December 16th Meeting Summary by Nancy McFadden
Our Probus meeting and Christmas Lunch in December featured a very informative speaker and author, George S. Takach, who talked about issues in his book, Cold War 2.0.
George S. Takach describes a gritty reality. World peace is fragile; new technology fuels more powerful and effective weapons and we as Canadians need to take significant steps to protect our national security. His career in law, politics and international affairs qualify him as a leading Canadian expert. George has authored three textbooks but in retirement, writes to a general audience to raise awareness amongst voters in democracies. Cold War 2.0: Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle Between China, Russia and America is his first general book. His next is on Taiwan.
George describes a world divided between democracies and autocracies. Democracies practice the rule of law internally and internationally. Autocracies, led by China and Russia, defy international rule of law and employ bullying tactics at home and abroad. An evolving new Cold War is fuelled by rapidly developing technology including artificial intelligence, high end semi conductor chips, quantum computing and biotech. The new weapons are less expensive and much more effective. For instance, drones can do the job of a fighter airplane at a fraction of the cost.
Russia was the leading autocracy in the first Cold War from 1949-1989; China has taken the lead in Cold War 2.0 since 2014. With conflict zones in the Ukraine, the Middle East, Africa, the South China Sea and Taiwan, world order is fragile. New technology is key to the outcomes especially in Taiwan with its production of high-end semi conductor chips. The bad news is that there are two leading autocrats ; the good news is that democracies do technology innovation much better than autocracies.
George recommends that Canadians develop a serious, non-partisan political consensus on national security. We need to stop collaborating especially at universities in STEM programs. Tech bifurcation, the growing divide between American and Chinese technology ecosystems, is the way to a more secure future. Anti disinformation programs are crucial: these include media literacy, fact checking and digital resiliency. We also need to increase defence spending to at least 2% of GDP and strengthen our alliances within NORAD, NATO and USMCA. Understand that the U.S. is indispensable but pay attention to the ‘Trump factor’. Also watch Taiwan; George claims that if China does take over Taiwan, this will lead to a 10% drop in the world economy. That is depression territory.
This substantive talk on war and technology ended in a seasonal note of hope. Many thanks for a fascinating talk from an esteemed Canadian expert. After his presentation, many members commented positively about it!
More About George S. Takach
George has undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Toronto, and an MA from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. He is a former partner and national Technology Industry Leader at the McCarthy Tétrault law firm, where for 35+ years he represented Canadian and international technology companies (with financings, M&A and commercial matters) and traditional companies and governments with their sophisticated technology transactions and projects. During his legal career, he was also an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School for 22 years, a columnist for Lexpert Magazine, and wrote three books on technical/law topics.
Currently he writes books on technology and geopolitics for a general audience, including Cold War 2.0: Artificial Intelligence in the New Battle Between China, Russia and America. George brought copies of this book to our meeting for purchase and signing.
George is an in-demand speaker for conferences, podcasts, radio interviews, presentations to “Third Age” groups, etc. He was recently on TVO’s The Agenda talking about Cold War 2.0.
Probus Club of Kingsway-Islington 