivility works, Washington Post, June 25, 2018.

[181] Eric Sigurdson, Civility, the Rule of Law, and Lawyers: the ‘glue’ that binds society against social crisis – is incivility the ‘ugly new normal’ in government, politics, Sigurdson Post, November 25, 2016; Jayne R. Reardon, Civility as the Core of Professionalism, American Bar Association, 2014. Also see, What is the Rule of Law?: The Four Universal Principles, World Justice Project.org; Rule of Law Index 2017-2018, World Justice Project, 2018; Kenneth Grady, The Election, the Rule of Law, and the Role of Lawyers, Seytlines.com, November 17, 2016.

[182] Editor, Civility in America 2018: Amid Political Party Conflict, Individuals Agree: Erosion of Civility is Harming Our Democracy, WeberShandick.com, March 1, 2018; Jennifer Kavanagh and Michael Rich, Truth Decay: An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life, Rand, 2018, page 195-199; Jennifer Kavanagh and Michael Rich, Truth Decay in public discourse and how to fight it, World Economic Forum, May 17, 2018 [note: article part of World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform]; Aloke Chakravarty, A Call For Ethics and Civility in Governance and Litigation: Changing Culture and Increasing Accountability, 4 Emory Corporate Governance and Accountability Review 37, 2017.  Also see, Editor, Civility in America 2017: The State of Civility, WeberShandick.com, January 2017; Editor, Civility in America 2016: U.S. Facing a Civility Crisis Affecting Public Discourse and Political Action, WeberShandick.com, January 28, 2016; Eduardo Mendieta, Civility at the core of American democracy, whatever politicians say, The Conversation, November 7, 2016. In addition, see: Abbott L. Ferriss, Studying and Measuring Civility: A Framework, Trends and Scale, Sociological Inquiry, Vol. 72, Issue 3, 2002; Cynthia Clark, Eric Lundrum, and Danh Nguyen, Development and Description of the Organizational Civility Scale, The Journal of Theory Construction & Testing, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2013; Benjamin Walsh, Vicki Magley, David Reeves, Kimberly Davies-Schrils, Matthew Marmet, and Jessica Gallus, Assessing Workgroup Norms for Civility: The Development of the Civility Norms Questionnaire, Journal of Business and Psychology, Vol. 27, 2012.

[183] Eric Sigurdson, Taxation, Corporations, and the Financial Elite: a pathway for leadership, social responsibility, and economic growth – can society avoid the dangerous ‘race to the bottom’?, Sigurdson Post, March 31, 2019; Annie Lowrey, Jeff Bezos’s $150 Billion Fortune Is a Policy Failure: growing inequality in the United States shows that the game is rigged, The Atlantic, August 1, 2018; Richard Partington, Britain risks heading to US levels of inequality, warns top economist, Guardian, May 14, 2019; Ray Dalio, Why and How Capitalism Needs to Be Reformed, LinkedIn, April 5, 2019; Mark Niquette, Dalio Says Capitalism’s Income Inequality is National Emergency, Bloomberg, April 7, 2019; Erik Schatzker, Hedge fund billionaire warns of ‘revolution’ over income inequality, Toronto Star, April 5, 2019; Richard Feloni, Hedge-fund billionaire Ray Dalio says ‘the American dream is lost’, Business Insider, April 8, 2019; Hillary Hoffower, The middle class is disappearing in countries around the world, and it means millennials won’t have the same opportunities their parents did, Business Insider, April 12, 2019; Richard Partington, Millennials being squeezed out of middle class, says OECD, Guardian, April 10, 2019; William Horobin, Automation Could Wipe Out Almost Half of All Jobs in 20 Years, Bloomberg, April 25, 2019.

[184] Paul Krugman, The Great Republican Abdication, New York Times, April 22, 2019.

[185] Rick Noack, Everything we know so far about Russian election meddling in Europe, Washington Post, January 10, 2018; Caroline Baylon, Is the Brexit Vote Legitimate if Russia Influenced the Outcome?, Newsweek, December 12, 2016; Carole Cadwalladr, The great British Brexit robbery: how our democracy was hijacked, The Guardian, Mary 7, 2017; Kate Ferguson, ‘Some Russians think they own Britain’: Senior Tory MP slams Government for failing to tackle Moscow’s dirty money flowing through London, Daily Mail, May 20, 2018; Jamil Anderlini and Jamie Smyth, West grows wary of China’s influence game, Financial Times, December 19, 2017; Tara Francis Chan, A secret government report uncovered China’s attempts to influence all levels of politics in Australia, Business Insider, May 29, 2018; Chris Uhlmann, Top-secret report uncovers high-level Chinese interference in Australian politics, 9News.com.au, May 28, 2018; Tara Francis Chan, A Chinese-Australian billionaire funded UN bribes investigated by the FBI, an Australian politician alleges, Business Insider, May 22, 2018; Licia Corbella, New Report alleges outside influence in Canada’s 2015 federal election, Calgary Herald, May 23, 2017; Alistair Smout and Costas Pitas, Facebook scandal widens to the Brexit leave campaign and targeted Trump voters, Financial Review, March 28, 2018; Alexis Madrigal, What Facebook Did to American Democracy, The Atlantic, October 12, 2017; Jonathan Masters, Russia, Trump, and the 2016 U.S. Election, Council on Foreign Affairs.org, February 26, 2018; Jon Swaine and Marc Bennetts, Meuller charges 13 Russians with interfering in US elections to help Trump, The Guardian, February 17, 2018; Scott Shane and Mark Mazzetti, Inside a 3-Year Russian Campaign to Influence U.S. Voters, New York Times, February 16, 2018; Ian Talley, Trump Administration Sanctions Russia for Interference in U.S. Elections, Wall Street Journal, March 15, 2018; Mike Blanchfield, NATO researcher warns of Russian interference in 2019 Canadian election, CBC, February 27, 2018; Kathleen Harris, Elections Canada prepares to fight fake news, foreign influence in 2019 vote, March 20, 2018.

[186] Anti-establishment populism expresses itself differently in different countries: there are left-wing and right-wing strands, and domestic factors are significant. But there are also common themes: appeals to national sovereignty and criticism that elites have failed to protect electorates from the negative impacts of globalization are threads that run through both left- and right-wing strands. In many cases, there are also appeals to the rights of native citizens, as opposed to immigrants, and the importance of restoring “traditional” values and hierarchies. [The Global Risks Report 2017 (12 edition), World Economic Forum, 2017].

[187] Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Misconduct and Normalization of Deviance: leadership, corporate culture, and the pathway to organizational integrity, Sigurdson Post, March 31, 2018; Eric Sigurdson, Corporate and Government Scandals: A Crisis in ‘Trust’ – Integrity and Leadership in the age of disruption, upheaval and globalization, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2017.

[188] Insight Report, The Global Risks Report 2018 (13^th ed), World Economic Forum, January 2018; Ivan Seneniuk, ‘This is an eye-opener’: Changes in global water supply hint at future conflicts and crisis, Globe and Mail, May 16, 2018; United Nations Report, Environment Dominates 2017 Global Risk: WEF Study, United Nations Climate Change Newsroom (newsroom.unfccc.int), January 13, 2017; Andy Blatchford, For the first time Bank of Canada says climate change and the economy are ‘intertwined’, Toronto Star, May 16, 2019; Carol Clouse, Hundreds of companies are urging Trump to change his mind about climate change, The Guardian, January 10, 2017 (“More than 600 businesses and investors signed and released a letter on Tuesday urging president-elect Donald Trump to fight climate change”); Insurance Bureau of Canada, Why You Should Factor Climate Change into Equity Selection, Advisor.ca, May 2, 2018.

[189] Daniel Byman, How terrorism undermines democracy, Brookings, March 5, 2019; Daniel Byman, Report: Terrorism and the threat to democracy, Brookings, February 2019; Daniel Byman, Policy Brief: Terrorism and the threat to democracy, Foreign Policy at Brookings, Vera Mironova, The New Face of Terrorism in 2019, Foreign Policy, January 1, 2019; Eric Schmitt, ISIS May Be Waning, but Global Threats of Terrorism Continue to Spread, New York Times, July 6, 2018; Eric Schmitt, Two Decades After 9/11, Militants Have Only Multiplied, New York Times, November 20, 2018; Robert Muggah, Terrorism is on the rise – but there’s a bigger threat we’re not talking about, World Economic Forum, April 8, 2016; 2018 Risk Maps: Aon’s guide to Political Risk, Terrorism & Political Violence, Aon, The Risk Advisory Group, and Continuum Economics, 2018; Insight Report, The Global Risks Report 2018 (13^th ed), World Economic Forum, January 2018.

[190] Dave Phillips, Navy SEALs Were Warned Against Reporting Their Chief for War Crimes, New York Times, April 23, 2019; Nicholas Mulder, Who’s Afraid of the International Criminal Court?, The Nation, March 21, 2019; ICC rejects request to investigate war crimes in Afghanistan, BBC, April 12, 2019; Aaron Glantz, The FBI Is Dismantling Its War Crimes Unit, Foreign Policy, February 18, 2019; Samuel Rubenfeld, ‘No War Is Won’: Benjamin B. Ferencz Continues His Fight For Justice at 98: last surviving prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials is the subject of a new documentary, Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2019; Zachary Wolf, Most presidents don’t pardon murderers. Trump did, and may again, CNN, May 23, 2019; David Cloud, Senior military officers rebel against Trump plan to pardon troops accused of war crimes, Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2019; Charles Lane, Trump’s war-crime pardons could be his most Nixonian moment yet, Washington Post, May 20, 2019; Editorial Board, Trump’s war-crime pardons would insult millions of service members, Washington Post, May 20, 2019.

[191] For example: Edward Lawler, Corporate Stewardship, Forbes, September 22, 2015; Insight Report, The Global Risks Report 2017 (12^th ed), World Economic Forum, January 2017. For example, see: Jennifer Epstein and Justin Sink, What’s Next: Who Gets Hit When U.S. Resumes Iran Sanctions, Bloomberg, May 8, 2018; David Meyer, These 6 Companies Have a Lot to Fear from Trump’s Iran Sanctions, Fortune, May 9, 2018; Brigham McCown, What Companies Need to Know About Trump’s Iran Decision, Forbes, May 8, 2018.

[192] Andrew Whitworth, Why Civility In Itself Can’t Be the End Goal, Shared Justice, February 14, 2017; Austin Sarat (editor), Civility, Legality, and Justice in America, Cambridge University Press, 2014.

[193] David Brooks, A Nation of Weavers: The social renaissance is happening from the ground up, New York Times, February 18, 2019. Also see, David Brooks, The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life, Random House, 2019.

[194] Editor, Civility in America 2016: U.S. Facing a Civility Crisis Affecting Public Discourse and Political Action, WeberShandick.com, January 28, 2016; Jonathan Knee, Fostering Civility in a Time of Disrespect, New York Times, December 23, 2016; Gerald Sieb, Civil Discourse in Decline: Where Does it End, Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2017; Jayne Reardon, Civility in America – It Matters, 2civility.org, November 6, 2017; Thomas Plante, Ph.D, ABPP, Is Civility Dead in America? We seem to be living in a more and more uncivil society. We don’t have to, Psychology Today, July 11, 2016; Christine Porath, Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace, Grand Central Publishing, 2016; Christine Porath, The hidden toll of workplace incivility, McKinsey Quarterly, December 2016; Christine Porath and Christine Pearson, The Price of Incivility, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2013; Aloke Chakravarty, A Call For Ethics and Civility in Governance and Litigation: Changing Culture and Increasing Accountability, 4 Emory Corporate Governance and Accountability Review 37, 2017; Eduardo Mendieta, Civility at the core of American democracy, whatever politicians say, The Conversation, November 7, 2016; Dr. Marie Bountrogianni, In 2018, Let’s Bring Civility Back to the Workplace, Huffington Post, December 21, 2017; Matthew Karnitschnig, Angela Merkel on Trump’s G7 show: It’s ‘depressing’, Politico, June 11, 2018; Daniel Dale, Bruce Campion-Smith, and Tonda Maccharles, ‘Special place in hell’: Trump aides hurl insults at Trudeau in unprecedented U.S. attack on Canadian leader, Toronto Star, June 10, 2018; Anthony Marcum, Congress should take a lesson on civility from the Supreme Court, The Hill, June 7, 2018; Jeffrey Goldberg, A Senior White House Official Defines the Trump Doctrine: ‘We’re America, Bitch’, The Atlantic, June 11, 2018; Thomas Plante, Ph.D, ABPP, Stand Up for Civility, Psychology Today, July 17, 2017. Also see, for example: Jessica Chasmar, Penzeys CEO: Trump voters ‘just committed the biggest act of racism’ since segregation, Washington Times, November 23, 2016; Amy La Porte, Spike in hate crimes prompts special NY police unit, CNN, November 21, 2016; Joshua Miller, Trump is attacking foes on Twitter like he’s campaigning, Boston Globe, November 22, 2016; Kathleen Parker Commentary: Trump’s incivility sustains followers, foes, The Columbus Dispatch, October 26, 2016; Nicholas Kristof, Donald Trump is Making America Meaner, New York Times, August 13, 2016; Ravi Iyer, How to Make Real Progress Against Trump’s Incivility, Civil Politics, March 13, 2016; Geoff Colvin, Donald Trump’s Rude, Reality TV – Style Campaign is going to Grow Old, Fortune, February  10, 2016; Post-Trump victory bullying, harassment reported in schools, CBS News, November 13, 2016; Editor, Editorial: The descent into incivility, Montgomery Advertiser, April 18, 2016 (“Inflammatory, racist rhetoric from some candidates for the U.S. presidency is spilling over into national life in vile ways. The main culprit is Donald Trump, currently the GOP front-runner.”); Dan Horn, Your candidate stinks! Social Media goes all in on political incivility, USA Today, September 29, 2016; In the workplace, incivility begets incivility, new study shows, Science Daily, October 12, 2016; Dr. Steven Mitz, Can Civility in Society be Regained?, Ethics Sage, January 12, 2016; Andray Domise, It’s too late for civility in American politics, MacLeans.ca, June 26, 2018; Jonathan Bernstein, Civility is Important in a Democracy. So Is Dissent, Bloomberg.com, June 26, 2018; Philip Bump, The irony of Washington’s ‘civility’ debate: Trump already proved that incivility works, Washington Post, June 25, 2018.

[195] Stephen M. Walt, America’s Corruption Is A National Security Threat, Foreign Policy, March 19, 2019; Stephen M. Walt, The US is a lot more corrupt than Americans realize, and the problem goes much deeper than Trump, Business Insider, March 20, 2019.

[196] Mark Rice-Oxley, In an age of extremes, most people are really pretty moderate, Guardian, May 3, 2019.

[197] Derek Chollet, Why Democrats – and all Americans – should embrace centrism, Washington Post, May 7, 2019.

[198] Judith Timson, New Zealand’s PM Jacinda Ardern shows us what’s missing in most leaders, Toronto Star, March 18, 2019.

[199] Judith Timson, How we learn to trust each other again, Toronto Star, March 25, 2019.

[200] David Brooks, A Nation of Weavers: The social renaissance is happening from the ground up, New York Times, February 18, 2019.

[201] See generally, Matt Kwong, For Trump White House, belittling Puerto Rico might be more than a ‘slip of the tongue’, CBC News, April 4, 2019.

[202] David Brooks, A Nation of Weavers: The social renaissance is happening from the ground up, New York Times, February 18, 2019.

[203] Ciarán Fenton, Is the partnership model a busted flush? My speech to The Managing Partners’ Forum, CiaranFenton.wordpress.com, April 4, 2019.

[204] Micheal Diamond, The Degradation of American Politics, CJN.com, April 12, 2019.

[205] Julio Avalos, Thoughts on the state of lawyers and legal practice, Medium, April 5, 2019.

[206] Jennifer Lynn McCoy, Extreme political polarization weakens democracy – can the US avoid that fate?, The Conversation, October 31, 2018. Also see, Jennifer McCoy, Tahmina Rahman and Murat Somer, Polarization and the Global Crisis of Democracy: Common Patterns, Dynamics, and Pernicious Consequences for Democratic Polities, American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 62, Number 1, 2018.

[207] Douglas Elmendorf and Nitin Nohria, Restoring Trust in Leadership, Project Syndicate, January 29, 2018. Also see, Mike Kaeding, A Leader of Perspectives, LinkedIn, April 12, 2019; Dambisa Moyo, Why the survival of democracy depends on a strong middle-class, Globe and Mail, April 20, 2018.

[208] Robert W. Gordon, The Return of the Lawyer-Statesman?, 69 Stanford Law Review 1731, 2017. Also see, Richard Moorhead, Against Babbitry: What Legal History and Practical Leadership Can Tell Us About Lawyer’s Ethics, Jotwell.com, October 10, 2017.

[209] CanTrust Index 2019, Proof Inc. (getproof.com), 2019; Canada is seeing cracks in the foundation of trust, Proof Inc. (getproof.com), 2019. Also see, 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019; 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2018; 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2018; 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2017; 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2016; 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2015.

[210] 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019; 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2019.

[211] 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019; 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2019.

[212] Larry Fink (Chairman and CEO, BlackRock), Larry Fink’s Annual Letter to CEOS: Purpose & Profit, BlackRock.com, January 2019.

[213] Andres Tapia, Stepping Up, Korn Ferry Institute, August 18, 2017.

[214] Mark Cohen, The Future Lawyer, Forbes, May 30, 2017; Ben W. Heineman Jr., William F. Lee, and David B. Wilkins, Lawyers as Professionals and as Citizens: Key Roles and Responsibilities in the 21^st Century, Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School, November 20, 2014; Editorial Board, Donald Trump defies the U.S. Constitution on press freedom, Toronto Star, April 28, 2019.

[215] Ben W. Heineman Jr., William F. Lee, and David B. Wilkins, Lawyers as Professionals and as Citizens: Key Roles and Responsibilities in the 21^st Century, Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School, November 20, 2014.

[216] Jennifer Lynn McCoy, Extreme political polarization weakens democracy – can the US avoid that fate?, The Conversation, October 31, 2018. Also see, Jennifer McCoy, Tahmina Rahman and Murat Somer, Polarization and the Global Crisis of Democracy: Common Patterns, Dynamics, and Pernicious Consequences for Democratic Polities, American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 62, Number 1, 2018.

[217] Judith Timson, How we learn to trust each other again, Toronto Star, March 25, 2019.

[218] See for example, Jamie Dimon, ‘Alarm bells’ should be ringing in corporate boardrooms over the challenges facing our communities, Business Insider, April 18, 2019.

[219] Patrick Alain, The Impact of a Good Leader and Good Leadership in Society, Industry Leaders (industryleadersmaganize.com), January 21, 2012.

[220] Robert Boisture, Civic Virtues and the Healing of Partisan Divides, Stanford Social Innovation Review, July 12, 2018.

[221] Richard Edelman, A crisis of trust: A warning to both business and government, Economist, The World In.com, 2016.

[222] Oliver Hart and Luigi Zingales, Companies Should Maximize Shareholder Welfare, Not Market Value, Journal of Law, Finance, and Accounting (scholar.harvard.edu), July 2017; Jacqui Frank, Kara Chin, Sara Silverstein, A Nobel Prize-winning economist explains what Milton Friedman got wrong, Business Insider, May 7, 2018. Also see, Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018.

[223] Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018. Also see, Harvard Business Review, The ‘Business in Society’ Imperatives for CEOs, Global Advisors, December 20, 2016; Linda Fisher Thornton, Trust: The Force That Drives Results, Leading in Context.com, May 23, 2018; Eric Sigurdson, Overcoming the Forces of ‘Short-termism’ – corporate governance, principled leadership, and long-term sustainable value creation, Sigurdson Post, February 19, 2018; 2018 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends – The rise of the social enterprise, Deloitte.com, 2018; 2018 Human Capital Trends – Courage required: Apply here to build the Canadian social enterprise, Deloitte.com, 2018. (note: report draws on a survey of more than 11,000 HR and business leaders around the world).

[224] Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, BCG.com, March 1, 2018; Martin Reeves, Georg Kell, and Fabien Hassan, The Case for Corporate Statesmanship, Arabesque.com, March 20, 2018.

[225] Rich Lesser, 2018 – A moment of truth for CEOs, LinkedIn, January 9, 2018.

[226] Adam Winkler, Corporate Political Conscience: why big business is suddenly into liberal politics, The New Republic, April 30, 2018; Laurence Fink (Chairman and CEO, BlackRock), Larry Fink’s Annual Letter to CEOS: A Sense of Purpose, BlackRock.com, January 2018; Andrew Ross Sorkin, BlackRock’s Message: Contribute to Society, or Risk Losing our Support, New York Times, January 15, 2018; Matt Turner, Here is the letter the world’s largest investor, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, just sent to CEOs everywhere, Business Insider, February 2, 2016. – The letter focuses on short-termism both in corporate America and Europe, but also in politics, and asks CEOs to better articulate their plans for the future. Also see, Tom Monahan, Populism Unleashed: 5 Steps for Business Leaders to Shape a Healthy Society and Boost Performance, CEB Global, November 9, 2016; David Beatty, How activist investors are transforming the role of public-company boards, McKinsey.com, January 2017; Peter Smith, Big investors have gunmakers in their sights: shareholders force Sturm Ruger to monitor and report on violence, Financial Times May 14, 2018.

[227] Roland Benabou and Jean Tirole, Individual and Corporate Social Responsibility, Economica, Vol. 77, No. 305, January 2010.

[228] Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018.

[229] 2018 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends – The rise of the social enterprise, Deloitte.com, 2018; 2018 Human Capital Trends – Courage required: Apply here to build the Canadian social enterprise, Deloitte.com, 2018. (note: report draws on a survey of more than 11,000 HR and business leaders around the world).

[230] 2018 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends – The rise of the social enterprise, Deloitte.com, 2018; 2018 Human Capital Trends – Courage required: Apply here to build the Canadian social enterprise, Deloitte.com, 2018. (note: report draws on a survey of more than 11,000 HR and business leaders around the world).

[231] Douglas Beal, Robert Eccles, Gerry Hansell, Rich Lesser Shalini Unnikrsihnan, Wendy Woods, David Young, Total Societal Impact: A New Lens for Strategy, The Boston Consulting Group, October 2017. Also see, Dominic Barton, James Manyika, Tim Koller, Robert Palter, Jonathan Godsall, and Josh Zoffer, Where companies with a long-term view outperform their peers, McKinsey Global Institute, February 2017; Dominic Barton, James Manyika, Tim Koller, Robert Palter, Jonathan Godsall, and Josh Zoffer, Measuring the Economic Impact of Short-Termism: Discussion Paper, McKinsey Global Institute, February 2017;  Matt Turner, Here is the letter the world’s largest investor, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, just sent to CEOs everywhere, Business Insider, February 2, 2016; Andrew Ross Sorkin, BlackRock’s Message: Contribute to Society, or Risk Losing our Support, New York Times, January 15, 2018; World Economic Forum in Davos out to heal ‘a fractured world’, Deutsche Welle (DW.com), January 23, 2018; Eric Sigurdson, Overcoming the Forces of ‘Short-termism’ – corporate governance, principled leadership, and long-term sustainable value creation, Sigurdson Post, February 19, 2018. Also see, 2018 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends – The rise of the social enterprise, Deloitte.com, 2018; 2018 Human Capital Trends – Courage required: Apply here to build the Canadian social enterprise, Deloitte.com, 2018. (note: report draws on a survey of more than 11,000 HR and business leaders around the world).

[232] Joseph L. Bower and Lynn S. Paine, The Error at the Heart of Corporate Leadership: most CEOs and Boards believe their main duty is to maximize shareholder value. It’s not, Harvard Business Review, May-June 2017.

[233] 2018 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends – The rise of the social enterprise, Deloitte.com, 2018; 2018 Human Capital Trends – Courage required: Apply here to build the Canadian social enterprise, Deloitte.com, 2018. (note: report draws on a survey of more than 11,000 HR and business leaders around the world).

[234] Jennifer Lynn McCoy, Extreme political polarization weakens democracy – can the US avoid that fate?, The Conversation, October 31, 2018. Also see, Jennifer McCoy, Tahmina Rahman and Murat Somer, Polarization and the Global Crisis of Democracy: Common Patterns, Dynamics, and Pernicious Consequences for Democratic Polities, American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 62, Number 1, 2018.

[235] Eric Sigurdson, Corporate Strategy and Geopolitical Risk in a G-Zero World: Inequality, Polarized Democracies, and the shifting economic and political landscape, Sigurdson Post, May 31, 2018.

[236] Mickey Edwards, The Case for Transcending Partisanship, Daedalus, Vol. 142, Issue 2, Spring 2013.

[237] Polly Courtice, Business leaders must prioritise sustainability to gain society’s trust, Guardian, December 3, 2014.

[238] Mike Kaeding, A Leader of Perspectives, LinkedIn, April 12, 2019; Linda Fisher Thornton, Why We Need Ethical Thinking, Exceed (robins.richmond.edu), April 11, 2019; Nick Petrie, The How-To of Vertical Leadership Development: Part 2, Centre for Creative Leadership, 2015.

[239] Dimple Agarwal, Josh Bersin, and Gaurav Lahiri, Introduction: The rise of the social enterprise – 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte Insights, March 28, 2018. Also see, Dimple Agarwal, Josh Bersin, and Gaurav Lahiri, Citizenship and social impact: Society holds the mirror – 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte Insights, March 28, 2018.

[240] Dimple Agarwal, Josh Bersin, and Gaurav Lahiri, Citizenship and social impact: Society holds the mirror – 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte Insights, March 28, 2018. Also see, Dimple Agarwal, Josh Bersin, and Gaurav Lahiri, Introduction: The rise of the social enterprise – 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte Insights, March 28, 2018.

[241] Dimple Agarwal, Josh Bersin, and Gaurav Lahiri, Introduction: The rise of the social enterprise – 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte Insights, March 28, 2018. Also see, Dimple Agarwal, Josh Bersin, and Gaurav Lahiri, Citizenship and social impact: Society holds the mirror – 2018 Global Human Capital Trends, Deloitte Insights, March 28, 2018.

[242] Josh Bersin, Yes, CEOs, You Do Need To Speak Up On Social Issues, Forbes, September 5, 2018; 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2018; 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2018. Also see, 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report, Edelman.com, 2019; 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Executive Summary, Edelman.com, 2019; CanTrust Index 2019, Proof Inc. (getproof.com), 2019; Canada is seeing cracks in the foundation of trust, Proof Inc. (getproof.com), 2019.

[243] Polly Courtice, Business leaders must prioritise sustainability to gain society’s trust, Guardian, December 3, 2014; Simon Wilkins, Should business leaders get involved in social and political issues?, Business Chief, May 11, 2017.

[244] Andrew Ross Sorkin, How Banks Could Control Gun Sales if Washington Won’t, New York Times, February 19, 2018; Simon Wilkins, Should business leaders get involved in social and political issues?, Business Chief, May 11, 2017.

[245] Simon Wilkins, Should business leaders get involved in social and political issues?, Business Chief, May 11, 2017; Chris Murphy, Why is social responsibility important to a business?, Investopedia, June 18, 2018.

[246] Kelli Ell, Business leaders should take a stand on social issues such as curbing gun violence, says Yale management guru, CNBC, February 21, 2018; Chris Murphy, Why is social responsibility important to a business?, Investopedia, June 18, 2018.

[247] Chris Murphy, Why is social responsibility important to a business?, Investopedia, June 18, 2018; Josh Bersin, Yes, CEOs, You Do Need To Speak Up On Social Issues, Forbes, September 5, 2018.

[248] Emily Cadei, How Corporate America Propelled Same-Sex Marriage, Newsweek, June 30, 2015; Frank Bruni, The Sunny Side of Greed, New York Times, July 1, 2015; Gail O’Brien, Why More Companies Are Speaking Out on Social Issues, Business Ethics, July 13, 2015; Diane Smith-Gander, When should business leaders speak out on social issues?, The Resolution, May 15, 2019; Chris Murphy, Why is social responsibility important to a business?, Investopedia, June 18, 2018.

[249] Emily Cadei, How Corporate America Propelled Same-Sex Marriage, Newsweek, June 30, 2015; Frank Bruni, The Sunny Side of Greed, New York Times, July 1, 2015; Gail O’Brien, Why More Companies Are Speaking Out on Social Issues, Business Ethics, July 13, 2015;

[250] Emily Cadei, How Corporate America Propelled Same-Sex Marriage, Newsweek, June 30, 2015; Frank Bruni, The Sunny Side of Greed, New York Times, July 1, 2015; Chris Murphy, Why is social responsibility important to a business?, Investopedia, June 18, 2018.

[251] Frank Bruni, The Sunny Side of Greed, New York Times, July 1, 2015.

[252] See generally, Michael Toffel and Auden Schendler, The Climate Needs Aggressive CEO Leadership, Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge (hbswk.hbs.edu), September 24, 2014.

[253] CEO Activism in 2017: High Noon in the C-Suite, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2017; Jackie Wattles, GE CEO on disagreeing with Trump: ‘We’re cowards if we don’t’, CNN Business, April 1, 2017.

[254] Tony Schwartz, What It Takes to Think Deeply About Complex Problems, Harvard Business Review, May 9, 2018.

[255] Sarah O’Connor, A bit of ‘polish’ for the state educated will not spur social mobility, Financial Times, May 7, 2019.

[256] CEO Activism in 2018: The Purposeful CEO, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2018.

[257] For example see, Aaron Chatterji and Michael Toffel, The New CEO Activists, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2018.

[258] Aaron Chatterji and Michael Toffel, The New CEO Activists, Harvard Business Review, January-February 2018; Gabrielle Dolan, The rise of CEO activism: more CEOs are breaking from tradition and taking a stand on divisive social issues, CEO Magazine, April 10, 2019; The Dawn of CEO Activism, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2016; CEO Activism in 2018: The Purposeful CEO, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2018.

[259] The Dawn of CEO Activism, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2016; CEO Activism in 2018: The Purposeful CEO, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2018.

[260] CEO Activism in 2018: The Purposeful CEO, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2018.

[261] The CEO Reputation Premium: Gaining Advantage in the Engagement Era, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2015.

[262] The CEO Reputation Premium: Gaining Advantage in the Engagement Era, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2015.

[263] CEO Activism in 2017: High Noon in the C-Suite, Weber Shandwick & KRC Research, 2017; Julie Jargon, New Starbucks CEO Sees Growth in Suburbs, Midwest and Lunch, Wall Street Journal, April 3, 2017.

[264] Adam Gopnik, Canada is the model liberal nation – and Canadians should embrace that, Globe and Mail, May 18, 2019.

[265] Dave Meslin, Why our survival requires a political teardown, Globe and Mail, May 20, 2019.