I must admit that I had a totally different topic prepared for my column today. But, then again, do columnists merely write about news or try to make news -- or are they perhaps caught right in the middle of it all? Shall we conceive our columns while being “inspired away” on a fantasy island -- a type of conservatory shielded from real life -- or should we not engage in debates as and when they happen? Ultimately our readers will decide! Today, writing about the 2009 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos and the so-called “Davos Crisis,” as it has been labeled by many Turkish TV channels, I for one found comfort in the fact that the Turkish prime minister had the courage to calmly collect his documents and walk past the other panelists without unduly shouting or gesturing at them -- and that was it.
Let me put the by-now annual WEF taking place at Davos into perspective. WEF director and founder Klaus Schwab has become a superhero for managing the “global speaker’s circuit” -- he invented and runs “Davos” and he is clearly a very capable event organizer demanding exorbitant fees to be paid for by delegates attending events similar to this one. My concern is whether an event officially labeled as informal and where leaders who normally wear pinstripe suits dress down to red sweaters instead (Bill Clinton upon arrival was one such “casual” example during this year’s WEF) can be taken seriously. Should it not best be seen as nothing more than what it actually has become: a cozy setting for corporate magnates to present themselves in the spotlight together with PR-hungry politicians? Cameras on, yes; results, zero?
Having said that, and despite my criticism, I am glad that by now Turkish politicians and decision makers regularly participate in the WEF, as Turkey is one of the few emerging economies that will soon show its strengths and durability in spite of an economic and global financial meltdown. It may be argued that the WEF is not the right forum for debating politics, but then the team behind Mr. Schwab would have miscalculated that economies only prosper in stable political environments. I am afraid that some circles confuse Davos with the UN Security Council. I am not talking about the delegates, but about the organizers of the event.
While many bankers shied away from traveling to Switzerland this year, a forum like the WEF does indeed have a serious component: Leaders coming from all walks of life and professions mingle, discuss and shake hands. It has, however, over the years become an annual ritual where most of its momentum, quite frankly speaking, has been lost. Those of us who attend on behalf of the media try to interview the decision makers we may meet regularly someplace else anyway and those who are actually invited as “delegates” talk amongst themselves all the time, too. So is it not time to re-evaluate the relevance of Davos? I would say yes.
We need more think tanks and civil society platforms on the national level. We need Davos, too, but I no longer see its global relevance. I remember teaching about EU law and business way back in 1991 and thereafter at around the time when Davos became a serious date on the international conference circuit. I introduced Davos to some of my classes as it was perceived as a high-level, very useful gathering. At that time it was seen as an intellectual greenhouse for change, reform and even for voicing anti-mainstream ideas. Nearly 20 years later we all know that Bill Gates is a clever man who has made millions out of his intellectual capital. And why not? But do we really need to be reminded about that each and every year come the time for another WEF?
Platforms like Davos are only helpful as long as they stay as what they were originally envisaged: an off-the-record meeting place for world leaders and future world leaders, particularly from the business world, who need to talk about issues of concern to their economies and civil societies. The moment politicians entered the stage its agenda changed automatically. If only Davos would attract less 24-hour TV coverage and more substantial debate topics emerge that participants who know what a cost-benefit analysis implies cannot discuss anywhere else in a forum attracting so many like-minded people.
Davos in 2009 -- election plot or common sense? A lot of common sense, as no spin doctor could have prepared for events as they happened. The ensuing press conference given by the Turkish prime minister and Mr. Schwab was a masterpiece of staying calm under pressure with notes prepared under pressure, too. Let us hope that Turkish politicians keep the same level of professionalism when the date for local elections, scheduled for March 29, approaches.
