Eye was delighted recently to read that a 'self-styled activist Quaker', Judy Moody-Stuart, had stirred things up at the World Economic Forum in Davos by suggesting in a Middle East discussion group that the UN could move to Jerusalem from New York as a gesture to peace. Judy, whose Meeting is Ditchling, got short shrift with this but was unrepentant. Such spirit! We asked Judy if she would send us an Eyeview of the Forum, and below is what she sent.

The annual meeting in Davos manifests as a marriage between Disneyworld and BYM - ongoing relationship, not just the ceremony. I have attended (as wife of a leading Shell and now mining company Anglo-American man, geologist - see News page 4) over seven or eight years now, including the 2002 WEF Meeting held purposely off-site in New York in recognition of 9/11. It costs a lot (paid for by companies) and NGOs, artists and politicians are invited free - partly to leaven the lump, partly to ensure balanced discussion and proper dialogue. Large and small sessions are 'on the record' with the media present in force. Most people who go to Davos take it very seriously; there is too much to do, hear, ask, so everyone is crammed into a huge conference complex during the day, living in ski-hotels within walking distance, and we meet and chat as equals skidding on the icy streets or between sessions in the Congress Centre labyrinth. Recognisable people: Nelson Mandela, Richard Branson, Angela Merkel, Irene Khan, George Carey, Andrew Windsor, Yasser Arafat, Bill Clinton, Anita Roddick, Paul Coelho, Gordon Brown, Bono, Rupert Murdoch... would pass you in the corridor. Back in 1999 there was no obvious security, except for the Israelis and US presidents. By 2003 there had been violent anti-globalisation protesters who trekked up the alpine valley and trashed shop-fronts, calling for the ‘Great and Good’ to come out and engage with them and ‘answer for’ their economic dominance. Now the Swiss inhabitants of the ski-resort, home to the TB sanatorium in Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, have to endure the Swiss army and police taking over the town for a week, with barriers of steel and plastic sheeting along the street; every WEF participant is electronically checked and re-checked hourly as they enter hotels and venues; protesters and sightseers are kept completely out.

The meeting is under the personal eye of its founder, Swiss academic and businessman Klaus Schwab, whose organisation excels in promoting discussion and networking, facilitating this in regional meetings through the year - action 'out in the world' depends onthe participants planning amongst themselves when they get home. Phew! To attend this circus for four or five days is immensely exhausting and interesting and frustrating. For a good description of its significance go to the comment by Martin Wolf in the Financial Times (31 January, page 15, or www.ft.com) or for tongue in cheek media comment on your correspondent's efforts to 'improve the world' see blogs.reuters.com

Labels: davos, worldeconomicforum