Feet on the ski slopes, but heads in the clouds

There is something ranging from the endearing to the desperate about how every year the Swiss resort of Davos turns into a city upon a hill, the eyes of (at least certain) people upon it. Movers and shakers of world politics, business magnates, hi-tech wizards, intellectuals with star quality and global media gather to schmooze about the ills of the world and how to cure them.

At this year’s 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), few participants bothered to ask themselves whether this glitzy affair in one of the world’s most expensive ski resorts had ever changed the global discourse, or if it is simply another mega-scale networking opportunity. More significantly, does the world that those in Davos encounter, of the wealthiest and most powerful, correspond with the experiences of the vast majority of people, who struggle with daily hardships, and who have lost faith in the global economic system and those who run it?

A world gathering these days is of course incomplete unless US President Donald Trump and the Swedish teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg appear on the same stage, presenting diametrically opposed views. Their presentations are usually delivered with a maturity in inverse correlation to their ages, and neither  disappointed on this occasion either. Thunberg may be more popular among the audience and beyond (she gets louder cheers), but the way things are going Trump’s self-serving skepticism about climate change may dictate how the issue is dealt with for the foreseeable future.

It is tempting to take the cynical view and argue that WEF is a mere PR exercise, aimed at showing the kind and caring side of those who possess most of the world’s wealth and power; and consequently to give them another year of breathing space to retain the economic and political system that serves and perpetuates their interests. A kinder view might attribute to the participants a degree of good intentions, even an understanding that the current global economic system, and maybe the entire planet, is living on borrowed time without far-reaching and systemic changes that may affect their privileges.

Either way, the real story is not happening in Davos, but on the streets of Beirut, Baghdad, Delhi and Kolkata, Hong Kong, Paris and even Tehran, where ordinary citizens are protesting for their rights, fed-up with their daily economic hardships and corrupt, self-serving governments with no long term strategy. In their search for a better life they don’t look up to Davos to provide them with solutions or salvation. They have found their voices and lost their fear of authority and authoritarianism. The demarcation lines have been drawn between those who have the economic and political power, and with it the social status, and those who have been left behind and increasingly feel mere pawns on the world’s chessboard.

However, the digital revolution, which has handed tremendous wealth and influence to very few people, has also empowered the masses with sources of information, knowledge and shared experiences, making them more aware not only of the inequalities in society, but also of the available courses of action to correct them; hence their readiness to take to the streets and express their deep dissatisfaction. The message to those attending WEF is that minor tweaks around the margins of the system won’t mollify the current anger. It is an authentic, accumulated anger with local variations, but also with universal commonalities — the demand for better governance, universal rights and prosperity.  

If WEF is to become relevant it must bridge the gap between what its members represent and what these global protesters stand for. As the most recent UN Human Development Report suggested, growing inequalities are a source of increasing global resentment and malaise. When the chief executive of one of the biggest professional service companies in the world, PWC, explains that the rise and rise of the stock markets is due to investors being “flush with cash” and looking for a better return on their money, it doesn’t exactly resonate with the half of humanity that is having to survive on less than $5.50 a day; or the 6.9 billion whose combined wealth is half of the world’s richest 1 percent; or the women of Africa, who together have less wealth than the 22 richest men in the world.

The same chief executive had to eat humble pie in Davos and admit that his multinational corporation had been caught up in the murky Isabel dos Santos affair in Angola, and that this was not exactly their finest hour. Instead of supporting the millions who live in poverty and often with no access to food, clean water, healthcare or education, these corporations have become willing tools in the hands of dictators and their families who are ripping off their own countries.

Now that the participants have left the pristine, snow-white slopes of Davos, armed (ostensibly) with new ideas and plans to save the planet, their real test is just beginning — if they are willing to take it. It is to return next year and begin the second half-century of these meetings with concrete action plans for more inclusive economies that are less dependent on fossil fuels, and take into consideration the will and needs of the many who have been left behind. Without such plans, the world may not survive to see WEF celebrate its centenary.

• Yossi Mekelberg is professor of international relations at Regent’s University London, where he is head of the International Relations and Social Sciences Program. He is also an associate fellow of the MENA Program at Chatham House. He is a regular contributor to the international written and electronic media. Twitter: @YMekelberg