- Title: Davos kicks off as Trump era dawns
- Date: 16th January 2017
- Summary: DAVOS, SWITZERLAND (JANUARY 15, 2017) (REUTERS) DAVOS COVERED IN SNOW CABLE CAR MAKING ITS WAY UP THE MOUNTAIN SNOW COVERED CHALETS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING EXTERIOR OF WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM CONGRESS CENTRE COUNTRY FLAGS OVER CENTRE VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANTS ARRIVING WITH SUITCASES VARIOUS OF PREPARATION WORK BEING CARRIED OUT AT CONGRESS CENTRE MEN LOADING CARPETS INTO A VAN MAN CARRYING ROLL OF CARPET INSIDE CENTRE MEN WORKING ON FLOOR MAN PROPPING CARPET AGAINST WALL MEDICAL STAFF WHEELING GURNEY INTO THE EMERGENCY AREA SCREEN SHOWING "WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM" SLATE VARIOUS OF MEN WORKING ON STAGE SCREEN SHOWING UPCOMING EVENTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM (WEF) FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, KLAUS SCHWAB SAYING: "Of course we are meeting at a time there is a lot of confusion. Many many question marks. So what we have to do here is address the root causes of this anxiety. So I expect a very action oriented constructive mood." PEOPLE WALKING PAST CONGRESS CENTRE CLOSE OF U.S. FLAG NEXT TO CHINESE FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM (WEF) FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, KLAUS SCHWAB SAYING: "It's a demonstration of the fact that we have moved, or we are moving from a unilateral world to a multilateral world. And we can assume and hope that China in this new world will assume responsive and responsible leadership role. So in some ways very symbolic to have the President of China here and integrated into our deliberations." SCHWAB AT INTERVIEW WITH JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM (WEF) FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, KLAUS SCHWAB SAYING: "I think it's premature to speak about message. We all have to look now out for the State of the Union message which I think will provide a framework for where the U.S. new administration stands." DAVOS, SWITZERLAND (JANUARY 16, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SECURITY OUTSIDE WEF CONGRESS CENTRE/ CONCRETE BLOCKS ON THE ROAD VARIOUS OF ARMED SOLDIERS GUARDING ROAD WARDENS DIRECTING TRAFFIC AWAY FROM CLOSED ROADS
- Embargoed: 30th January 2017 09:57
- Keywords: Davos World Economic Forum
- Location: DAVOS, SWITZERLAND
- City: DAVOS, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ZBW9QF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The global economy is in better shape than it's been in years. Stock markets are booming, oil prices are on the rise again and the risks of a rapid economic slowdown in China, a major source of concern a year ago, have eased.
And yet, as political leaders, CEOs and top bankers make their annual trek up the Swiss Alps to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, the mood is anything but celebratory.
Beneath the veneer of optimism over the economic outlook lurks acute anxiety about an increasingly toxic political climate and a deep sense of uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on the final day of the forum.
"Of course we are meeting at a time there is a lot of confusion. Many many question marks. So what we have to do here is address the root causes of this anxiety. So I expect a very action oriented constructive mood," said World Economic Forum Founder and Executive Chairman, Klaus Schwab.
The titles of the discussion panels at the WEF, which runs from Jan. 17-20, evoke the unsettling new landscape. Among them are "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".
The list of leaders attending this year is also telling. The star attraction will be Xi Jinping, the first Chinese president ever to attend Davos. His presence is being seen as a sign of Beijing's growing weight in the world at a time when Trump is promising a more insular.
British Prime Minister Theresa May, who has the thorny task of taking her country out of the EU, will also be there. But Germany's Angela Merkel, a Davos regular whose reputation for steady, principled leadership would have fit well with the WEF's main theme of "Responsive and Responsible Leadership", will not.
Despite some of the absent leaders, Schwab said Davos still counted of some of the top policy makers from around the world and called China's attendance "symbolic".
"It's a demonstration of the fact that we have moved, or we are moving from a unilateral world to a multilateral world. And we can assume and hope that China in this new world will assume responsive and responsible leadership role. So in some ways very symbolic to have the President of China here and integrated into our deliberations," added Schwab.
However, last year, the consensus here was that Trump had no chance of being elected. His victory, less than half a year after Britain voted to leave the European Union, was a slap at the principles that elites in Davos have long held dear, from globalisation and free trade to multilateralism.
"I think it's premature to speak about message. We all have to look now out for the State of the Union message which I think will provide a framework for where the U.S. new administration stands," said Schwab when asked about Trump's message to him during a meeting.
Trump is the poster child for a new strain of populism that is spreading across the developed world and threatening the post-war liberal democratic order. With elections looming in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and possibly Italy, this year, the nervousness among Davos attendees is palpable.
Perhaps the central question in Davos, a four-day affair of panel discussions, lunches and cocktail parties that delve into subjects as diverse as terrorism, artificial intelligence and wellness, is whether leaders can agree on the root causes of public anger and begin to articulate a response.
A WEF report on global risks released before Davos highlighted "diminishing public trust in institutions" and noted that rebuilding faith in the political process and leaders would be a "difficult task".
Still, some attendees worry that the pace of technological change and the integrated, complex nature of the global economy have made it more difficult for leaders to shape and control events, let alone reconfigure the global system.
The global financial crisis of 2008/9 and the migrant crisis of 2015/16 exposed the impotence of politicians, deepening public disillusion and pushing people towards populists who offered simple explanations and solutions. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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