An Open Letter to President-Elect Obama: The Future of the Middle East

In a previous post, I wrote on the role of Spiral Dynamics in Middle Eastern development and emergence (as well as in all governmental, social, and human emergence). In that post, I highlighted the work of The Center for Human Emergence – Middle East and its Chief Executive Officer, Elza Maalouf. Recently, Elza issued an open letter to President-Elect Obama in which she details steps that the incoming administration should take to create a sustainable, peaceful, visionary, and transfomational Middle East, and noted that CHE-ME will soon be presenting his administration with a position paper outlining a culturally fit approach to solving the long-standing conflict and dire situation in this “breakthrough” region of the world. I’ve included the first part of the letter, but you absolutely must read it in its entirety:

Dear President Elect Obama,

Your election was celebrated by young Arabs all over the Middle East. In Syria they call you “Abu Hussein” an endearing term given to politicians they feel close to. Young people affiliated with our center in Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Palestine wished they had the right to vote for you. Lebanese youth proudly wore Obama T-shirts. “Yes we can” quickly became a slogan heard on Arab streets and our young people added “Yes we will.”  This enthusiasm for an American political figure is unprecedented in the Arab world. For this and for the sake of global well-being we hope that your administration seizes the moment to help facilitate emergence in the Arab world; an emergence that will be lead by young- progressive Arab leaders and supported by a US administration that is ready to pioneer fresh approaches in foreign policy.

Several thoughts about transformational leadership began swirling around in my head after reading this letter, and I was immediately taken back to an Op-Ed in Monday’s New York Times wtitten by William Kristol entitled “Admit We Don’t Know.” In the piece, Kristol stated:

Indeed, one hopes they’re (senior economic appointments in the incoming Obama administration) not too invested in the findings of the economics profession of which they’re such distinguished products — because one suspects many of the conventional answers of that profession aren’t much applicable to the current situation. After all, wasn’t it excessive confidence in complex economic models and sophisticated financial instruments on the part of people well educated in modern economics that helped get us into the current mess?

So I hope the best and the brightest who will be joining the new president will at least entertain the possibility that a lot of what they think they know is wrong.

I realize that this article isn’t directly related to Obama’s letter, Spiral Dynamics, or the future of the Middle East, but this all has me thinking about what kind of change is needed to move ahead with issues such as Palestinian sustainability or economic reform. (Well, these articles, and the fact that I’ve been reading the thoughts of several professional futurists on the current global economic downturn and the use of Systems Thinking to understand – as well as solve – the financial problems.) Is it enough in our current problems to tweek the system, redistributing some of the variables and realigning the structure of the system itself in order to bring about stability and balance? Or, is their a need for a transition to a new systemic structure altogether, one that is envisioned by transformational leaders who can see that the growing complexity of our global landscape creates emergent properties to develop that we were not able to simply extrapolate in a linear fashion from the present characteristics and workings of our present system?

Ah, so this is about “Emerging Systems and Properties!” Yes it is – and it’s a great opportunity to discuss the role of Systems Thinking in dealing with unseen elements and outcomes, resulting from increased complexity and venturing into “unseen territory.”

In addressing this issue, the good folks at Spiral Dynamics.org wrote an article entitled “What Does Emergent Mean in Context of Graves/SD,” an attempt to boil down a fairly in-depth topic in just a few paragraphs. In this article they note:

“‘Emergence’ in systems theories includes the idea that higher level properties impact on lower levels since feedback connections remain, another key to understanding that Gravesian levels are far more than discrete color-coded lumps when applying the theory in living human systems. A characteristic of emergence which is often overlooked in SD analyses is the influence of the derived state on the precursor parts; things are still connected, and new system may change the character of the previous ones which are still operating in the same field. Recognition of this is vital for those concerned with spiral management since we always carry parts of the past forward. Recall the phrase ‘steady state of being’ from the quote above. It conveys the equilibration and homeostasis-seeking in the Gravesian model…

So, an answer to “what does Graves mean by emergent?” is not so easy. For him it was both a central construct of his biopsychosocial systems theory and a word he felt comfortable using with great degrees of freedom. He saw both emergent properties and linear properties in human nature and, as a ‘mind out of his time,’ was quite at home with some ‘and’ logic in his theory. Systems theory contributes greatly to understanding human nature, and a recognition that the human spirit is ‘emergent’ as each new level comes into being says it is not enough.”

Emergence indicates that systems do not operate in closed environments, being impacted by change dynamics, creativity and innovation, and transformational development. Because systems are part of larger holons, they have the potential to spawn emergent properties and new levels of “existence,” whether in culture, organizations, or any other entity. These emergent properties and systems not only bring change, but also change the systems from which they came, adding new schemes, actors, and variables to the system and sub-systems. This is why Graves makes the statement that systems thinking is invaluable to understanding human nature (past, present, and future), but is often not enough to explain the evolution of emergent systems and their impact on the world-at-large. This is important, for instance, when organizations are looking to operate as “learning environments” that are utilizing strategic thinking and action. It is not enough to recognize the system and its influence on organizational outcomes, productivity, and innovation; a mindset of continual foresight must be instilled in the leadership and throughout the company (or social entity) that leads to ever-expanding resilience and growth in the face of emerging realities!

I definitely want to expound on this idea, but in the meantime, let me know what you think.

(P.S. I apologize for not blogging in quite awhile, but the family was on our annual December vacation. Happy Holidays!)

Image: David Drexler (Flickr)