Repeatedly, the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting has demonstrated its influence in shaping the global discourse, spotlighting nascent challenges and engaging a diverse array of leaders in critical dialogue and action. Similarly, Global Agenda aspires to guide discussions and deliberations on pivotal global matters. Its goal is to incite reflection and sometimes controversy, maintaining equilibrium and impartiality. It endeavors to include a wide array of perspectives from every corner of society.
The current era is fraught with uncertainty and challenges. Long-standing assurances that once provided stability are now questioned. Trust has given way to doubt, scepticism, and apprehension. In this context, ensuring a diverse range of viewpoints are considered and debated is more crucial than ever, encompassing insights from business, civil society, and governance. Echoing the mission of the World Economic Forum, Global Agenda commits to being a platform for dissecting issues, exploring innovative ideas, and catalyzing transformative changes.
The Aids epidemic is perhaps the greatest global challenge of our generation. It is an epidemic without precedent that is still spreading rapidly. In November 2003, UNAIDS and World Health Organization (WHO) published our annual estimates for the spread of HIV in the world. The findings are staggering. There were more infections than ever: five…
Building a robust and reliable business infrastructure is key to ensuring that China achieves its vast commercial promise. As Bill Parrett explains, the new business infrastructure must be based on two foundations: accountability and corporate governance It is common wisdom in the business world that China is a country of immense promise. The basic facts…
Progress without change has a certain attraction as a philosophy and it gained currency in much of the Middle East throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The notion was that we in the Arab world could adopt many of the trappings of the modern west and in some senses modernize, but not really change. We would…
Business leaders in almost every industry sector and country face a complex and often contradictory set of stakeholder expectations. They are under pressure to demonstrate outstanding performance, not just in terms of competitiveness and market growth, but also in their corporate governance and their corporate citizenship. They are being called on to engage with activists…
It is becoming increasingly clear that a unilateral or “monarchical” arrangement of the global order – centred on the military, political and economic dictation of the United States – is undesirable and unsustainable. The crisis of this arrangement presents the opportunity for the proposition of a new global order by the “global aristocracies” – that…
Civil society organizations (CSOs) have historically played a crucial role in tackling issues of transparency, legitimacy and accountability within governments and businesses, with many positive results. Citizen groups often ask difficult questions, holding governments and corporations to account for their actions and demanding that institutions behave in ways that promote the public good. In many…
GLOBAL AGENDA You have just narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, which many are speculating is the work of either al-Qaeda or domestic radicals. You have said that this has only strengthened your resolve to crack down on radical groups and terrorists. How do you intend to do that, while preventing the further radicalization of your…
The outsourcing boom in India is raising political hackles in the United States and other developed economies. But, as Kamalakshi Mehta reports, the economics are simply too good to resist. This boom still has a long way to go. It is truly the face of the future – both for India’s bright young IT generation,…
The problems of public healthcare are too complicated for any one group to solve alone. Fighting the health problems that threaten global security and prosperity will require the broadest possible coalition of public and private interests. Henry McKinnell looks at the progress being made, the new partnerships that are forming and the pitfalls that lie…
Biotechnology has the capacity to change our lives greatly for the better, says Robert May. But it could also do massive harm. It is vital to establish where the social, cultural and ethical boundaries lie in a range of scientific fields – and to maximize the good use, while minimizing the misuse, of technological advance…
