Yet another Davos summit

In Davos, Switzerland, global political leaders, representatives of financial institutions, and wealthy businessmen gathered once again to discuss the political and economic conditions, problems, and solutions of the contemporary world. In a way, the observation of Michael Hirsh of Foreign Policy magazine is correct that a bunch of billionaires and elites pretending to solve the world’s problems when, in truth, they were often the very culprits perpetuating those problems. But the conundrum of the world lies in his added note in the same essay that the world still needs the Davos men again.

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2,800 delegates including 60 heads of state, global business leaders, and government and non-government representatives gathered in Davos for bilateral/multilateral talks, and on the sidelines of it many economic agreements were signed. Examples include infrastructure and related development contracts worth Rs 36,500 crore reported to have been signed by the Telangana government and contracts worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore signed by the Maharashtra government. Established as a non-governmental organisation in January 1971 near Geneva, Switzerland, under the leadership of Klaus Schwab, a German engineer, the World Economic Forum (WEF) holds its summits annually. And the WEF summits being aimed at holding discussions among business, political, and academic leaders met to improve the state of the world and set trade and industry agendas, progress should actually be reviewed at the end of each annual conference. What is more important is how effective the coordinated action of the different platforms formed to achieve such ends has been. This year's Davos summit does not answer any of this either.

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The Ukraine war, which was already raging during the Davos Summit in 2023, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that broke out late last year, are still on as two conflicts that plague the world when the 2024 summit takes place. However, the Davos talks did not produce any approach to end the Palestinian issue. There were no meaningful initiatives in the economic sphere, invariably influenced by the political event of war. For example, the head of the Palestine Investment Fund, Dr. Mohammad Mustafa said Gaza will need $15 billion to rebuild the demolished houses alone. But, the Arab countries themselves have taken the position that they can offer help for reconstruction only if there are also plans for permanent peace. Many delegates were reportedly very reluctant to talk about the war for fear of irritating or opposition from other nations. So the energy and food shortages caused by the war, or the enormous loss of human resources it is causing, was not even a matter of discussion for Davos. On the issue of Palestine itself, the United States reiterated its idealistic opinion that Palestine and Israel should exist together as two states, but there was no move beyond that. In fact, the US role becomes more crucial at forums outside Davos. There were no signs of that happening in Davos either.

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Another debate is the economic slowdown staring at China. The Chinese economy has long ceased to be a matter of internal Chinese concern. On the other hand, there is America that has been waiting for China's hegemony to weaken. China grew by 5.2% in 2023, which is well below the pre-Covid growth rate. Western investors are no longer as interested in investing in China as they used to be. It is also pointed out that India is taking advantage of that space. The Summit praised India's initiatives for gender justice in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. It is doubtful whether the answer to the question of where India stands in terms of gender justice is beyond these accolades on international platforms. Summits like Davos should aim at mutual understanding, friendship, and cooperation on international issues. But whether this year's World Economic Forum has made any significant contribution to that end is a matter yet to be proven.

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