The overarching theme of the DIC meetings in Santiago, Chile, focused on how countries like Chile can work to balance development needs, trade, and the environment.

Two key sessions included Chile’s Secretary General of the Presidency taking a look at the “Chilean Miracle” and the ministers of finance of Chile and Turkey talking about managing their respective national economies during the recent international turbulence. Other sessions were packed full of analysis on urban policy issues in Chile, India, Brazil, Turkey and beyond, with a focus on increasing energy supply needs.

The Chilean Economy

Chistián Larroulet Vignau, Chile's Secretary General of the Presidency, second from left, with (from left to right) DIC co-chair James Harpel, Chicago Harris Dean Colm O'Muircheartaigh, and DIC member King Harris

Since the 1989 end to the Pinochet military regime, Chile has made big strides in development but has in recent years become too complacent, Cristián Larroulet Vignau, AM’80, Secretary General of the Presidency, told the DIC.

“In the first decade, they made a lot of changes but in the second decade, they permitted this “Chilean nap,” he said during his morning presentation to the group.

Chile’s current president, Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique, who took office in March 2010, is working to jumpstart Chile through seven priorities, according to Larroulet: growth, employment, crime, health, democracy, education, and poverty. In particular, Secretary General Larroulet referred to education as “the mother of every battled,” citing President Piñera.

Energy Issues

Balancing increasing energy demands with environmental concerns and development needs in poorer countries are in constant tension, according to a series of energy-focused speakers in the afternoon sessions.

Rodrigo Álvarez Zenteno, Chilean Minister of Energy

According to Rodrigo Álvarez Zenteno, the Chilean Minister of Energy, Chile needs to increase its energy supply to meet increasing economic demand.

“We have to double our energy sources in the next decade,” he said.

Not only does the large majority of Chile’s energy resources come from abroad, the country also faces major transmission challenges unique to Chile’s geography and strong opposition by environmental groups to homegrown energy such as hydroelectric power.

Beyond Chile, as the entire world searches for the best replacement for fossil fuels, it is being found that all the alternatives have major disadvantages, said Robert Rosner, professor in the Departments of Astronomy & Astrophysics and Physics at the University of Chicago, and Director of the Energy Policy Institute at UChicago. Coal, hydro, ethanol, hydrogen, fission, and fusion all have drawbacks—fusion’s problem, of course, is that is doesn’t yet exist.

Robert Rosner, professor in the Departments of Astronomy & Astrophysics and Physics at the University of Chicago, and Director of the Energy Policy Institute at UChicago

There is no energy source that is cheap, “clean,” sustainable, reliable, and not too scary, contrary to popular hope. “The only way forward is to change the conversation,” said Rosner.

Check out Rosner’s slideshow here.

Marina Silva, Former Brazilian Senator later added, “We must learn other languages beyond coal, gas, and oil.”

A glimpse at the finances of Chile and Turkey

The economies of Chile and Turkey were the topics of discussion at the evening reception and dinner, delivered by both countries’ ministers of finance.

Dean Colm O'Muircheartaigh and Chilean Minister of Finance Felipe Larrain Bascuñán

Chile’s current growth rate is 5.7%, according to Chile’s Minister of Finance, Felipe Larrain Bascuñán. Given the difficult international economic situation and the immediate GDP effect, a 15% drop, from the devastating 2010 Chile earthquake—one of the six worst ever recorded in the world—he considers Chile’s growth to be at a good, solid pace.

Larrain, who was in the middle of state budget negotiations during the DIC meetings, said a major sticking point in the budget, is education. The country has been embroiled in ongoing student protests over the past few months demanding free education for all university students.

“It is not fair to give free education to everyone,” said Larrain, who had met with student leaders earlier in the day. “Those who can pay, should.”

(The following day, Manuel Agosin, Dean and Professor at the School of Economics and Business at the University of Chile gave DIC members a primer on the Chilean student protests. His Powerpoint can be viewed here.)

Dean O'Muircheartaigh, Turkish Minister of Finance Mehmet Simsek, and DIC member Mehmet Celebi

Minister Larrain’s remarks were followed with a speech by Mehmet Simsek, Minister of Finance in Turkey, who said that Turkey rebounded quickly to pre-crisis growth levels after the 2008 worldwide economic crash, with a growth rate of over 10% in 2011.

Turkey is not without its difficulties, though. Minister Simsek pointed to low savings rates among the population, an average retirement age of 44 years old, and the crises occurring in neighboring countries.

The Arab 1989

The following day, Mehmet Celebi, Partner at Baykam-RBM and DIC member, touched on those neighborhood crises.

The Arab Spring has been a “mixed blessing” for Turkey, according to Celebi.

The constant changing environment has been difficult for the country although it  has been happy about the changes. And now that “the Arab 1989,” as he likes to call it, has happened, Turkey is ready to be a role model in its region and to help it move forward.

“The challenge is to create ideas that are regional and authentic,” said Celebi, who argued that Turkey has had to find a better balance to its formerly too pro-American focus.

Clement explains the reasons behind AON's deal with Manchester United

Buying the rights to the Manchester United jersey sponsorship “was a big bet in a dark period,” said Philip Clement, Global Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at AON.

Clement, MPP/MBA’93, was in Santiago, Chile on Nov. 9 to speak at the opening dinner of the Dean’s International Council’s annual international meeting, a three-day series of lectures from leading scholars, practitioners, and political figures. He walked attendees through the reasons behind AON’s decision to spend a reported $150 million on the four-year deal.

Manchester United’s jersey is Nike’s number one selling product, beating the combined sales of all 32 National Football League teams and the News York Yankees. According to Clement, AON, which was dealing with the effects of a contracting economy, hoped the unprecedented exposure offered by the deal would help their business in three very strategic ways:

1. “Aon United.” As a company made up of 59,000 employees in 120 countries acquired through 435 acquisitions, Aon was looking for a way to make their widespread people feel more connected to each other.
2. Branding. AON identified two possible branding strategies: either to build a global marketing company or to find one program to run out of the Chicago AON headquarters that would have global impact. By pursuing the latter through the Manchester United deal, it assured the AON logo is seen at each weekend game by roughly two Superbowl-sized crowd.
3. New business. the Manchester United connection has helped some potential customers decide in AON’s favor.

Clement showed a few of AON’s marketing videos to showcase how they are leveraging their Manchester United connection. Here is a sampling:

• Taking the Pitch
• AON United
• Pass It On

DIC members and Chicago Harris staff visit Viña Concha y Toro

Clement spoke to the DIC after an informal kick-off event at the second largest vineyard in the world, Concha Y Toro. The DIC acts as an advisory group to the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Studies in issues of international importance. It is also a source for new policy initiatives and resource development.

Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation Ray LaHood addressed a Harris School advisory board on the last day of the 2011 Dean’s International Council meeting in Chicago.

Speaking at a breakfast event on May 27, LaHood delivered a brief speech about a number of new federal initiatives, such as raising gasoline standards for vehicles. By 2016, he said all new models will have a 30-miles-per-gallon requirement. “We’re moving in a completely different direction, and I think the car manufacturers get it,” he said, pointing to new hybrid and compact models. Continued…

Niall Booker, Chief Executive Officer at HSBC North America Holdings Inc, spoke at the Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Dean’s International Council Meeting on May 27. His talking points can be viewed below.

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Dr.Haroutioun Samuelian, Vice Governor Central Bank of Lebanon, spoke at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Dean’s International Council Meeting on May 27. His presentation slides can be viewed below.
Continued…

After a day of sessions about science policy and middle eastern politics, Dean’s International Council members gathered at the Adler Planetarium museum in downtown Chicago for a reception, IMAX film, dinner, and lecture by award-winning University of Chicago cosmologist Michael Turner. Continued…

After a morning session about alternative energy innovations around the world, Kennette Benedict, publisher of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, followed up with focused discussion about the future of nuclear energy.

“This is the most dangerous technology in the world,” she warned. Continued…