It was raining in Jeddah when we left for King Abdul Aziz International Airport. Getting there was quite a hassle because the roads had become slippery, and traffic literally crawled down Madinah Road. What started as a drizzle turned into a downpour as we arrived. By the time we completed the immigration formalities, however, the rain stopped, and the air had a bite in it, which we realized getting onto the plane. It was sharp and cold. As our plane landed on Swiss territory, Zurich had a normal morning. At six the sun was not out; the temperature was zero degrees Celcius. There was no snow falling, but there was plenty on the ground.
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Davos, a small mountain village in the Alps, is around 200 km from Zurich. We got into the World Economic Forum (WEF) limousine at Zurich airport and headed for Davos. Halfway into the journey, the temperature plunged to minus four, and there was snow all over. Mounds and mounds of snow lay on the roadside. As the car raced toward Davos, the sun came out, painting the snowcapped mountains and treetops with warm light. The first thing we did was to click pictures of the beautiful scenery — it was just wonderful.
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Familiar with the long lines at checkpoints in Saudi Arabia, we expected tight, tough security, but we didn’t encounter it on our journey to Davos. There was only one other checkpoint on our way, manned by two people, and again they quickly sent us on our way. Arriving in Davos, we found we were in an idyllic environment. Our hotel was small, like all the others in the area, and, perhaps most importantly, nice and warm.
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We hurried over to the Congress Hall. I say “hurried”, but it was mostly slipping and sliding. The snow still hadn’t stopped, and we weren’t the only ones having trouble finding traction on the icy ground. We saw several people crash to the pavement. Inside hall, the full magnitude of the conference became clear. Hundreds of delegates are at the forum, just like last year. In any other country this would result in a visible security presence with quite restricted movement. In Davos this is not the case. Everyone is hurrying somewhere. Yes, identification must be visible at all times, and there is a certain amount of restriction in regards to entrances and exits, but that’s about all.
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The man who is the center of attention, wherever he goes, is Klaus Schwab. He is the focus of all eyes and for no small reason. Since 1971, he has gotten the world’s movers and shakers to this beautiful Swiss mountain resort. People wanting to talk to him always surround him. But he is a great PR guy. He doesn’t disappoint anybody. He made Davos famous. There was one other guy who made Davos famous though, long before WEF. Thomas Mann wrote his novel “The Magic Mountain” with Davos as the setting. Mann, Germany‘s great man of letters, brought the magic of Davos alive in that story. He wrote about its mystique and magnetism. In the novel, a young, well-to-do man visits his cousin in a sanitarium where he “falls ill” and struggles with the opposing forces of rationalism, faith, aestheticism and common sense embodied by the other patients in the run-up to World War I. The novel depicts the various cultural and intellectual currents swirling around in the soul of pre-World War I Europe.
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There are two types of people at WEF. Those who are interested in politics, and those who are there to discuss issues that affect business. One group has little interest in the other. Even the journalists seem to be specialists in either politics or business. The business-minded people don’t care which politicians have come to Davos, and they don’t even know which political issues are to be discussed. They are there for the deals and to network with each other. Nothing else matters. The political figures and the journalists covering them seem to be mainly interested in Iran. Nobody is talking about the horrific situation in Gaza. People seem to have forgotten about the plight of the Palestinians.
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The snow is expected to continue in Davos through Thursday night and then on Friday the weather services predict temperatures will drop to minus 10. Weather, however, is not the issue inside the Congress Center. Everyone is worried about the carnage on stock markets. The question uppermost in the minds of all the participants is “What’s the solution?” Not many delegates have the answer. One thing is clear: The world stock market crash has taken everybody by surprise. The speed with which indices have fallen unnerved the corporate head honchos. All those sessions where the state of the world economy is being discussed are packed. “We need answers,” said a leading businessman from Saudi Arabia. Did he get them? Will let you know tomorrow.