Davos Diary, Wrap-Up: The Meeting is Flat

On the Chinese calendar we are entering the Year of the Boar—which does not bode well for long conferences in general. But this year's Davos seemed flatter than usual, at least to most of the observers with whom I spoke. Perhaps it was the deliberate and publicized decision not to have as many movie stars. Perhaps it was the strong attendance from business leaders (900 CEOs, according to one senior forum executive with whom I spoke). Perhaps it was the fact that, at over three decades and with a finely-tuned formula designed to provide something for everyone, it is now very hard for the event to surprise. Or perhaps old hands just grow blasé at the familiar sight of Bill Gates, Tony Blair, and John McCain, or at former Iranian presidents debating with perennial American candidates like John Kerry (there's a debate certain to have no clear winner). Yes, of course, they're all here, think the inured. And no, I don't expect the politicians to tell the truth. And yes, I do expect CEOs to justify their amazingly high salaries and to blame performance problems on external factors.

Still, despite its rustic village setting, Davos is clearly not my great-grandmother's shtetl. Maybe Brangelina were not there, but Claudia Schiffer made a showing, as did the ubiquitous Bono. Most of the politicians present did not surprise, but 25 trade ministers grappling with how to save the Doha Round is no small affair. And the contrast between Brazil's Luiz Inácio da Silva ("Lula"), as he outlines a $250 billion spending plan, and Mexico's new president Felipe Calderón, who embodies the modern Latin American pro-business technocrat, offered a useful glimpse into the choices being weighed by the emerging nations of Latin America. Quirky exercises, like sessions in which a blind person led delegates around in a darkened room, were a fun diversion even if they opened the conference to the inevitable blind-leading-the-blind jokes. (more after the jump)

As for meeting itself, it's become a bit of a self-parody in terms of its earnestness. I sometimes feel that the central motivation for the meeting is for Europeans to try to persuade Americans—whose power they admire and loathe—that despite history's mountainous evidence to the contrary, they are really more civilized than we are, and that if only we listened to them the world would be a better place. But there's one thing that came across very clear to me from sessions and private conversations: Europe has a vastly bigger problem in its relations with Islam than America does. The tensions within Europe on this issue are building, as traditions of tolerance are not as deep rooted as they are in the United States. Trouble is brewing on the continent.

In the end, though, Davos is still the only meeting of its kind. Virtually every complainer I know who condemns the meeting will be back next year, if given the chance. Why? Because there's no other opportunity to share raclette with as many interesting and important people, and because Davos remains a wonderful way to take the temperature of the world's elites (at least those who are represented; it's not so good if you want top Chinese officials or businessmen … or women from, well, anywhere). You do have to discount some behavior, and you do have to know the code words. (e.g., most proposed cures for terror and conflict in the Middle East uttered at Davos contain code words implying that Israel is really the source of the problem.) Yet, there is much to be gained from putting an ear to ground that has been trod by so many Gucci loafers. This year, as reported earlier, above all there was a sense at Davos that global warming has become a central priority for most societies, and for an increasing number of businesses. It also drove home the idea that in today's world, unless the United States buys into an idea, it won't achieve top priority status.

There was also a return to focus on Davos's core: economics and business. The crisis mentality of the last several years, first triggered by 9/11 and later by the Iraq invasion and its messy aftermath, has ebbed. Much of the meeting that did not make the headlines was about new technologies and how industries like the energy sector or the transportation sector are trying to reinvent themselves to cope with new realities.

Perhaps the reason the World Economic Forum seemed a little flat this year was that, with less Hollywood and fewer crises dominating the agenda, it reverted to, well, a world forum on economic issues. Given the alternatives, perhaps that's something we might all be grateful for.

As I write this, the black tie ball at the Congress Center—this year with a Malaysian theme—is under way. Much satay and music will accompany what is the last official event in each year's annual Schmoozing Olympics. But I am now 4,000 miles away, back in DC, all schmoozed out. Having said that, I am admittedly weak-willed. Several of the folks on my flight back were leaving Davos early to make it to tonight's Alfalfa Club Dinner in Washington, a black-tie event that brings together the president, the congress, the top military brass, and many of America's most influential business leaders. It just goes to show that for the world's elites, Davos is just one more stop in a never-ending moveable feast.