Why Chaotic 2026 finally proves the case for Sound Government
"...If politics does not operate "non sibi sed omnibus", it is not politics (an honourable vocation), it is state capture!..."
Omodele Jones
What is Enterprise Risk Management (ERM)?
ERM is about improving your chances of achieving your long-term goals, through better decision-making that intelligently takes account of the uncertainties of the world. This can operate at all levels: from your home, to your business, your government, the United Nations and the Global Technological and Environmental Crises.
The Ayatollah’s failed PS-ERM?
Public sector ERM (PS-ERM) is your government taking steps to improve the chances of delivering on your national strategic ambitions, again through better decision-making that smartly manages the uncertainties that impact such collective goals.
Arguably, the Late Ayatollah Khamenei fell into an obvious trap, when he allowed his emotion to override reason – leading to Iran’s first direct assault on Israxl with missiles. This ancient writer shook his head with deep sadness at that time. Today’s calamitous war was inevitable from that error of ego.
Africa’s Gift to a Crazed World?
Flashback to 2008: a younger man was analysing global research literature on the contribution of culture to national competitiveness (and ultimately to national prosperity). After years of experience in the Sub-Sahara African context, he wanted to clarify why some countries fail and others succeed. He was testing a hypothesis in a particular West African country of which he had deep experience. From time to time, he would discuss his conceptual framework with his professor at a Scottish business school.
Then the financial sh@t hit the proverbial fan. Lehman Brothers failed and capitalism was on its knees begging for a bail-out from poorer taxpayers!
Now, for years, the younger man had observed the trajectory of the global financial markets. He was fairly sure that their disconnect from economic fundamentals was unsustainable. A reckoning was a matter of when, not if!
However, as the causes of the 2008 financial crisis exploded on global media, he was astonished. His hypothesis designed for the African context was providing clear explanatory power on the Northern financial tsunami! He sent a note to his Scottish Professor along the lines of “Welcome to Africa’s World!”
The 4Cs: Countries and Companies do not Compete, Cultures Do!
So, a few years later, one of the younger man’s research conclusions was his “4Cs” © ®. This hypothesised that entities that “intelligently” manage uncertainty to deliver strategic goals were marked not by process, but by the nature of their “dominant culture”. The imperial habits of the few (or not so few) that control values, attitudes, beliefs and decision-making practices in the entity.
At any one time, there are multiple sub-cultures fighting for primacy. Some of them promote habits that are rationally inconsistent with the declared strategic goals of the entity. If these counter-productive groups “rule the roost”, the entity is “dead in the water”!
A prime tool of strategic governance should be to monitor sub-cultures and to deter the rise of counter-productive alliances to dominance. This is easier said than done! But, the bottom line is that entity “vaccinations” should be proactive – an instrument of governance policy. Hardin's "mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon" to prevent the emergence of disastrous "everyone-loses prisoners' dilemmas". Leaving it to chance would be foolhardy, as the chaos in today’s world has painfully demonstrated!
This applies from the Boardroom to the Presidential Palace!
At the national level, there have been attempts to vaccinate the state against infection by rogue actors. Some are old and -arguably – no longer respected by contemporary generations (to their great cost). Others are newer, if controversial in their application. The latter camp includes Iran’s Council of Guardians, whose role is to vet elections, legislation and overall compliance with Islamic law. This ancient man dislikes theocracy of any type! However, the general principle of a check on the entry of actors who have goals inimical to the “generally agreed” strategic priorities of the state makes sense within the framework of PS-ERM.
Older systems include the UK’s House of Lords which, it could be said, has lost its effectiveness in the contemporary era. Also, the US system of checks and balances on the Presidency, which is now largely symbolic and of little, if any, practical value in strategic governance.
Why is PS-ERM relevant to you?
Well, in his time, this older man has come across quite a few individuals who have blithely stated that government is – at best – a nuisance that is best ignored. This thesis is based on the idea that individuals and non-state organisations can thrive without “government interference” and may be better off without it.
Unfortunately, if government were dis-invented, it would have to be created in some new form. For instance, providing assurance of decent education for everyone in a cohesive society cannot be done alone or by a few, without government. Same with other public infrastructure and regulatory institutions.
In our era of an environmental emergency, the need for collective action has even gone beyond the individual state and is now demanding a global response to a common terminal threat. The rise of quasi-monopolistic technology firms and artificial intelligence requires serious global regulation if a privatised global police state is to be averted.
In the United Kingdom, after the 2016 Brexit referendum, non-state actors found that a poorly imagined state policy could result in significant disruptions to private business and individual interests. In March 2026, non-state actors the world over are reeling from the savage after-effects of the war imposed on Iran a month earlier.
Government is essential and cannot be ignored! The problem is how to re-design it to make it responsible, accountable and a servant of the common good of humanity and the natural environment.
Creating Responsible Governance
Government matters! Effective management of its risks is mission-critical for all citizens.
Smart countries will intelligently vaccinate against access to power by rogue actors. They will proactively educate society and leaders in principles of sound governance that sustainably operates non sibi sed omnibus – not (only) for self, but for everyone! They will have timely mechanisms to surgically remove infections that jump over the vaccination hurdle.
Twenty years ago, as the younger man was doing his governance research, the emerging concern was about “State Capture” as made infamous by the South African experience of rogue elements at the helm of the state. It was evident that State Capture was spreading across the North and South like wildfire! If politics does not operate "non sibi sed omnibus", it is not politics (an honourable vocation), it is state capture!
Twenty years later, the older man recently commented on a State Capture forum that “State Capture is yesterday’s problem, we are decisively in the era of Global Capture”.
As soon as we can get it reasonably effective, we need to transform from PS-ERM to serious G-ERM: Global Enterprise Risk Management of humanity’s strategic best interests. That, after all, is the basis for the existence of the United Nations. All states must be equal under international law.
Impossible? Then weep…!
