DAVOS, Switzerland
As the world’s elite is set to gather for the annual Davos forum, questions have been raised whether they actually could produce meaningful solutions to globalization failures such as inequality, poverty, food and energy crises, and climate change.
Under the theme of “Cooperation in a Fragmented World” the names shaping the global politics and business world will attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
The meeting will convene more than 2,700 leaders from 130 countries, including 50 heads of state and government, as multiple crises deepen divisions and fragment the geopolitical landscape.
This year will also see the highest-ever business participation at Davos, with more than 1,500 leaders having registered across 700 organizations.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is the only Group of Seven leader attending the summit.
The heads of the EU, NATO, Finland, Greece, Spain, the Philippines, South Africa, and South Korea will also appear in the Swiss ski resort.
Where is globalization going?
“Where is globalization going?” is the biggest question that the Davos forum will be focusing on to answer because the COVID-19 and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war convinced some circles that the imminent era of globalization is coming to an end.
In that context, the conference looks set to assess systemic disruptions and continue its advocacy for globalization.
It is traditionally concerned with globalization failures, but amid the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the ongoing war, its effect has been on a daily decline.
“To address the root causes of this erosion of trust, we need to reinforce cooperation between the government and business sectors, creating the conditions for a strong and durable recovery,” said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.
The pandemic has already dealt a deep blow to the functioning of the world economy, as several countries stepped up numerous protectionist economic policies during this period.
And now, with the Russia-Ukraine war, things have gotten worse as it has been negatively affecting the global supply chain, putting barriers in front of the flow of goods, fueling and energy crisis, and food shortages around the world.
Studies showed that since 2020 the negative effect of COVID-19 along with conflicts and climate change have put a rising number of people at risk for famine.
International institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank were not really effective in helping the World Health Organization in ensuring fair allocation of COVID-19 vaccines.
Many experts said rich countries followed their vaccine nationalism and jabs could have been distributed fairly, equally, quickly, and affordably across the globe for any economy to recover.
All these developments can clearly explain the crisis of globalization.
Another Davos, another ‘missed opportunity over globalization’?
In one of his articles for the Guardian newspaper, well-known economist Joseph Stiglitz said last year “Davos 2022 was a missed opportunity over globalization.”
“Everyone seemed to be working for a world without borders; suddenly, everyone recognizes that at least some national borders are key to economic development and security,” he said.
Most of the business and political leaders at the Davos forum failed to reconcile friend-shoring with the principle of free and non-discriminatory trade, said Stiglitz.
He also gave the example of Germany, which once upon a time was a trading partner of Russia, together they built Nord Stream pipelines to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea by Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom.
And now Russia is not a reliable trading partner, with world leaders in favor of using economic sanctions as a deterrent.
When one looks at the world economy right now, there is inflation, rising interest rates, the danger of recession, protectionist trade practices, sanctions, increasing rights demands, and worker strikes amid a-cost-of-living crisis.
Given all these developments, one cannot be optimistic about whether the Davos conference, as a platform, could produce realistic solutions to the failures of globalization.
