Brexit, trade wars between China and the United States, commercial and diplomatic tension between Saudi Arabia and Canada, the dissolution of the North American Free Trade Agreement, aside from the Middle East crisis with migration worldwide and Bermuda being affected by all of this, presents a precarious world through which to negotiate. Although the picture looks bleak, historically Bermuda has benefited from global crisis and conflict.

Certainly, how we extract or see any benefits or opportunities in this quagmire of world events depends on how we see the world and our position within it. We can either see ourselves as a victim of circumstances that are beyond our control or masters of the new environment looking at the gaps of services and new needs that will inevitably arise.

We don’t need to telegraph our punches, but the nimbleness among our leaders both in the private sector and in Government must be there. It may have helped in our past that, in reality, those in the private sector were also leaders of government. Hence, their mercantile instincts were live and, more importantly, integrated. With only half an eye open to social considerations, the economic operatives neglected needed social development. Advancements in education, for example, could have led to a more participatory society but instead took a beating for centuries. The relic by way of testimony is that we resisted an opportunity in the 1940s to build a multicultural college and instead built a mental institution — St Brendan’s.

Today we need the same mercantile maverick and a combination of the private sector and the Government with at least one eye fully open on the society. We cannot engage or challenge the world while fighting a civil war among ourselves. When we need all hands on deck, settling scores has to give way to partnerships.

This is not the time for us to sink into the national mode of Quo Fata Ferunt — “Whither the fates carry us” — we need to be captain of the ship and master of our destiny.

There is no need to fantasise when infinite intelligence is abundantly available. There is no problem in the world that doesn’t have a solution, and Bermuda is not barred as a repository.

Today, as has ever been the truth, it’s the size of your idea and its value to the world that matters more than the size of your country.