The InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) concluded its 2025 Triennial Conference and General Assembly, held over four days in Cairo, Egypt, bringing together the global academy community for dialogue on the role of science in addressing societal challenges, alongside key governance milestones for the Partnership. The meeting welcomed 164 participants from 68 countries, reflecting the breadth and diversity of the IAP network. Over the course of the programme, more than 90 international speakers contributed to 18 sessions, thematic panels, and side events, addressing topics including science diplomacy, trust in science, emerging technologies, gender equality, early-career researchers, and cross-sector collaboration.

On the opening day, ahead of the General Assembly, the conference featured remarks from senior leaders and distinguished guests, including Mostafa Kamal Madbouly, Prime Minister of Egypt; Mohamed Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research; Peggy Hamburg and Masresha Fetene, IAP Co-Presidents; Gina El-Feky, Acting President of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology; and Maria Michela Laroccia, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Italy in Egypt. Their remarks highlighted the importance of science, international cooperation, and the role of academies in supporting evidence-based policy-making.

In addition to attending the formal sessions, my participation provided a valuable platform for direct engagement with senior representatives of national and international academies of sciences. I held substantive discussions with colleagues from the Turkish Academy of Sciences, The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) led by Executive Director Marcelo Knobel, the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences, represented by President Mohamed Hasan, the Royal Society, the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities, represented by Managing Director Dr Sabine Dorpmuller, and the Organisation for Women in Science in the Developing World (OWSD), represented by Vice-President Prof. Olubukola Babalola, among others.

These exchanges focused on strengthening inter-academy cooperation, advancing science diplomacy, and reinforcing the role of academies in informing policy and addressing shared global challenges. During these interactions, many participants expressed keen interest in learning more about the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), its ongoing international activities, and its legal registration in the United States, reflecting the global relevance of its initiatives.

The conference also offered the opportunity to reconnect with Dr Vaughn Turekian, a close colleague and dear friend, who currently serves as Executive Director of the United States National Academy of Sciences. Our discussions centred on international scientific collaboration, the science–policy interface, and the strategic role of academies in promoting dialogue, trust, and evidence-based decision-making at both national and global levels. Collectively, these interactions underscored the importance of the IAP platform not only for institutional governance, but also for nurturing enduring professional relationships across the global scientific community.

I also met for the first time with Prof. Mohamed Hicham Kara, President of the Algerian Academy of Sciences and Technology, whose academy has only recently joined the IAP. Our exchange focused on the priorities and aspirations of this new member within the IAP framework and on opportunities for deeper engagement with the international academy community.

In parallel, I had the opportunity to meet with Mr Shafik Gabr, who graciously invited me to a dinner gathering attended by a number of diplomats as well as prominent figures from Egypt’s film and cultural sectors. While our direct, head-to-head discussion was necessarily brief, we exchanged initial views on the potential for future collaboration between his foundations and WAAS. I found Mr Gabr to be highly receptive to the ideas and values promoted by WAAS, particularly those related to advancing peace, dialogue, and human security at the global level. This exchange highlighted promising scope for deeper engagement in the future, building on shared interests in cultural diplomacy, international cooperation, and inclusive approaches to addressing global challenges.

It is also worth noting that in-person attendance at the IAP General Assembly and Conference did not include representatives from all leading academies, in part because the meeting was organised in a hybrid format, with full participation available via online platforms. While this reduced physical presence, the hybrid arrangement nonetheless enabled broad global engagement and ensured continuity of dialogue among academies unable to attend in person, reflecting evolving modes of international scientific collaboration.

Throughout the meeting, discussions underscored the essential contribution of science academies in providing independent advice, supporting researchers, and fostering collaboration across borders and sectors. Participants emphasised the need for openness, trust, and long-term perspectives in strengthening global science systems.

The IAP General Assembly carried out its statutory responsibilities, including the onboarding of the new IAP leadership team, marking an important transition for the Partnership and its future strategic direction. Recordings of the sessions and the final conference report will be made available on the IAP website and YouTube channel, ensuring continued access for the wider scientific community.

Alas, I hope Phoebe Koundouri will forgive me, as I unfortunately missed her presentation on the first day of the conference due to being engaged in an important meeting away from the venue.

That conviction ran through his life as a science fiction writer, a scientific thinker, and as a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS). His relationship with the Academy was not incidental or ceremonial. It reflected a deep convergence between Clarke’s worldview and WAAS’s founding vision: that humanity’s survival and progress depend on aligning scientific power with ethical imagination and global responsibility.

Clarke was born in 1917 in rural England, a setting that gave him an early fascination with the night sky and a sense of wonder unencumbered by disciplinary boundaries. He never saw science and imagination as separate domains. As a radar specialist during World War II, he experienced firsthand how scientific advances could reshape the fate of nations. That experience left him with a lifelong awareness of science as a moral force—capable of extraordinary liberation, but also immense destruction if divorced from wisdom.

This tension became the engine of his writing. From Childhood’s End to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Clarke explored futures in which technological progress forced humanity to confront its own psychological, ethical, and spiritual limitations. His stories rarely celebrated technology for its own sake. Instead, they treated it as a mirror, reflecting the maturity—or immaturity—of the civilization wielding it. For Clarke, the real frontier was not outer space, but human consciousness.

That insight placed him naturally within the orbit of WAAS when it was founded in 1960. WAAS emerged in the shadow of the atomic age, created by scientists, artists, and thinkers who had witnessed how breakthroughs in physics had outpaced humanity’s capacity for governance, ethics, and foresight. Figures such as Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, and Joseph Rotblat understood that the old silos of knowledge were no longer viable. Clarke shared this conviction instinctively. His work had long argued that the future would demand integrated thinking—where science, ethics, culture, and imagination were in constant dialogue.

As a Fellow of WAAS, Clarke embodied the Academy’s commitment to transdisciplinary thought. He did not approach science fiction as escapism, but as a serious tool for civilizational reflection. In this sense, his novels functioned much like WAAS itself: as thought experiments designed to stretch human perception beyond short-term interests and national boundaries. Clarke’s famous assertion that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” was not merely a clever aphorism. It was a warning. Without understanding and ethical grounding, advanced science risks becoming opaque, unaccountable, and dangerously mythic.

Clarke’s worldview also reinforced the Academy’s global perspective. Long before globalization became a common term, he rejected parochial nationalism. His decision to settle in Sri Lanka was not simply personal; it symbolized his belief that the future of humanity could not be narrated from a single cultural or geopolitical center. WAAS similarly positioned itself as a global institution, committed to planetary challenges rather than national agendas. Both Clarke and the Academy recognized that existential risks—nuclear weapons, environmental degradation, unchecked technological power—do not respect borders.

Perhaps most importantly, Clarke helped legitimize imagination as a necessary partner to science. WAAS was founded on the radical idea that artists and humanists must stand alongside scientists in shaping the future. Clarke’s career offered living proof of that premise. His fiction anticipated satellite communications, space stations, and artificial intelligence not because he was guessing wildly, but because he understood how human intention interacts with scientific possibility. He demonstrated that imagination, when disciplined by knowledge, can be a form of foresight.

This synthesis of realism and optimism deeply influenced the Academy’s tone. Clarke was not naïve about humanity’s flaws. Many of his stories end not in triumph, but in transformation—sometimes unsettling, sometimes ambiguous. Yet he remained fundamentally hopeful that intelligence, once sufficiently enlightened, could choose cooperation over catastrophe. WAAS adopted a similar posture: clear-eyed about risks, but committed to the belief that conscious, values-driven leadership can redirect the trajectory of civilization.

In retrospect, Clarke’s relationship with the World Academy of Art and Science feels inevitable. Both emerged from the same historical reckoning: that humanity had acquired godlike powers without godlike wisdom. Both sought to expand the time horizon of decision-making, urging society to think in centuries rather than quarters, in planetary terms rather than local advantage. And both insisted that the future is not a technical problem alone, but a human one.

Arthur C. Clarke once wrote that “the goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play.” Beneath the wit lay a serious proposition: that the purpose of progress is not endless productivity, but the flowering of human potential. That idea—humane, expansive, and quietly radical—continues to echo in the vision of the World Academy of Art and Science. Through Clarke’s influence, the Academy inherited not just a science fiction writer, but a guide to imagining futures worthy of our intelligence.

Artificial intelligence embedded everywhere. Automation promising efficiency at unprecedented levels. Systems designed to anticipate, optimize, and replace. Yet beneath the spectacle ran a quieter, more troubling undercurrent: while technology is advancing at exponential speed, our ethical frameworks, social institutions, and collective sense of purpose are lagging dangerously behind. Six Fellows of the World Academy of Art and Science attending the world’s largest tech event in Las Vegas in January and convened a special meeting to discuss their thoughts, insights and observations of what they saw.

WAAS Fellow Peter Schlosser spoke on a panel titled “AI and Sustainable Living” where he noted that AI can help us optimize natural resources, and that much historical data has yet to be processed to help uncover new insights. Fellow Lawrence Ford and WAAS General Manager, Grant Schreiber, hosted a panel conceived by WAAS Fellow Eden Mamut on “Advancing Human Security and Smart Mobility.” WAAS Trustee Jonathan Granoff spoke on a panel titled “Staying Ahead in the Data Defense Game,” that explored how AI is reshaping cybersecurity by protecting data, detecting threats, and helping us stay one step ahead of misuse and cyber-attacks.  

​A special side event at CES 2026 convened a broader group of WAAS Fellows, that included Carol Carter and An Krumberger to reflect on their experiences and articulate shared concerns about the future of ethical technology.

Watch: AI and Sustainable Living

Again and again, conversations returned to the same unresolved tension. Technology excels at answering the question of how—how to automate, how to scale, how to optimize—but it consistently fails to address why. Why this technology? For whom? At what cost? And with what consequences for human dignity, identity, and security?

CES has long been a marketplace of solutions, but what was increasingly evident this year was the absence of a shared moral architecture guiding those solutions. Innovation is being driven primarily by market incentives and competitive advantage, while the human implications—job displacement, erosion of identity, widening inequality, and social fragmentation—remain largely externalized. These are treated as collateral effects rather than central design constraints.

One of the most striking observations was how little space exists for the human experience itself. Technology continues to be marketed as labor-saving, friction-reducing, and productivity-enhancing. Yet artificial intelligence represents something fundamentally different from previous tools: it is not merely saving physical labor, but increasingly replacing cognitive labor—reasoning, analysis, creativity, and decision-making. The scale and speed of this shift threaten not only livelihoods but the deeper human need for purpose, participation, and meaning.

Watch: Advancing Human Security and Smart Mobility in Connected Communities

Work has never been solely about income. It is a source of identity, belonging, and contribution to society. As AI systems absorb large portions of cognitive work, the risk is not simply economic displacement, but widespread social disorientation. A society in which people are detached from meaningful participation is not secure—no matter how efficient its systems may be.

These human security implications were notably absent from many displays. While panels explored technical performance, infrastructure, and investment, far fewer addressed the societal shockwaves now unfolding in real time. The question of who bears responsibility for these consequences—industry, government, or civil society—remains unresolved, and too often unasked.

Another recurring theme was the narrowing of perspective. Many technologies are being developed by relatively homogenous groups and deployed at global scale, shaping lives far beyond the rooms in which design decisions are made. Women, youth, marginalized communities, people with disabilities, and those most vulnerable to disruption are still largely missing from the feedback loops that shape innovation. Ethical technology cannot be achieved by adding a human-centric slogan after the fact; it requires intentional inclusion of diverse human perspectives at the point of conception.

Watch: Staying Ahead in the Data Defense Game

The conversations also revealed a deeper philosophical divide emerging beneath the surface of technological progress. Technology is becoming increasingly autonomous, while humans are becoming increasingly procedural. Systems are optimized; people are standardized. In corporations, automation and quality assurance frameworks have already narrowed human agency to predefined roles. Left unchecked, advanced AI risks accelerating this trend—reducing humans to operators, overseers, or passive recipients of algorithmic outcomes.

This inversion is not inevitable, but it is already underway.

Human security, as discussed at CES, offers a crucial reframing. It shifts the focus from protecting systems, borders, or profits to protecting people—their dignity, safety, livelihoods, and capacity to thrive. It insists that innovation be evaluated not only by efficiency or return on investment, but by whether it genuinely meets human needs. In turbulent times, such a compass is not a luxury; it is essential.

Yet introducing this perspective is not without political and institutional sensitivity. Concepts like human security challenge entrenched power structures by asserting that human well-being is not subordinate to sovereignty, markets, or technological inevitability. This makes the conversation uncomfortable—but also necessary. Ethical technology cannot be apolitical if it claims to serve humanity; it must confront the realities of power, exclusion, and consequence.

Importantly, several voices noted that this is no longer a moment for endless study. The issues are well understood. The time-sensitive imperative is action. Practical use cases, real-world applications, and visible demonstrations of ethical integration are needed now—not as theoretical exercises, but as working models. Whether in education, home technologies, mobility, or AI governance, the challenge is to show that ethical design is not a constraint on innovation, but a condition for its legitimacy and long-term success.

CES 2026 made one truth unmistakably clear: technology will not slow down to wait for our institutions to catch up. If ethical frameworks are not embedded deliberately, they will be replaced by default logics—efficiency over equity, automation over participation, profit over purpose. The absence of intention is itself a choice, and one with profound consequences.

Watch: CES CEO Gary Shapiro on Human Security, AI & How Technology Can Improve Lives

What is required now is a shift in mindset. Technology must be understood not as an end in itself, but as a technique—powerful, neutral, and incomplete without values to guide it. Markets can drive innovation, but they cannot define meaning. Algorithms can optimize outcomes, but they cannot determine what outcomes are worth optimizing.

CES remains one of the world’s most influential stages for shaping the future. What happens there reverberates far beyond Las Vegas. The question emerging from this year’s gathering is not whether technology will transform society—it already is. The real question is whether humanity will have the wisdom, courage, and foresight to shape that transformation before it shapes us.

In an era of accelerating disruption, ethical technology is not about slowing progress. It is about ensuring that progress remains human.

But today, we are not just celebrating artistic excellence; we are recognizing the profound utility of creativity.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. This Prize is more than a competition; it is a channel which unites us as people of the Commonwealth. The Prize celebrates established writers and uncovers emerging talent, creating a space where boundaries dissolve, and shared humanity takes centre stage.
In the last two years, the Commonwealth Foundation received more than 7,000 short story submissions each year. Beyond the sheer quantity of these submissions, it is the diversity of the narratives that reflects the continued relevance of creative expression.

Stories are a powerful reminder of the breadth of voices, perspectives, and cultural experiences within the Commonwealth. Each story takes us through a journey inside the writer’s mind, but it also acts as a mirror that reflects our own lived experiences.

This is why storytelling is vital in the work that we do. It serves as a bridge across cultures and generations, and a catalyst for empathy and understanding.
When considering ‘Art with Purpose,’ we must go one step further. We must ask: How do these stories serve the safety and resilience of our planet?
Short stories act as vital training grounds for human resilience. They allow us to simulate survival, to navigate crises, and to imagine solutions before they manifest. A story can warn us of what we stand to lose, transforming abstract concepts such as ‘climate change’ into a tangible, emotional reality.

The safety of our planet depends on our ability to care for neighbors we have never met and landscapes we have never seen. Literature breaks down the apathy that threatens our environment. By engaging with these narratives, we are not just reading; we are building the emotional stamina required to protect our shared home. Through short stories, we can deepen connections, inspiring writers and readers to realize their power to create change.

It is through the diversity of our stories that we also preserve histories and realities, share our dreams, and build a shared future, exemplifying the power of art with purpose.
Art in its varied forms occupies a place of importance in the Pacific. Visual art including, painting, carving, weaving, body art, music, chanting, and dance, are very important to the people of the Pacific. Body art or tattoos, define people’s origins and beliefs, as do songs, and dances. All these tell stories. Colonialism discontinued most of these in the Pacific but they have re-emerged in living generations as we gained maturity to be ourselves.

These different art forms on the one hand, represent our diversity across the region, but also bind us through understanding and mutual respect. Our similarities and differences are woven together in a colorful mat which keeps us together and protects us in times of uncertainty. It could be said that art and music are great ambassadors within our region and to the world.

To conclude, let us remember that creativity is not merely a decoration, but also an important catalyst for justice, understanding, and hope, linking global citizens through shared stories and imaginative empathy.

A central thread running through the discussion was the idea of a Global Peace Offensive. An idea to shift away from security models based primarily on deterrence and fear, toward approaches grounded in human security, common security, trust and shared responsibility.

In his intervention, Jonathan Granoff, president of the Global Security Institute, Trustee and a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, framed the urgency of this shift by confronting participants with the realities of nuclear risk. He recalled the scale of existing arsenals, the history of near-misses caused by human and technical error, and the fragility of systems that depend on speed and individual judgment. Reflecting on this reliance on chance, he noted that “every day, we are living with good luck, and that’s not adequate policy,” arguing that security must be rethought through a human and common security lens. In this context, he pointed to initiatives such as The Global Peace Offensive, promoted by The World Academy of Art and Science, as a way of reframing security debates around shared vulnerability and responsibility.

Building directly on this framing, Emma Slažanská, junior researcher for The Global Peace Offensive/WAAS, carried the Peace Offensive logic into practical terrain relevant for disarmament and parliamentary action. She explained that the Global Peace Offensive begins from a simple recognition: “If we rely solely on top-level politics to resolve conflicts, we may be waiting for a very long time.” Instead, the initiative focuses on what can be influenced immediately, that being trust-building, local relationships, symbolic gestures, and the creation of spaces where dialogue can re-emerge. Emma also outlined the GPO’s diagnostic approach, which seeks not only to identify sources of tension, but to recognize what is already working within conflict systems: where cooperation persists, who continues to speak across divides, and which small “pivot points” could be strengthened. Linking this directly to the webinar’s theme, she stressed that disarmament is not only a technical process, but also a confidence-building exercise that supports a broader shift toward shared security.

The responses reinforced the Peace Offensive logic. Alyn Ware (Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament) emphasized the role of parliamentarians, particularly younger ones, in moving beyond false binaries between deterrence and disarmament, and highlighted Assuring our Common Future[AW1]  and Human security and common security to build peace[AW2] , two resources for parliamentarians on this issue produced by IPU, PNND and the International Peace Bureau. Meanwhile, Jonathan Granoff pointed to historical examples such as middle-power initiatives and nuclear-weapon-free zones, where trust-building steps reshaped political dynamics and prepared the ground for more ambitious agreements. 

Overall, the exchange illustrated how the Peace Offensive can operate within parliamentary and disarmament spaces: by connecting hard security realities to human-centered analysis, and by showing how small, deliberate actions can help change the conditions in which peace and disarmament become possible.

 [AW1]The link is https://disarmamenthandbook.org/

 [AW2]The link is https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/toolkits/2024-09/human-security-and-common-security-build-peace

On 5 December 5 2025, at the premises of the Independent Union of Science and Higher Education in Zagreb, Croatia, a conference was held titled ‘The Role of Science in War and Peace: Dialogue, Respect and Dignity’ organized by the Croatian Pugwash and the World Academy of Art and Science, the Global Peace Offensive Center and the magazine Ideje.hr. The conference marked the 70th anniversary of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the 30th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Sir Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs, as well as the 110th anniversary of the birth of scientist and humanist Ivan Supek. The event was moderated by Rajka Rusan, a representative of Ideje.hr magazine, and was held under the high patronage of the President of the Republic of Croatia.

Zvonimir Šikić, President of Pugwash Croatia and World Academy of Art and Science Fellow, in his opening remarks emphasized the symbolic and moral significance of marking the anniversaries of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Russell–Einstein Manifesto, and the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Rotblat and Pugwash. He warned of the necessity of transforming historical memory into active responsibility in the face of contemporary global threats. He emphasized that the mission of Pugwash – opposing nuclear weapons and the misuse of science – is more important today than ever, and that the legacy of Einstein, Russell, Rotblat, and Supek’s work obliges us to wisdom and action.

In his presentation, academician Ivo Šlaus, Honorary President of the World Academy of Art and Science and Pugwash Croatia, warned of three key threats to humanity: artificial intelligence, nuclear weapons and climate change. Although the number of nuclear warheads has decreased, the risk of their use remains high due to geopolitical tensions. He emphasized that the climate crisis is a serious threat to the only habitat we have and that it requires urgent action. He called for a change in economic, political and personal paradigms so that we can face global challenges.

The Japanese ambassador to the Republic of Croatia, H. E. Mitsuhiro Wada presented Japan’s efforts in promoting nuclear disarmament and strengthening the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime. He emphasized the importance of simultaneously dealing with existing nuclear arsenals and promoting the philosophy of a ‘world without nuclear weapons’. He particularly highlighted the Hiroshima Action Plan, aimed at protecting from the accidental use of nuclear weapons, strengthening transparency, continuing to reduce the arsenal, and encouraging world leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He is convinced that nuclear disarmament can only be achieved if concrete measures and a long-term vision develop in parallel. He especially thanked the Croatian city of Biograd na Moru for actively remembering the victims of the nuclear bombing, through commemoration and the city’s membership in the world association “Mayors for Peace”, for which the mayor received a decoration from the Japanese emperor.

Students of the X. Gymnasium Ivan Supek presented the contribution of Ivan Supek Jr., about academician Ivan Supek and his role in the Pugwash movement. They recalled his role in establishing the Department for History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science, the Yugoslav branch of the Pugwash Conference, and the Institute for the Philosophy of Science and Peace. The contribution emphasized his involvement in stopping the development of the nuclear program in Yugoslavia and his many years of international activity. They also highlighted his temporary disillusionment with the movement in the late 1960s, but also his renewed engagement in the 1990s, when he strongly warned the international public about the JNA’s aggression in Croatia.

Boris Kožnjak from the Institute of Philosophy in Zagreb presented Ivan Supek’s anti-nuclear manifesto from 1944, in which Supek already warned about the dangers of nuclear energy and called for the creation of brotherhood and freedom among nations. He emphasized Supek’s exceptionally early recognition of the need for global disarmament and his ability to anticipate key themes of the later Russell-Einstein manifesto. He recalled Supek’s passionate and consistent fight against nuclear weapons and his criticism of the ideological and political misuse of science.

The Vice-President of the Croatian Nuclear Society Mario Matijević analyzed the role of nuclear energy as both a threat and a potential solution to climate change. He emphasized the advantages of nuclear energy, including emission reduction and technological development, but also risks such as proliferation and the need for rigorous safety mechanisms. He emphasized the importance of addressing the security and political factors that encourage nuclear armament in order to create the preconditions for the eventual abolition of nuclear weapons.

Vice President of the World Academy of Art and Science and President of the Global Peace Offensive Center Donato Kiniger-Passigli argued about the Russell-Einstein Manifesto and its value today. He emphasized that in a world where the international security system is frozen with immanent existential threats, military means do not help finding solutions. He warned of growing tensions, polarization and violence and emphasized the need for a bottom-up approach. Then he presented the goals and objectives of the Global Peace Offensive, and its approach to peace based on dialogue, relationship building and local initiatives, as an initiative with long term perspective and immediate action. He explained the methodology of ‘gradual reduction of tension’, aimed at problem solving and partnership between diverse actors, including scientists and civil society, with the aim of better understanding conflicts and finding adequate solutions. He mentioned also the Human Security for All Campaign of the World Academy of Art and Science. He reminded that along with science which represents knowledge, we must not forget art, which represents experience and internal knowledge, and can help us in peace activities and achieving peace in the world. 

Ambassador Božo Kovačević addressed the preconditions for achieving peace in the current armed conflicts, namely the de-escalation of the conflict in Ukraine so that it does not turn into a world war. He stated that the lack of diplomatic activities between the West and Russia is one of the reasons for the weakening of the nuclear deterrence system, but also for achieving peace in general. He compared the balance of power between the West and Russia and the West and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and stated that at that time, despite the different balance of power, diplomacy was not abandoned. He emphasized the need for renewed and intensive diplomatic efforts and pointed out that peace agreements must be in line with the UN Charter and accepted by all five permanent members of the Security Council.

Secretary General of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs Karen Hallberg presented the key conclusions from the 63rd Pugwash Conference held in Hiroshima in November 2025, which focused on nuclear disarmament and the importance of dialogue between opposing parties. She emphasized the Hiroshima Declaration’s call to replace confrontation with dialogue, the need to renew American-Russian engagement in arms control, and the importance of strengthening the concepts of joint and cooperative security. She also emphasized the responsibility of the scientific community to guide politicians with scientific knowledge, rationality and ethical principles, especially in the context of new destabilizing technologies. She reminded of the permanent relevance of the message: “Remember your humanity and forget the rest.”

The chair of Young Pugwash Croatia Dalia Alić reflected on the Pugwash conference in Hiroshima from the perspective of young professionals and emphasized the importance of involving young professionals in discussions about international security. She invited students, young people up to the age of 35, who are interested in the topics of peace, disarmament and security to join this branch.

Academician Vlatko Silobrčić referred to a kind of war against science, asserting that science loses significantly in the battle with certain interest groups, and that the public is deprived of numerous results of scientific research. He invited the audience to read the book ‘The War on Science’ by editor Lawrence M. Krauss, in which freedom of speech, freedom of research and the scientific process as such are problematized.

In conclusion, the Vice-President of Pugwash Croatia Ana Jerković, World Academy of Art and Science Associate Fellow, in her closing remarks emphasized how dialogue, respect and dignity – in science and in everyday life – are key values ​​for building peace. She emphasized the need to recognize our common humanity and the real and underlying motives of conflict. She also reminded of our responsibility to remember the victims of the past and, by learning from historical mistakes, to work towards creating a better and safer future. She called on everyone to personally contribute to peace in their community, guided by constructive thoughts, pure intentions and a spirit of understanding and humanism.

Stinson calls himself a Renaissance man. He doubts that happiness is an end in itself, praises relentless learning over pedigree, and considers Steve Jobs a brilliant yet egocentric “jerk.” Meet Walt Stinson—an unconventional thinker and a defining figure in U.S. consumer electronics.

From childhood he dreamed of electronics, yet he began with the humanities. He entered the consumer-tech world in the early 1970s, when the field was still taking shape.
In 1972 he launched ListenUp, which has spent five decades designing and deploying audio/video systems and smart-home solutions.

Stinson helped pull together a scattered industry—co-founding PARA, for years North America’s largest alliance of specialty audio makers and dealers—and pushing for the institutions the market needed to mature. In 2009, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) inducted him into the Consumer Technology Hall of Fame, an honor for leaders whose creativity, tenacity, and personal drive have advanced the industry and improved lives.

That year, his fellow inductees included Steve Jobs (Apple), Irwin M. Jacobs (Qualcomm), John Shalam (Voxx), and Richard E. Wiley, often called the “father of HDTV.” Today Stinson leads ProSource, a buying group whose members collectively generate about $6 billion in annual revenue.

ProSource’s ecosystem spans managed IT, cybersecurity, enterprise content management, print solutions, digital transformation, and office/industrial equipment. Beyond industry work, Stinson also engages with the U.N. Commission on Human Security.

Leadership begins with breadth

“My humanities background has been invaluable,” Stinson says. Strong speaking and writing gave him an edge—and so did deep technical fluency, rare among executives. “Leaders need expansive thinking. Aim to be a Renaissance person: rounded, curious, conversant across fields, able to weave scattered facts into a coherent view of reality.”

Art remakes us from the inside

Humanities don’t just polish style; they shape values. “Over-specialization shrinks you,” he cautions. He urges his engineers to widen their horizons—visit galleries, read novels, study philosophy. He sees how exposure to the arts slowly alters people’s inner lives—and how much more “art” there is in real-world business choices than outsiders assume. Apple is his favorite example of creativity at the core. At his own firm, they hang paintings on the walls and organize group trips to theatre and concerts.

Schooling can be informal—learning cannot

“Some of the greatest business minds I’ve met taught themselves,” Stinson notes. One acquaintance finished only eight years of school, never attended college, yet became a superb writer and thinker—eventually invited to teach at Yale, the first fellow there without a high-school diploma. “Formal credentials aren’t essential. Serious, continuous learning is. The more you learn, the more you see the size of what you don’t know—and even small steps forward feel thrilling.”

Trust life’s mystery—and grow on all planes

Good teachers can light the fuse, but self-propelled learning must follow. “You can’t lead if learning isn’t a joy,” he says. Real fulfillment also asks for spiritual depth: “Develop mind, body, and spirit—or you cap your potential. If you want to live like a Renaissance person, keep that wholeness in view.”

Happiness is a waypoint, not the destination

“I’ve never treated happiness as my purpose,” Stinson explains. “It’s a signal of whether you’re living well. If you’re unhappy, something’s off.” His aim is ceaseless growth, knowing it can never be fully ‘completed.’ Each day he asks: What did I do to develop? What did I learn about myself—about others? “Lives are like instruments—you can practice until they sing, or settle for noise.”

Competition as a forge

Business, to Stinson, is a training ground. It forces you to solve problems, understand people, communicate clearly, and keep improving. The market gives fast, unblinking feedback—painful at times, but priceless for growth.

Money, success—and difficult personalities

“Money matters—ignore it and you fail,” he says. “But if you chase only money, people won’t follow you or buy from you.” He admits that abrasive personalities can still win: “A self-centered ‘jerk’ can succeed by choosing the right strategy.” He cites Steve Jobs—visionary, obsessive about technology that improved lives, and by many accounts hard on people. “As for me, I won’t pursue success by harming others.”

The art of living is deliberate choice

Jobs also modeled intentionality. “Every decision was on purpose,” Stinson observes. Imitating someone else works only so far; eventually you must choose your own path. There’s rarely a single ‘correct’ option—only choices and their consequences. “When you decide consciously, you become the author of your life’s masterpiece.”

Taming the mind

Conscious choice requires a trained mind. “An undisciplined mind is a wild dog,” he says. “Your task is to domesticate it.” He recalls mentor Sidney Harman—the Newsweek owner and audacious innovator—telling him that 95% of people simply drift. Stinson once thought that an exaggeration; with time, he came to agree. “Mastery starts by noticing how many choices we make—and owning each one.”

On Ukraine and the politics of sanctions

Reflecting on U.S. politics, Stinson notes how some populists leveraged anxiety over energy prices to argue against aiding Ukraine—one ripple effect of sanctions. He worries that, if such figures gain power, they could block military support. Similar currents, he says, exist beyond America, where leaders capitalize on price hikes linked to anti-Russian measures.

In his view, sanctions seldom turn populations against their rulers; they often rally around them. For sanctions to bite, he argues, they must be near-universal. As long as major markets—such as India or China—buy Russian energy, he believes the economic pressure will be limited. Only global alignment would deliver decisive impact.

Enormous charitable gifts can coexist with questionable motives. If the twenty-first century is to meet its greatest tests, education must be reimagined—so it loosens the grip of stereotype and prepares people to act with wisdom.

These themes—and many others—run through my conversation with Ralph Wolff, founder and president of the Quality Assurance Commons, longtime accreditation leader, Trustee of the World Academy of Art and Science, and international advisor on educational quality.

Wolff’s path began in law. A Tufts University honors graduate in history, he later earned his J.D. at George Washington University’s National Law Center and, in 1976, joined the University of Dayton as a law professor. He is admitted to the Washington State Bar and helped launch the Antioch School of Law (now the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law), the first of its kind to train lawyers for public-interest practice serving underserved communities.

Over decades, Wolff’s work shifted toward transforming education itself. He has served with the International Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (Dubai), the Lumina Foundation, and the advisory board of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (U.S.). He sits on the boards of Africa International University (Kenya) and Palo Alto University. From 1996 to August 2013, he led the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC) as president and previously served as dean of Antioch University’s Graduate School of Education. In 2008, he received the Virginia B. Smith Award for innovative contributions to educational quality. He has co-authored books on pedagogy and written widely on accreditation, quality assurance, distance learning, and the civic role of libraries.

Education must not be a luxury for the affluent

“My journey wasn’t linear,” Wolff reflects. “Mentors shaped me at turning points.” After Tufts, he still felt unmoored and continued on to law school, where a professor running a legal-aid organization changed his outlook. “It opened my eyes: education should be built to serve more than the elite.” When he entered accreditation work, he saw a chance to push universities toward innovation and access.

Spiritual growth through relationships

Wolff’s inner life has long guided his outer work. He studied Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and has engaged seriously with Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu traditions. “In my professional life,” he says, “I try to meet people at a deeper level.” Some choose retreat in spiritual communities; others build families and careers in the world. “For me, the richest spiritual learning has come through relationships. It isn’t the easiest path, but it is the most authentic for me.”

The unseen—and an inner discipline

Wolff believes human flourishing begins with recognizing that reality is more than what our senses register. “The unmanifest can be more powerful than the visible,” he says. People who grasp this—and live by it—exercise a different kind of influence. With climate change, rising authoritarianism, and other crises, he cultivates an inner practice to remain hopeful and oriented toward the good.

Talent grows from will and curiosity—not pedigree

Drawing on Carol Dweck’s Mindset, Wolff emphasizes that the “growth mindset” outperforms a “fixed” one. “Students at elite institutions can fall into the trap of thinking the name of their school makes them superior,” he notes. “But curiosity, persistence, and personal drive—not prestige—fuel real development. Admission to Harvard doesn’t confer originality.” His egalitarian view: learning never stops, and youthful accolades don’t guarantee lifelong integrity or contribution.

Breaking the spell of status

“Some of the most insightful people I’ve met never went to university,” Wolff says. Yet society still confers automatic respect on elite credentials or great wealth. He urges a reset: philanthropic scale doesn’t necessarily signal exemplary values, and celebrated innovators can be ethically inconsistent. (He offers examples to illustrate the point.) What matters is a new mental habit—remaining transformable at any stage of life.

A family lesson in growth

Wolff recalls a young entrepreneur whose father asked daily at dinner: “What idea arrived today? Is it big enough? Can you scale it?”—a household ritual that normalized growth. Wolff’s own father fled Germany in 1936 as antisemitism intensified. Without a college degree and wary of self-promotion, he still carved out success in a new country through resolve and steady purpose—another living model of the growth mindset.

Building environments where people can develop

Not everyone starts with the confidence to take a first step. “Mentoring and supportive communities matter,” Wolff says. He points to U.S. organizations that help high-school students discover purpose. Formal education is one tool among many, and inspired teachers often spearhead change—until the system pressures them to conform. “You can begin with great zeal, but after years of being told your approach is wrong, sustaining that zeal is hard. We must protect and reward creative educators.”

Learning as a generative process

Because knowledge of ourselves and the world evolves so quickly, Wolff argues for a “generative” model of learning. Textbooks can be outdated the day they arrive. The pandemic made this visible: guidance on vaccines and masks shifted as evidence changed. Tools evolve just as fast—from slide rules to calculators to smartphones—so “frozen” curricula age rapidly. Learners must be trained to unlearn and relearn continuously.

Teach values alongside knowledge

Technical mastery alone does not ensure ethical judgment. A scientist exploring nuclear energy, Wolff warns, must also weigh societal impact—or we risk repeating the errors that birthed the atomic bomb. Likewise, professional excellence can coexist with abusive behavior if values are never taught. Education should form people who ask: Who benefits from my work? Does it serve the many—or a privileged few at others’ expense?

A renewed vision for education

Values are the lodestar; ethics is their application. While many derive values from religion, no tradition holds a monopoly on truth. Mature education, Wolff says, raises learners to a higher plane of shared human concerns—climate change, nuclear risk, extinction, war, poverty—and, at the same time, fosters respect for others’ value frameworks. The mission of tomorrow’s schools must therefore be twofold: cultivate universal values and teach the civic art of honoring difference.

Esteemed colleagues and respected members of the academic community,

This is a call for action! We stand at a critical juncture in our shared history, where escalating political polarization, violence, and a marked disregard for universal human dignity challenge the very fabric of international relations. This present climate necessitates not only a re-evaluation of our strategies for conflict prevention and resolution but also underscores the unique positioning of the academic community to lead in this essential endeavour.

The urgency of this call is amplified by the scale of current global crises. Millions are refugees, displaced and in need of assistance. International institutions deputed to deliver that much needed humanitarian aid or health care, questioned for their efficiency or impartiality, are put out of business or will survive with budgets and operational mandates drastically reduced. The multilateral system and the international community are clearly paralyzed, and human rights principles are ignored by the most powerful. In a diffused power landscape, global diplomacy increasingly relies on diverse actors shaping international relations and policy.

We are entering unchartered waters, and the international system is very fragmented. The escalating geopolitical tensions—point to a systemic failure of existing peace-making and peacebuilding mechanisms and the critical need for innovative solutions based on human relations and the power of people.

Indeed, there are certain things that only governments can do: negotiating binding agreements; but there are other things only citizens can do: change human relations. This observation by Harold Saunders, a master of shuttle diplomacy instrumental in the Camp David Accords, underscores the pivotal role of social dynamics in achieving non-violent conflict resolution, fostering positive peace. The inherent connection between human security, in all its multifaceted dimensions, and core societal values is undeniable.

The term human security is the product of a correlation between human on one hand (meaning individuals, people) and security (meaning basic needs, opportunities, health and equity). But this syllogism also indicates that in its absence there is fear, growing insecurity, an enemy that no wall can contain. The fear of the unknown: of a virus, of drought, hunger, poverty, hazards, effects of globalization, technology, existential threats like nuclear weapons or climate change, intended and unintended consequences of war, in so many places.

Today’s global conflict landscape is increasingly complex, shaped by non-state actors like NGOs, multinational corporations, private military and security companies, and terrorist organizations active in all fields, including our ecosystem and the cyberspace. Their influence complicates the strategic environment, demanding comprehensive analysis and tailored conflict resolution strategies.

The current multipolar world features power centres beyond traditional states—corporations and oligarchs, including tech giants—challenging established geopolitical strategies. Traditional peacebuilding approaches, often relying on oversimplified societal views, are insufficient. Sustainable peace requires collective efforts; peace must be cultivated organically, focusing on societal contexts, and avoiding the illusion that external interventions (firefighters brigades spraying dust) can instantly create peace.

This inadequacy of current approaches stems, in part, from the perils of misperception, which consistently undermine peace efforts. Misunderstandings about intentions and perceptions of reality frequently lead to serious errors, especially among opponents with different cultural values. And history is full of illustrious examples of how misjudgements lead to devastating consequences. Some examples:

The Iranian Revolution of 1979, when western powers misread the nature of the uprising, failing to recognize the deep-seated grievances of the Iranian people. This misjudgement resulted in significant and lasting geopolitical repercussions.

The disastrous consequences of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, based on an inaccurate assessment of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction capabilities. Whether intentional or not, the conflict continues to reverberate through global affairs to this day.

The tragic failures of the UN in the former Yugoslavia, in the early 90s, which ultimately paved the way for NATO’s bombing and peace enforcement under its flag, exemplifies further the perils of misconceptions and dubious mandates.

Somalia, Rwanda, Libya and even Syria are other examples of misread, misinterpreted signals that resulted in tragic downturns and failed expeditions by the international community.

Presently, the existing geopolitical landscape is fraught with tension. In Europe, heightened tensions are due to the ongoing war in Ukraine but also to military buildup straining US-European relations over NATO spending and troops deployment; there are ethnic tensions in the Balkans (particularly in Kosovo, with over 400 recent incidents reported); military activity in the Black Sea threatening regional stability; ongoing tensions in Georgia related to its post electoral issues with Russia; and tension under the ashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh. All of them contribute to a climate of instability and underscore the urgent need for conflict prevention strategies, tension reduction and confidence building measures.

The persistent elusiveness of peace should not justify inaction or a neglect of urgent human security challenges. The current crises—born from tensions simmering over two decades—underline the inadequacies of traditional political approaches to sustaining peace, exacerbated by political polarization. Recognizing that each party’s perceptions create distinct realities is essential. Failing to account for these differing perspectives leads to misjudging the strategic environment and results in misguided efforts.

A deep understanding of local, national, international contexts is essential for successful peacebuilding. The roots of conflict are complex, often bound up with inequalities, grievances, inter-group tensions, ethnic disparities, and poverty. Addressing these issues demands rigorous academic research and informed dialogue among all stakeholders.

It is with this understanding that I now wish to turn attention to the central focus of my presentation: the new Global Peace Offensive. An initiative that is moving its first steps quite rapidly: less than a year ago I revisited the original Peace Offensive of the 60s devised by Charles Osgood that inspired the major breakthroughs of Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis and, much later, the Camp David Accords brokered by President Carter. I presented a proposal to the General Assembly of the World Academy of Art and Science, which subsequently adopted the Global Peace Offensive principles, paving the way for a renewed commitment to peace efforts.

Later, the initiative was endorsed by the Black Sea University Network – BSUN at the rectors’ level and, last October, the European Academy of Science and Art (EASA) and the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) issued a joint vision statement to support the Global Peace Offensive. A common agenda is now being devised with the Club of Rome. In the meantime, the proposal has been presented to the summit of the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (with prospects to develop a joint curriculum) and to the Global Peace Education Network in Paris.

The Global Peace Offensive is intrinsically a proactive methodology fostering dialogue and promoting peace within civil society. This effort will be led by scholars and researchers to leverage technological innovations, identify emerging trends, and anticipate developments influencing conflict dynamics. The approach is crucial for developing effective conflict prevention strategies and promoting peace education. It is essential to use a multidisciplinary methodology as tensions derive from a multiplicity of factors, causes and effects that could be represented by an epidemic outburst, migratory patterns, corruption, infrastructure deficits, extreme violence, climate change. This requires contributions from different expertise with one single humanist entry point.

The initiative intends to strongly promote cross-cultural understanding, particularly among younger generations, to cultivate peaceful coexistence—a crucial step toward lasting peace. We aim to identify, create, and project peacebuilding opportunities, facilitate dialogue among conflicting parties, and improve analysis, decision making and narratives through innovative conflict resolution strategies.

Furthermore, central to the Peace Offensive is the understanding that sustainable peace cannot be imposed from the outside. Rather, it arises from within communities taking ownership of the peace process. Ultimately, solutions that are not truly shared by the local communities are not likely to be taken up and succeed. Therefore, we are committed to developing and implementing innovative educational programs, also utilizing the potential of artificial intelligence, to provide communities with the tools and knowledge they need to actively pursue and define their own vision of peace.

Advancing literacy, science, and education can help bridge divides and orient people in the vast information landscape. AI can enhance dialogue and help predict and avert crises through analysis of trends and collaborative interventions.

Developed as a collaboration with the WAAS and the EASA, our Global Peace Offensive embarks on a three-pronged / three pillars strategy designed to deliver sustainable solutions:
 

1. Localized, Strategic, De-escalation: This is confidence building at the grassroots level with people- to-people initiatives and a problem-solving approach. We advocate for localized initiatives that employ cultural, scientific, economic, educational, and environmental diplomacy. The academic community is well positioned to investigate and understand what the drivers of peace at the local community level are; which are the spoilers and inhibitors of peace; what are the elements that encourage local consent and legitimacy according to local and international norms. Local identities, traditions religions are all factors that determine positive peace as eventually the resumption of conflict.
2. Ownership and Trust-Building: Essential to lasting peace is prioritizing the voices of all stakeholders, assessing their needs, and promoting cultural exchanges. Through collaborative partnerships, we can enhance cooperation towards achieving human security and the Sustainable Development Goals. This entails bottom-up rather than merely top-down empowerment. It is more than just participation of local institutions and socio-economic actors and constituents. representation. It is the meso-level that can generate mutual support, empathy and the ability to transform reality. Forging relations through business, trade, and the arts belongs here. Like novel Marco Polo, we need to give new impetus to discoveries that bring people together.

2. Enhanced Dialogue: Using diplomacy, education, and technology (including artificial intelligence) to influence political decisions and peace efforts. Innovation plays a critical role for long-term solutions. Achieving lasting peace necessitates iterative processes of dialogue, employing diverse diplomatic approaches (cultural, scientific, educational, and traditional). We will pursue incremental, sustainable solutions by engaging political, economic, and media systems, addressing root causes of conflict. AI and social networks will enhance educational programs, informing policy and promoting peace discourse, while carefully considering ethical implications and technological limitations. The “do no harm” principle needs to be observers at all levels of this pillar of activities that span across the local, national, regional and international level. This is the area of peace-centred education.

These three pillars or parallel tracks correspond to three baskets of activities that can take place simultaneously or at different intervals according to the specific context in which we will operate, capacities and effective participation. One does not exclude the other one as actually thy reinforce one another. In our diagnostics, we should look at context specific entry points and the long-term evolution of crises (Tolstoy in War and Peace wrote that time and patience are the best warriors).

Our initiative enhances hybrid peace processes by combining traditional diplomatic methods with public dialogue, innovative technology, and science diplomacy to foster local consent and adhere to international standards. As an example, in Timor Leste in 2008, addressing youth grievances rather than just immediate security issues effectively reduced gang violence.

Successful hybrid peace processes require integrating local and international considerations. In Cyprus, peace efforts involve not only ethnic reconciliation and EU integration but also institutional reform, economic opportunities, and re-evaluating boundaries and sovereignty due to entrenched communal identities. Similarly, peace in the Middle East extends beyond the two-state solution, encompassing cross-territory reconciliation and potential economic cooperation.

Local peace benefits also heavily rely on addressing historical grievances within the framework of customary rules, identities, rights, dignity, aspirations, and international norms.
In my mind, we should avoid two fundamental mistakes which often mislead us in our efforts to comprehend the evolution of many political, economic, societal, environmental and security crisis: one being the oversimplification of the analysis that relies on predetermined theories of change with variables hardly accounted for; the second being the underestimation of the human component and its complex nature that cannot be explored merely in terms of parameters such as wealth, economic growth or ideological affiliation.

A problem-focused and context specific approach is a better lens for our investigation.

As agents of peace, we should increasingly concentrate on the positive side of the story. Even in the darkest pictures of the most intractable conflicts there is a dim light somewhere. That is the objective in sight. It’s not unusual that a positive discourse or project between rival communities or even governments can help overcoming stalled peace processes or remove negotiations’ deadlocks. Media systems can support in this endeavour.

The Peace Offensive paradigm has the potential to help strengthen confidence building by prioritizing prevention and supporting ongoing peace-building interventions.

In sum, what are the benefits of our approach? Cultural and science diplomacy bring significant benefits to our global community, especially through peace-centred education. By building public perception and engagement, we can strengthen viable science diplomacy solutions. The academic role is crucial in promoting mutual respect for diverse perspectives and scientific expertise, along with public outreach to educate communities on the values of international cooperation and multilateralism. Engaging the public effectively helps to demystify scientific concepts and garner support. Additionally, cultural exchanges promote understanding, and support research capacities in all countries fostering global collaboration. Ultimately, strengthening international research networks creates opportunities for shared knowledge and collaborative solutions to global challenges.

In conclusion, the Global Peace Offensive (a whole of the society approach) represents an urgent, I believe, innovative framework to sustain peace. Its emphasis on grassroots engagement, trust-building, and enhanced dialogue positions the academic community as a pivotal contributor in this effort, filling a void at international level.

By merging traditional methodologies with modern technologies and community engagement, models like the Peace Offensive aim to foster inclusive, enduring outcomes. It is also a way to champion a rules and knowledge-based renaissance of international relations.

In an era characterized by rapid communication and interdependence among diverse power centres, mutual understanding becomes crucial. In our call to the academic community, WAAS and EASA urge scholars, researchers, and practitioners alike to join forces in the research, development, and implementation of this initiative. As we try to bring opposing sides together (direct talks are always the preferable format to advance peace), our role will be to serve primarily as facilitators, convenors or active observers in these processes.

A coalition of civil society networks supporting local peace processes through cultural and scientific quiet diplomacy is essential for realizing this vision.

The time for a concerted, knowledge-driven peace effort… is now.

The awards recognize exceptional leaders in key industries for their innovations and bold actions in alignment with our values of empowerment, opportunity,innovation, lifelong learning, compassion, integrity, and sustainability. “Inclusive leadership means recognizing the potential in people who don’t necessarily fit your preconceived notions,” says Stinson.

Stinson has spent over 50 years building a legacy of innovation in the consumer electronics and home entertainment industry, shaping the way people experience music, film, and technology in their homes. He was inducted into the Consumer Technology Hall of Fame, class of 2009.  

His lifelong fascination with technology began at age 10, sparked by the enigma of shortwave radio signals. This early passion, combined with a strong entrepreneurial drive, led him to establish ListenUp in Denver at 24, after carefully selecting the market from a dozen contenders. By the mid-1980s, his work extended beyond retail; he managed the sound, live broadcasts, and recordings for over a thousand rock ‘n’ roll concerts, featuring numerous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

He also committed to personal and professional growth, practicing Zazen and learning from seasoned mentors. His leadership in the industry included co-founding PARA, a trade association, and spearheading the adoption of digital audio in North America. These contributions were recognized with his induction into the Consumer Technology Hall of Fame in 2009, alongside luminaries like Steve Jobs and Irwin Jacobs. More recently, he concluded his tenure as Chairman of ProSource, a 500-company trade association focused on vocational education.

Accepting the award in Denver, Stinson had this to say:

“I’m honored to receive this recognition—and to stand among so many who share my belief that leadership is not a title, but a grand responsibility.

At the core of my work today is a simple but powerful idea: to measure security at the individual level. That’s the promise of Human Security for All—a United Nations initiative to frame security in human terms: food, health, education, the environment, and opportunity. The call for Human security challenges us to think not only in terms of technological innovation, but in terms of impact.

The World Academy of Art and Science—where I serve as trustee— is the implementing partner. It was founded by visionaries who understood that humanity’s greatest challenges cannot be solved in silos. They called for integrated thinking across disciplines, cultures, and generations. Today, that mission is more urgent than ever. Artificial intelligence now offers the possibility to scale that vision—facilitating collaboration and knowledge-sharing across domains. The Academy and its partners are working to accelerate that promise.

If you’re a young person here tonight, I invite you to see yourself not just as a student or future leader, but as a builder—of systems that uplift people.

And to those already leading: I challenge you to think not only in terms of innovation, but in terms of impact. Let us choose to lead not from unconscious habit, but from a conscious vision of the world we have the power to build—together.

A world defined by freedom from fear, freedom from want, and freedom from indignity.”