January 30, 2007
Column: The clash of globalisations that spells trouble for Davos man
I went to two international conferences last week. The Herzliya security conference took place on the Israeli coast and the World Economic Forum was held in the Swiss mountains. It felt as if they were taking place on different planets.
Herzliya gathered together Israel’s political and military leaders. The guest speakers included the number twos at the Pentagon and the State department, as well as a clutch of American presidential candidates. The mood was dark and dominated by the increasing likelihood of a military conflict between Iran and either Israel or the US. Other blood-curdling possibilities discussed at Herzliya were a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, renewed civil war in Lebanon and American defeat in Iraq, leading to a broader regional war.
Davos is a bigger and glitzier affair than Herzliya, with a much broader agenda. It too had sessions on the Middle East. But the dominant tone at the WEF was set by the exuberant optimism of international businessmen, enjoying the opportunities brought about by globalisation, new technologies and a world economy that is expanding at its fastest pace for decades.
This is an extract from Gideon’s regular FT column. You can read the remainder here, or leave a comment.
1. To my mind, there is only a little, statistically insignificant probability that Iran would develope nuclear weapons and use it against Israel. A lot more is put on the table - the peace on Earth. And obviously, wWorld’s most important nuclear powers: US and Russia wouldn’t let that.
2. Is capitalism possible in the Middle East? I have no dreams about that, at least in forseeable future. These countries have a set of core values that is completely alien to Western one, take only the concept of “riba” (interest free credits). Moreover these cultures in many cases does not support the right for personal entrepreneurship.
Posted by: Ilshat | January 31st, 2007 at 6:55 am | Report this commentWere there no women in Davos?
Posted by: Anon | January 31st, 2007 at 7:34 am | Report this commentPart of the reason for Davos man not being overwhelmed by the threat of conflict is that he or she is not quite gullible enough to fall for the bogeymen created and bandied about by, amongst others, the Murdoch press.
What we are seeing now is a gradual whipping up of panic about Iran, with the aim of furthering the neo-conservatives’ global restructuring objectives. The same happened with respect to Iraq. All the panic on that front started with the infamous “axis of evil” speech. We were then fed a ceaseless stream of daily press and news reports of WMD sightings, human rights violations and other such paraphernalia designed to garner support for the agenda.
The result? No sign of the promised WMDs. More Iraqi deaths than even Saddam could have achieved (more, in fact, than Saddam was tried and hanged for). A country in civil war (which the powers-that-be do not wish to admit to). And a steadily rising number of men and women returning home draped in their national flags (scenes of which are not allowed into the press and onto television).
Posted by: R Saba | January 31st, 2007 at 3:12 pm | Report this commentThis is How to Reconcile Herzilya & Davos:
The Link Between Our Soldiers & the Price of Oil
http://the.sneyke.googlepages.com/profit.htm
Posted by: Shalom P. Hamou | February 1st, 2007 at 11:31 pm | Report this comment