The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting has proved its power time after time in setting the global agenda, identifying emerging issues and challenges, and engaging leaders from all walks of life in dialogue, initiative and action. In the same way, Global Agenda seeks to lead opinion and debate on all the key issues facing the world. It aims to be thought-provoking and controversial, but balanced and fair. And it tries to make room for voices from all sides of society. We live in deeply unsettled, challenging times. Many of the certainties on which we have come to depend in recent years are in doubt. In place of trust lie scepticism, suspicion and fear. It is more vital than ever that all sides of the debate are heard – from the worlds of business, civil society and government. Like the World Economic Forum itself, Global Agenda aims to be a forum for discussing issues, testing ideas and initiating change.
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals will demand partnerships well beyond the political level, says Tom Arnold. People at all levels – not least locally – need to change their attitudes. NGOs, for their part, need to lose their natural suspicion of the business sector’s motives and demonstrate their own professionalism and capacity to deliver In…
Diversity is all very well – but only up to a point. This is the contradiction at the heart of many western liberal democracies. So-called secular values are not always as inclusive – or neutral – as they are made out be, especially when veiled in political rhetoric. So how do we guarantee equal respect…
A world of glaring inequality is never going to be a fully safe world, says Kofi Annan. For millions of people, the threat of terrorism, or of weapons of mass destruction, is remote compared to the daily threat of poverty, hunger, unsafe water, environmental degradation and disease. But is the machinery of global governance up…
Just like their predecessors Yeltsin and Clinton, presidents Putin and Bush enjoy a strongly personalized relationship. This chemistry, says Ehsan Ahrari, will be the defining factor in maintaining Russia’s relations with the west at a time of growing stresses and disagreements – The relationship between Russia and the US under George W Bush is similar…
The next few months will have a big impact on the global trade round. The most difficult negotiations are still to come and many issues are contentious. Supachai Panitchpakdi, director-general of the World Trade Organization, outlines his trade and development agenda and his hopes and fears for the talks – Meeting deadlines is a crucial…
