Cisco: 'The Best Company for the World'

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Another example is our activities in China, where we went in after the terrible earthquake to ask how could help transform both the health-care system and the education system in a way that builds it back dramatically better than it was before. And we'll do that together with 10 to 15 NGOs, at least that many business partners, and multiple government agencies. Cisco is the company that can architecturally pull all that together.

You seem to have a special interest in the Middle East. How did you come to be so involved in the region?

We got involved purely because King Abdullah asked me to. He said: "We can work together to change the education system and create jobs in Jordan. We can bring political stability and raise the standard of living in my country, and make it a model for the rest of the world."

Did it seem like it could lead to a significant business?

I remember he said: "John, you'll make a lot of money in Jordan and the Middle East." I said: "Your Majesty, I will not make money in Jordan, and I probably never will make money in the Middle East." Really a dumb statement, it turns out.

Because oil prices have spiked since then?

No, it wasn't that. It was the societies' acceptance of the technology, and our ability to create trusted relationships with people in the Middle East. You go across from Prime Minister Erdogan in Turkey to Siniora in Lebanon to Olmert and Peres in Israel, to Abbas in Palestine, to Mr. and Mrs. Mubarak in Egypt, to King Abdullah in Jordan and the royal family in Saudi Arabia, to Sheikh Mohammed in Dubai, to the other Sheikh Mohammed in Abu Dhabi, to the leadership in Qatar, and to Aliyev in Azerbaijan. They all trust us—and that goes across religious and political lines.

Bechtel helped build the physical infrastructure that led to massive changes in the Middle East last century. What will Cisco's legacy be?

If you give people a chance to participate in society, you can create a large middle class. That's what political stability is all about. It's a chance for Cisco to participate on a bigger scale, helping to bring peace to the world. Is that too big a dream?…(long pause)…Maybe.

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