New: Contribution to the French edition
I had the honor to contribute a chapter to the French version of Europe and the Emerging New Global Order: Rethinking Europe’s Security Framework, focusing on water as critical infrastructure within Europe’s security landscape. The piece links water security to Europe’s resilience agenda and complements my ongoing work on The Battle for Water.
Bringing together twenty-one experts, the volume argues for a proactive, confident, and resilient Europe and offers concrete proposals across defense, cyber resilience, climate risk, and the protection of vital systems. Contributors include Ambassador Dr. Christoph Heusgen (Chair, Munich Security Conference), Ambassador Prof. Dr. Heinrich Kreft (President, Diplomatic Council), Dr. Horst Walther (CEO, SIG; Diplomatic Council Commissioner for UN Affairs), and Jochen M. Richter (Chair, Diplomatic Council Global Security Forum), among others. The book is published in English by Diplomatic Council e.V.; the paperback runs 526 pages and carries ISBN- 978-3986741358, with publication dated 9 January 2025.
Presentation at the French Senate
The Diplomatic Council delegation had the privilege of presentingthe French edition of Europe and the Emerging New Global Order: Rethinking Europe’s Security Framework at the French Senate to Mme Hélène Conway-Mouret, Senator for French citizens abroad and Vice-President of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and the Armed Forces.
We discussed the book’s core themes, defense, cyber resilience, climate risk, and the protection of critical infrastructure, and explored how its proposals can translate into practical cooperation.
Our delegation included Ambassador Prof. Dr. Heinrich Kreft (President of the Diplomatic Council; former German Ambassador to Luxembourg), Jochen M. Richter (Chair, Diplomatic Council Global Security Forum), Maxime Boyer (Deputy Mayor of Toulouse), and myself.
The Battle for Water — The Challenge of the 21st Century
As a journalist–author and keynote speaker, my work serves the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. I am a member of the Diplomatic Council, an NGO in Consultative Status at the United Nations. My guiding motto is simple and demanding: “Active journalism— from words to action.” It shapes a practice that turns research and analysis into concrete, lasting effects.
In this spirit, my initiative #SDGAction50561, developed with the United Nations Partnerships for the SDGs platform (UN DESA), opens debate and co-creates practical solutions. My book, The Battle for Water, connects global knowledge to operational pathways for safeguarding our shared good: water.
The book does not stop at diagnosis. It offers solutions you can put to work now. Households, municipalities, and businesses will find water-saving methods, monitoring tools, phased action plans, and everyday practices that turn strategy into observable results.
Across Europe, I deliver keynotes, speaking with passion and precision, to share findings from my reporting and collaborations and to open new avenues for action tailored to public decision-makers, companies, researchers, and civil-society leaders. I am currently on tour in France (notably Pau and Bordeaux), in Germany (Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg), and in the Netherlands (Gouda), as well as in other European countries, with engagements designed to fit each audience and sector.
The Battle for Water is available worldwide from major booksellers, including Amazon and Waterstones. The paperback (338 pages) was published by Diplomatic Council e.V. on 15 March 2023, ISBN 978-3986740719. If you would like a talk aligned with your priorities and audience, please get in touch so we can define the focus, format, and outcomes together: Then move from words to action.
United Nations · Book Presentation · World Water Day
The session was moderated by Mrs. Hang Nguyen, Co-Founder and Secretary-General of the Diplomatic Council, with Claude Piel, author of The Battle for Water — The Challenge of the 21st Century, as the featured speaker. A concise video opened the event, followed by a live, moderated dialogue and Q&A designed to catalyze cross-sector collaboration.
The presentation examined how water security underpins peace, prosperity, and stability as rising demand and accelerating climate impacts strain freshwater resources, threaten food systems and economies, and test social cohesion. It highlighted the need for transparent, data-driven allocation across borders, resilient infrastructure that cuts losses and withstands extremes, and groundwater stewardship supported by early-warning systems. It also underscored the role of water diplomacy to prevent tensions from escalating into conflict, and financing mechanisms that scale successful local initiatives.
The video served only as an introduction; the true value was the exchange with the audience. A recording of the UN presentation is available on my Video page.
Co-author of Thinking 5.0
As one of eight co-authors, each a member of the Diplomatic Council, an NGO in Consultative Status at the United Nations, I help trace the forces shaping our future to 2030 and beyond.
Thinking 5.0 unfolds as a lively conversation rather than a catalogue: lessons drawn from the pandemic flow into reflections on U.S.–China rivalry and the specter of great-power conflict; the power and limits of the United Nations meet the urgency of climate risk and the possibility of bio-catastrophe; the return of nuclear energy is weighed alongside digital disruption, cyber warfare, and humanity’s renewed reach for space.
We explore gene editing’s promise and peril, the tension between privacy and surveillance, and the evolving balance of security and freedom. Economic orthodoxies come under scrutiny as we question the mantra of eternal growth, consider why interim managers may emerge as leaders of tomorrow, and follow money’s transformation from cash to crypto, before asking, finally, what course Europe must set to remain resilient.
Throughout, our shared aim is not to prescribe answers but to spark thinking. As Andreas Dripke, Hang Nguyen, Claude Piel, Detlef Schmuck, Dr. Harald Schönfeld, Stephanie Stoerk, Helmut von Siedmogrodzki, and Dr. Horst Walther write together, we invite readers to examine, connect, and question, so that insight becomes action. The German edition is available on Amazon (ISBN: 978-3947818365).
Co-author of Thinking 4.0 – A World in Transition
As a member of the Diplomatic Council, an NGO in Consultative Status at the United Nations, I bring a UN-focused perspective to Thinking 4.0 – The World in Transition. My contribution joins a collective inquiry into how Europe and the wider world can navigate transformation with responsibility and foresight.
The book reads like a conversation, not a catalogue: debates on digitalisation, smart cities, AI and virtual reality flow into reflections on data protection, Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things; economic change meets questions of human rights, sustainability and corporate responsibility; and the challenges of cyber risk, disinformation and financial integrity are weighed against the enduring quest for justice, peace and a rules-based international order. Throughout, we move beyond diagnosis to concrete proposals, codes for public communication in the age of “fake news,” fairer financial architectures, and a Global Digital Agenda 2030, so that analysis becomes action.
This UN-anchored lens is shared and sharpened by distinguished co-authors. Ambassador Buddhi K. Athauda, former Sri Lankan ambassador in The Hague and later to France with accreditation to UNESCO and Monaco, brings a multilateral practitioner’s view that bridges diplomacy, investment and technology. Thi Thai Hang Nguyen, Co-Founder and Secretary-General of the Diplomatic Council, provides the connective tissue of the project, linking diplomacy, business and civil society so that ideas travel from debate to implementation. Andreas Dripke, Global/Executive Chairman of the Diplomatic Council and a former IDC editor, helps shape the book’s voice, marrying expert analysis with clear, action-ready insight.
Thinking 4.0 was published by DC Publishing in June 2018 and is available in German (ISBN: 978-3947818006).
