YEREVAN 11 C°
RA CB:
  • USD - 396.02 AMD +0.02 EUR - 431.27 AMD +0.27 RUB - 5.71 AMD +0.71 GBP - 490.04 AMD +0.04
  • GOLD - - AMD SILVER - - AMD PLATINUM - - AMD

2017 Wold Economic Forum: Time to Favor "Humanization" Over "Robotization and Globalization"

www.nytimes.com

High-level representatives of the world political and business elite have gathered in Davos for the annual World Economic Forum to consider ways of aligning to a new international reality that was heralded in by last year’s events - Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential elections and the victory of the supporters of Brexit in the referendum in the UK.

The titles of the discussion panels at this years Davos forum include "Squeezed and Angry: How to Fix the Middle Class Crisis", "Politics of Fear or Rebellion of the Forgotten?", "Tolerance at the Tipping Point?" and "The Post-EU Era".

During the annual World Economic Forum  there are going to be announced two presidential speeches of historic importance.

One will be by Mr Xi Jinping, the first Chinese president that attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. He is expected to seek to turn the page on the US-led polity for trade that has governed since World War II in favour of a "multipolar" approach. The other one will be Donald Trump’s speech. On Friday he is going to be  inaugurated in Washington as the 45th US president.

One of the important speeches of WEF, will be the speech of British Prime Minister. Theresa May will address the World Economic Forum on Thursday, her vision for Brexit.

Trump’s victory and the Brexit were seen by experts as a slap at the principles that the Davos elites hold dear, from globalization and free trade to multilateralism.

Moises Naim of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace noted that  "there is a consensus that something huge is going on, global and in many respects unprecedented. But we don’t know what the causes are, nor how to deal with it."

Jean-Marie Guehenno, CEO of International Crisis Group, a conflict resolution think-tank, told that "regardless of how you view Trump and his positions, his election has led to a deep, deep sense of uncertainty and that will cast a long shadow over Davos."

Guy Standing, the author of several books on the new "precariat", a class of people who lack job security and reliable earnings, believes more people are coming around to the idea that free-market capitalism needs to be overhauled, including those that have benefited most from it.

A global survey by the Edelman public relations firm, shows "the largest-ever" drop in trust of government, business, media, and NGOs. The company published its findings in advance of the gathering of Davos. The study shows more than half of survey respondents think the current overall system is unfair and offers little hope for the future. Only about one in seven people said the system is working for them.

In his turn the founder of the World Economic Forum in Davos emphasized that  it is time to favor "humanization" over "robotization and globalization."

Schwab mentioned about the need to reinvigorate the global economy, create jobs, and recreate confidence in the future. He also stressed that the world is overwhelmed by cynicism and pessimism, and called on members to repair deficiencies in capitalism and restore the social compact.

This is not the first time that the World Economic Forum has come under fire from critics about its globalist, free-trade message. In 2000, a group of more than 1,000 demonstrators carrying signs that said "Against the New World Order" smashed the windows of a McDonald’s franchise here in Davos just down the road from the conference, protesting open trade policies espoused by then-President Bill Clinton, who was speaking at the event.

Setting aside the criticism, the main issue for the "Davos Class" has to be the willingness to harmonize the social, economic and political needs of the global society thereby giving the opportunity to overcome the global challenges.

The World Economic Forum is an annual gathering of global policy and business leaders, who come to debate the world’s great challenges — has started on Monday night . According to some experts, Davos Class over the years is bringing transformation of political trends toward nationalism.

Samuel Huntington, the Harvard political scientist, describes  them as "transnationalists" who "have little need for national loyalty, view national boundaries as obstacles that thankfully are vanishing, and see national governments as residues from the past whose only useful function is to facilitate the elite’s global operations."



 


Most read

day

week

month

    Weather
    Yerevan
    cloudy
    Humidity: 43%
    Wind: 1.03 km/h
    10 C°
     
    21°  10° 
    30.03.2024
    19°   
    31.03.2024