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.
Intellectual property rights are under attack – above all in the pharmaceutical industry. Dr Henry McKinnell argues that patent protection is vital. Without it, he says, huge benefits to science, health care, education and human life will be lost – Back in 1982 Pfizer was on the verge of shutting down a research programme run…
In this highly personal tract, Elie Wiesel argues that anti-Semitism, which he has devoted his life to exposing and destroying, is still with us At the end of his magnificent and disturbing novel The Plague, Albert Camus issues a warning. His hero, the famous humanist Dr Rieux, who survived the death of many of his…
Information technology has transformed how we perceive and deal with specific risks. But, says Kevan Watts, we still need to get better at managing how these risks interact We live in a world of risk. Everywhere risks are identified, analyzed and managed. It is not that risk is bad, although one might assume so from…
Some say that open source software development is anti-capitalist. Georg von Krogh believes that a combination of open source and proprietary development is best Open source software development is now a cultural as well as an economic phenomenon. Instead of the traditional model of software production, where companies hide the details of code for fear…
Jacques Vergès argues that the International Criminal Court is unconstitutional, applies statutes retrospectively and has unfair procedures. In short, it discredits justice itself Before asking whether some heads of state are deliberately violating international law, it would be useful to ask ourselves about the legality and, even more, the legitimacy of the institutions that are…
Achieving population stability – higher growth in some countries, lower in others – is a more important global challenge than longer lives or the mechanics of pension system reform, says Adair Turner The “problem” of an ageing population is now discussed not just in rich countries but across the world. But increasing life expectancy is…
The crisis in Iraq might have dented the UN’s credibility. But it remains the best forum for solving problems that have no frontiers, says Shashi Tharoor The Iraq crisis has created a large number of casualties, and some have begun to suggest that the United Nations should be added to the list. A poll taken…
The strength of the American and global economy is helping equity markets recover, says John Thain, but companies need to do more to earn investors’ trust America’s capital markets are the oxygen of our country’s free market economy. They represent more than 35% of the market capitalization of world stockmarkets. By uniting issuers and investors…
From his perch as president of Harvard, Larry Summers is still as exercised about the state of the world economy as he was as US treasury secretary – but for wildly different reasons. Taimur Ahmad also from Harvard asks him what’s now troubling him most – GLOBAL AGENDA What do you think are the main…
Health relies on good food, human rights, education and prosperity – and contributes to them too, explains Alfred Sommer – The United Nations, in its Millennium Development Goals, provided explicit, quantitative targets for reducing a wide variety of human miseries, including poverty, hunger, excessive mortality and insecurity. These, least of all health issues, are not…
