We're kicking off the year with two great minds discussing the State of the World as Asia's global importance continues to grow, Europe seems somewhat lost, and the U.S. is preparing for the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

Listen to Asia Society President & CEO Kyung-wha Kang and economic historian Adam Tooze, professor at Columbia University in New York. Their conversation was recorded at STATE OF ASIA, the flagship conference hosted by Asia Society Switzerland last November, in Zurich.

More information on the conference, the speakers, plus videos and summaries, are available on our website.

Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.

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STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland.
Season 8, episode 1 - Published: January 7, 2025
Host/Editor: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

The Gen A Young Leadership Program is a key initiative of Asia Society Switzerland. It brings together a group of around 25 vetted young professionals and advance students to participate in a year of deepening their Asia knowledge and to provide them with the tools to interpret developments in Asia and identify opportunities for successful collaboration. Gen A enables the next generation of leaders to engage with Asia at eye level and builds a community of young Asia-curious people in Switzerland.

Recently, our 2024 cohort graduated from the Gen A program, joining a community that has now grown to well over a hundred alumni. At the graduation ceremony for the Gen A 2024 fellows, Bettina Schaller, Head of Group Public Affairs of The Adecco Group and President of the World Employment Confederation, spoke with the graduates about skills young professionals at the start of their careers need in a changing world.

A world, Bettina says, that with 2024 has gone through a huge number of disruptions on many different levels and with countries the world over now being led by new governments who will shape what the world will look like in the immediate future. What does this mean for the grads and the demand for their skills? Where does Asia and Asia Competence fit into this? And what’s the one thing still no one has found the full answer to?

We are now accepting applications for the 2025 iteration of Gen A. All information is on our website. Apply before January 12, 2025.

Asia Society Switzerland is deeply grateful for the generous support of the Gen A – Young Leadership Program by the Ernst Göhner Stiftung, the Hirschmann Stiftung, Nicolas Oltramare and IMP AG.

STATE OF ASIA brings you engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all.

Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.

—
STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland.
Season 7, Bonus Episode 3 - Published: December 16, 2024
Host, Editor/producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland

Deepti Kapoor's Age of Vice, published in 2023, is a story of power, corruption, and complicity, set in modern India. In the early 2000s, the lives of Ajay, Neda, and Sunny – the novel's three main characters – cross in New Delhi. There is idealism, optimism even; but also crime, drugs, and violence, as Sunny Wadia follows in the footsteps of his powerful father. Age of Vice, which became a New York Times bestseller and will be adapted into a tv series, is not a didactic novel, but a deeply researched portrait of a changing country, with a fast-growing economy, and ever greater inequality.

Deepti visited Zurich in October 2024 to talk about the book at Asia Society Switzerland's Big Picture event. The conversation was moderated by James Crabtree, 2024 TOY Senior Fellow at Asia Society Switzerland and himself author of The Billionaire Raj, a well-received book on crony capitalism and the rise of India's billionaire class. Listen to their conversation in this episode of the STATE OF ASIA podcast, or watch them at the event in this video.

STATE OF ASIA brings you engaging conversations with leading minds on the issues that shape Asia and affect us all.

Stay up-to-date on all events and activities at Asia Society Switzerland: subscribe to the newsletter and support our work by becoming a member.

—
STATE OF ASIA is a podcast from Asia Society Switzerland.
Season 7, Bonus Episode 2 - Published: December 9, 2024
Host, Editor/producer: Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager, Asia Society Switzerland