Are politicians the problem?

Economic crisis is dominating the headlines across the world. Nowhere more so than Britain, mainland Europe and the Untied States. Every Monday morning the politicians wait with great anxiety and bated breath as the market bell tolls. But, as the politicians look towards the sea of red on the stock markets I cannot help but wonder whether the politicians should be looking at themselves a bit harder.

The list of summits, crisis meetings, emergency talks and super committees is growing ever longer and the more the politicians meet and talk, the deeper the crisis seems to get. I am not an economist, but this cyclical process of the politicians watching the markets and the markets reacting to the (lack of) action from the politicians appears to be just simply exacerbating the crisis.

The evidence from this can be seen from a number of recent events. When the EU leaders met at the end of October for a crisis summit on the Eurozone they failed to put together a comprehensive enough plan to satisfy the markets. In early November the much-hyped G20 Summit in Cannes was widely branded as a ‘failure’ with discussions between the world’s most politically powerful men and women resulting in further risks to the global economy. And most recently, the Super Committee of senior politicians in Washington sparked new market fears when it failed to reach an agreement about the US debt limit after months of discussions.

The Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg attacked the politicians in the US; "Cowardice and partisanship in Washington is really hurting our country," he said. And this is the feeling across the globe – with tough rhetoric and the persistent summits of world leaders leading to little more than an expensive photo opportunity. Boldness and partnership is needed from our politicians across the globe, and it is needed fast.

The Power of a Social Network

Since leaving university, and especially in recent months, I have come to realise just how important having a social network is for any young person attempting to pursue an ambitious career. When using the term ‘social network’, I am not referring to Facebook, Twitter, or indeed the multi-award winning movie by the same name – although the use of social media will be discussed later. What I refer to is an actual network of contacts in your particular industry. More than ever it has become about who you know rather that what you know or even where you’ve been educated. In this blog post I will try to explain why I think building a social network as early as possible is integral to succeeding in a chosen career.

Why is a Social Network important?

Graduates of the past few years have been categorised as Generation Y, or Gen Y. I am part of Gen Y and can vouch for just how competitive the job market is. My chosen career has been in politics and I have reliable evidence to suggest that to work for an MP, or to get a job within a Public Affairs consultancy, you’ll have to make your CV and covering letter stand out amongst a stack of over two hundred others. That is two hundred candidates with honours degrees from top universities, extensive knowledge of the political system and a passion for politics. But more often than not the candidates that get through to an interview stage are there because they know somebody within the hiring organisation and have had inside knowledge of what criteria the HR department/Member of Parliament is using to differentiate the two hundred applicants*.

Building a social network of contacts within your chosen industry can allow you to have a heads-up on a position becoming available. Many organisations will trust the judgement of their current employees to recommend their contacts to apply for vacancies and avoid a potentially lengthy process of recruiting externally – not to mention the volume of applicants! As well as the benefit of the heads-up, having someone within your social network who works within the organisation to which you’re applying will not only help you to know about an opening and assist you with the initial application, but they’ll be able to give you tips on what sort of person is required to fill a position. Then, when you sit down in the interview you are already in the mindset of what it is like to be an employee of the hiring organisation.

The benefits of a social network are not solely around getting a job and it must be added that a social network is certainly not a foolproof plan to getting a job but I am personally convinced that it will assist any candidate in getting closer to the top of the two hundred. Furthermore, a social network can assist you with advice, personal development and more.

*I accept there will be many exceptions and take nothing away from those who have successfully gained employment without the use of a social network 

Building a Social Network

This is not an easy task. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have made making connections relatively simple. These platforms have their use and when used correctly can aid the construction of a social network. But from personal experience nothing can replace meeting like-minded people face-to-face at the numerous networking opportunities available to Gen Y. Again from a personal perspective, when building a network in the political arena there are a number of networking opportunities that come highly recommended: shamelessly my own organisation, Generation 2 Generation, aims to host events where leaders in politics, business and journalism can meet the potential leaders of tomorrow; The Public Affairs Network hosts an excellent and very popular monthly networking drinks; and for those Gen Y’ers who want to network with fellow political party activists then Conservative Future, Young Fabians, Liberal Youth and others all offer excellent social events and opportunities to meet new people.

Business cards are at the heart of building a social network. Swap them at any opportunity.

Using a Social Network

The important thing to remember about a social network is that the people within it do not have to become your best friends, nor do they have to be on your Christmas card list, they are those people who will call on you with a heads-up on a vacancy or someone who you can share advice with over a coffee or a beer.

Finally, do not underestimate the power of a Social Network. As jobs become harder and harder to come by, students, graduates and young professionals should build and utilise their very own social networks.

The new United: Are we all getting carried away too soon?

A friend of mine, George (@GWoffer) , asked me to write a blog for his Football Water Cooler blog (@FootballWaterCo). It’s a blog site that is written for the fans, by the fans, and is well worth checking out if you have an interest in football. It was suggested to me, as a Manchester United fan, that I write a post considering whether United fans, along with the pundits and journalists, are getting carried away too soon after just four games.

Here is what I wrote (I tried to be as unbiased as possible)…

The new United: Are we all getting carried away too soon?

Four games in and much of the early hype has been about the new-look Manchester United and how they swept aside Arsenal at Old Trafford two weeks ago and Bolton at the Reebok yesterday. There is no doubt that Sir Alex Ferguson’s young team are looking the part at this stage but it is a long season and I’m not sure United have their 20^th title in the bag just yet.

What Sir Alex appears to have got right is getting his squad together early. The team that have started the Premier League campaign this season enjoyed a full tour of the United States together in the pre-season. In the US, the likes of Young, Cleverly and Wellbeck were able to learn the Manchester United philosophy of attacking, whilst Smalling and Jones got themselves accustomed to the United backline. The one weak link so far appears to be the Spaniard between the posts who has the potential to be the next Massimo Taibi (remember that calamity against Southampton!?). The jury is certainly still out on him. But the US tour meant that when United began their competitive season against Manchester City at Wembley they looked far more composed, comfortable and unified than their city rivals and this was encapsulated with Nani’s first goal after a great team move.



Sir Alex had his full squad whilst the other big teams were sweating over transfer deals on deadline day (Sneijder never looked likely from the outset). And four early wins, including an 8-2 demolition of Arsenal, sees the pundits and journalists already engraving Manchester United on the Premiership trophy. But… after a shaky opening game at the Reebok, Manchester City have four wins from four and a strike-force of Dzecko, Aguero and Silva who are all enjoying their football at City and scoring goals in the process. Questions will continue to be asked about Mancini and whether he has the ability to keep his very large and very talented squad happy. You feel that if the City boss can solve his selection dilemma and keep his team content then he might just be able to take the Premier League trophy to Eastlands.

Away from Manchester the other top contenders are looking far from threatening. Liverpool, who were tipped by many to be a real title challenger this season, have failed to impress thus far and suffered their first defeat yesterday to Stoke. Kenny Dalglish has spent a huge amount of money since January on players that would probably not make the first XI if they found themselves at City or United. After four games they are already five points behind the leaders and will need to do a lot more to impress. Tottenham have had a dreadful start to their season including a 5-1 thrashing at home to City and Harry Redknapp’s team seem to be a long way from the team that beat AC Milan in the San Siro in February. Redknapp will hope that the signings of Parker and Adebeyour will make the difference at White Hart Lane and they were pivotal in their win away at Wolves yesterday. As for Arsenal… we shall see! Chelsea, though, look the only other credible threat to challenge United and City and their new manager has an excellent set of players to mount his assault for the title.

As it stands it looks like a three horse race but it is only the beginning of September and there are a lot of games to play. One of the major factors marking United and City apart from their rivals at this stage is the number of goals they are scoring at home and away – both have goal differences in double figures already with Chelsea leading the rest of the pack with just four.

The question of this blog was whether we’re all getting carried away with this new Manchester United team. In reality the answer is yes – much can happen between now and May but with Wayne Rooney and his new hair getting back-to-back hat-tricks it is extremely difficult not to get carried away. City are posting big scores but the message from United every weekend seems to be; ‘anything you can do we can do better’.

For me, the most important dates to remember this season are 23 October (United v City at Old Trafford) and 28 April (City v United at Eastlands). This is where the title could be won or lost because both teams look unbeatable right now.
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Don't forget to check out Football Water Cooler

9/11 Ten Years On

It is somewhat hard to comprehend that the 9/11 attacks took place 10 years ago. It will forever remain a moment in history when everyone can recall where they were on that day. I for one was mid-way through my Year 11 work-experience! Today, as 11^th September 2011 approaches – when we will mark the 10^th anniversary of those horrific attacks – we are once again bombarded with footage on our TV screens and images in the newspapers of the moment United Airlines Flight 175 smashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Centre in Manhattan. However many times you see it, it never gets any less shocking.

Over the past decade much has been written about 9/11 – I focused my undergraduate dissertation on it – and there is likely to be a lot more. Over the past week there have been numerous television shows across the terrestrial channels that have each illustrated a different perspective from 9/11. The pick of the bunch for me was the ITV documentary that aired on Thursday 1^st September. It covered the movements of President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Mayor Giuliani and other senior US Government officials. From watching those images it is clear to see that they were not prepared for those attacks; just as the world was not prepared for those attacks.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War there was a decade of relative global peace. Aside from the interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo and the threat of the IRA, Britain was not actively involved in conflict. 9/11 changed all that. Since 2001 the UK has been involved in long campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is yet unclear whether ground troops will find themselves patrolling the streets of Tripoli but the UK has been heavily involved, albeit diplomatically, in Libya and other uprisings during the ‘Arab Spring’. It is important to ensure that the lessons learnt from the past decade can be applied to any diplomatic or military action that the UK is involved with in the coming months and years.

The force of Al-Qaeda has been felt across the globe since 2001 with attacks in Bali, Mumbai, London and elsewhere. The threat level still remains high and it is unclear whether the death of Osama Bin Laden will have any effect on the future actions of the world-wide terrorist network.

Since that world-changing day in 2001 so much has happened: the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; terrorist attacks in London, Bali and Mumbai; the killing of Osama Bin Laden; and the Arab Spring. I would like to invite you to join Generation 2 Generation and a panel of eminent speakers in London on 28 September to discuss the ramifications of those horrific attacks on 9/11. We'll discuss where we are now in the fight against global terrorism and how we can use the lessons from the past decade to make sure that the same mistakes aren't made in Libya, Syria and indeed, Afghanistan. For further information regarding this event please visit http://g2gglobalpolitics-eorg.eventbrite.com/

I welcome any comments and thoughts on this topic.

Generation 2 Generation is a non-partisan, not for profit organisation which organises talks and debates on current affairs for young professionals and students which feature leading figures from politics, business and the media. It aims to be a forum where today's leaders meet tomorrow's ones. Previous speakers who have addressed us include George Parker (Political Editor, The Financial Times), Liam Fox MP (Defence Secretary) Mary Dejevsky (former Washington and Moscow correspondent, The Independent), Lynne Featherstone (Equalities Minister) and Ed Vaizey (Culture Minister). You can find out more about us at www.g2gnetwork.co.uk.