Israel: the Partner-Up Nation?

From Forbes:

The truth is that to become the #2 startup ecosystem in the world after Silicon Valley, it’s taken a complicated calculus of educational, societal, and entrepreneurial influences to make Israel the economy it is.

One thing that can’t be underestimated is the young country’s experience and roots in creating international partnerships — cooperation that share and learn from the best Israel and the world can provide to help collaborate and accelerate progress internationally.

Did you know that in Massachusetts alone, Israeli companies doing business there have generated over $6.2 billion in 2013 and employ 6700 people in the state? Thats’s according to a new study by the New England – Israel Business Council. That’s almost 3x the revenue these firms were generating just 3 years ago...

With the help of NYC’s outgoing Mayor Bloomberg and dubbed Cornell NYC Tech, Cornell has launched a 2 year MA degree in connective media in conjunction with the Technion. Graduates will receive degrees from both prestigious institutions (not unlike the Kellogg School of Management’s program with Israel’s Tel Aviv University).

The program, like others of its kind, was developed to address the need for tech talent in New York City as the City’s financial and media world evolve along with the technology that shapes them. The future campus, to be set on Roosevelt Island, is no less ambitious.

...A recent study showed that Israel is still trending up as the U.S.’s #3 innovation partner, right behind Switzerland and Canada. So, as Israel, the Startup Nation, grows into its big-boy, Scale-up Nation shoes, other nations looking for its secret sauce can look directly to its partnering ability for guidance. Israel’s technology and startup ecosystem have both benefited from and created global partnerships that work to support growth in Israeli ingenuity on a global scale.

As one of the officials I spoke to yesterday mentioned to me, Israel's continued economic strength and growth is the most effective response to those who are trying to isolate the Jewish state diplomatically.

The world has no problem overlooking China's daily, gross violations of human rights - because of its huge economy. The EU happily ignores Moroccan and Turkish occupations of territory - because of economic benefits. And the same goes for dozens of other countries whose human rights records are horrendous but happily ignored by corporations and nations alike.

Look at it this way: Has official discrimination against women in virtually every Arab country ever been a factor in stopping Western nations from signing economic agreements? Just recently, France's prime minister visited Algeria to boost economic cooperation - despite its poor human rights record.

Economics drives diplomacy far more than the other way around. And that fact is what will secure Israel more than any piece of paper.