The WEF is quite an organization. It annually brings together for a week of talk and resolutions over 2,000 participants-world leaders, academics, journalists, business leaders, NGO executives, politicians, corporate moguls, rock stars and celebrities-all for the modest purpose of "improving the state of the world."
The New York Times kept count, and recorded 23 heads of state, 72 cabinet-level ministers, and about 500 global business leaders in attendance. The Forum funds much of this from dues from 100 corporate members, all of which must have $3 billion in annual revenues to qualify as a sponsor. The Forum has an annual budget of over $60 million.
I went from session to session throughout the course of the week. I sighted Sharon Stone and Richard Gere, but missed Angelina Jolie, the Goodwill Ambassador for the UN's Commission for Refugees. I heard Bono speak eloquently about African poverty and the need to quell the AIDS epidemic.
Harvard economist Jeffrey Sachs urged the forum to guarantee that every African at risk to malaria would have a "bed net" (mosquito netting) within two years. This would save a million lives. Bill Gates pointed out that the ultimate solution to malaria would be a vaccine, one reason why his foundation recently gave $785 million to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations.
It is hard not to name drop when talking about Davos. I went to presentations by Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Bill Gates, Senator Bill Frist, Thabo Mbecki, president of South Africa, and Olesegun Obasanjo, president of Nigeria. A panel on prospects for peace in the Middle East gave everyone hope as the Palestinian Finance Minister and Shimon Peres, former Prime Minister of Israel, explored common ground. Because I was late signing up, I missed a literary tea with the South African Nobel Prize winner, Nadine Gordimer. I felt a little self-conscious identifying myself as Chancellor after the "Federal Chancellor of Germany," Gerhard Schröder, finished speaking about German reunification.
I have had a number of people ask me, what have I brought back that will help KU? I've thought about that, and I believe there are many benefits.
First, Davos gave me a global perspective on human problems, (particularly world health problems) and reminds me of how KU must prepare students to understand the inter-relatedness of the modern world. A week at Davos eliminates any impulse toward isolationism.
Second, as the conference theme stressed, we must "take responsibility for tough choices." What is the answer to world poverty? What is the effect on emerging economies of the dollar falling against the pound and the Euro? How much is the world economy threatened by the war in Iraq or the turmoil in the Middle East?
I know these kinds of questions are discussed in KU classrooms, but I suspect they should be part of the KU curriculum in a more pervasive way if we are to graduate students filled with a passion for "improving the state of the world."
Finally, I came away with a deep appreciation for a world economy driven by free markets and a healthy democratic capitalism. This economic system will affect all of our lives, and with the end of the Cold War, we have to make it work for everyone, not just for robust economies like the United States. We have a marvelous system for generating economic value in the world marketplace, and the entire globe benefits from creative entrepreneurship.
Does this mean that economic globalization is perfect? Far from it. There is still a huge divide between the rich and poor nations. It does mean that we have the capacity as a society to help others achieve the affluence we enjoy.
Jacque Chirac, speaking by satellite because the weather prohibited him from attending in person, proposed international taxes on global financial transactions to support third world debt relief. George Soros thought the idea worth exploring. Bill Clinton reminded the Forum that people were dying even as we talked about it.
A University of Kansas known for contemplating such questions brings added value to students educated here.
While at Davos I spent time with KU graduates Mark Booth, CEO of NetJets in Europe, and Jerry Seib, head of the Wall Street Journal's Washington Bureau. (Jerry will receive this week KU's William Allen White Award.) Here were two KU graduates right at the center of a global event that prides itself on its capacity to change the world.
I left Davos hoping many more KU graduates in the future can experience the same phenomenon we found in this alpine village in January of 2005-an acute sense of how small and interdependent the world has become in the 21st Century.
Sincerely,
Bob Hemenway
Chancellor
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