DAVOS, Switzerland—The mood was brighter at the 2004 World Economic Forum, than a year ago when a war with Iraq loomed on the horizon, but fewer big names made the journey to this Swiss ski resort.
And behind the smiling faces of some 2,000 political and business leaders who spent five days in Davos debating the world's problems, were genuine concerns about a growing debt burden in the United States and the unpredictable movements of foreign exchange rates.
US Vice President
Dick Cheney called for solidarity
among "civilised people" to stamp out terrorism
Many participants said they felt underlying financial problems in the US economy overshadowed recent strong growth figures and threatened to hamper the nascent global economic rebound.
Concerns over the impact of a falling dollar and the consequent red-hot euro also resounded around the snowy village—a topic that no doubt will be revisited at a G7 meeting of finance ministers in Florida early next month.
Headlining this year's forum, US Vice President Dick Cheney called for solidarity among "civilised people" to stamp out terrorism, stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and rebuild Iraq.
Cheney, who pushed the Bush administration to bypass the United Nations and declare war against Saddam Hussein last year, hoped for better "cooperation among our governments and effective international institutions."
But he might as well have been preaching from the desert as none of the leaders from the countries who opposed the US-led campaign in Iraq—namely France, Germany and Russia—travelled to Davos to listen.
Despite a lighter tone from the United States, with US Attorney General John Ashcroft insisting that Washington "is not an aggressor," the superpower struggled to shake its arrogant image.
Even allies such as Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf acknowledged the United States still had work to do to resolve political issues, which he said fueled an "increasing sense of alienation in the Muslim world."
"I am afraid the healing touch has not really started," Musharraf said.
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami acknowledged here that he had seen a new tone from the administration that had famously included his Islamic republic in the "axis of evil" threatening the world with mass destruction.
But he added, "I hope the changes we have witnessed in tone used by the United States will not be a tactical ploy but a real strategic change in policies and attitudes."
Big names billed to appear at the blue-ribbon gathering, such as US overseer in Iraq Paul Bremer and Libyan Prime Minister Chouki Ghanem—who was supposed to end Libya's two-decade absence from the forum—pulled out one after the other. The highest representative from Latin America was the president of Equador, Lucio Gutierrez.
Big anti-Davos demonstrations also seemed to be a thing of the past. A small gathering of about 50 activists protested briefly on Saturday at the main station in this posh ski resort before catching their train. The police, who were out in force, had feared a bigger disturbance in the village.
Back at the forum, which failed to generate an over-riding theme or topic, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threw his weight behind efforts to resume stalled peace talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots over divided Cyprus, in a bid to resolve the long-standing dispute by a May 1 deadline.
Conversely, with a separate year-end time frame looming for the 146 members of the World Trade Organisation, a gathering of about 20 trade ministers on the fringe of the conference failed to broker a fresh initiative, with participants simply reiterating their desire to revive free trade negotiations.
The United Nations Secretary General, who held a series of bilateral meetings with countries including Turkey during his brief jaunt in Davos, urged rich countries to end farm subsidies—a major stumbling block in the current round of WTO talks.
Annan also expressed concern that the US-led war on terror had overshadowed key development issues facing the world and said he would convene a business summit at the UN's New York headquarters in June on issues ranging from AIDS awareness to corruption.
To help create a more relaxed atmosphere here, the forum organisers banned people from wearing ties. Anyone caught out had to pay a three-euro fine to the United Nations Children's Fund.
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