A new world order is rapidly evolving and Bermuda, like other countries, must be culturally flexible to be included.

That was the message stressed this weekend by Mr. Thomas Watson Jr. -- a former trade advisor for the Bush administration and several other US presidents.

Speaking to some 300 people at Berkeley Institute's black-tie, fund raising banquet at the Princess Hotel on Saturday night, Mr. Watson said due to changes brought on by technology, power is no longer concentrated in one place.

"North Americans must consult Europeans who must consult Asians, who must consult South Africans, who must consult South Americans,'' he said.

"We must all consult and negotiate to decide what happens. Then we must ally ourselves to cause that decision to become a reality.'' But, the advocate for small and medium enterprise (SME) international development said the success of such a process required the ability to transcend biases about other cultures.

And this ability, he said, comes through cultural flexibility.

Mr. Watson described the term as "the mental habit of looking at somebody very different and not automatically assuming that they are less than you...But accepting them as a respected member of the human family and looking to find a reason to respect them and at the same time giving them a reason to respect you.'' He said cultural sensitivity, which has become a topic of interest in the US, cannot be developed effectively without a base of cultural flexibility.

So committed to this belief was he, that Mr. Watson left his 20-year-old post as managing partner and chief executive of accounting and consulting firm, Watson Rice and Co. two years ago to spread his message worldwide.

And the member of the US Delegation to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) said he has already seen results in places like Berlin and South Africa.

"I'm not speaking from theory,'' he said. "I'm speaking from personal experience.'' Mr. Watson said as one member of the 60-member US delegation to GATT he was able to meet with an organisation which represented 260 groups of small and medium businesses in the European Community.

And, he said, while the rest of the delegation was struggling to find an answer for the Press as to why negotiations broke down, he was able to learn that millions did not support agriculture export subsidies.

Blacks have been using cultural flexibility for a long time in order to survive in schools, neighbourhoods and jobs, Mr. Watson said.

But he added: "There is a responsibility to use cultural flexibility to link people of the world so we choose the road of progress, rather than the road of regress.

"For while there is little opportunity for alliances that could cause World War III, there are opportunities for little skirmishes around the world that will create greater problems than a third world war.'' Asked to give his impression of Bermuda in terms of cultural flexibility, Mr.

Watson, who noted that he had only been on the Island three days, said: "This is a wonderful place to be. You folks have leaders in both political parties who are in positions to influence what happens in this Country.''