Mike Pouraryan
Davos: Reflections
:
Wow!!!!
The world is right now fascinated with Davos. The rich, the famous and the powerful are all there in paradise talking about the world and all the problems. There is enough being said by all pundits which will speak for itself on Davos. But, two key things occured which I wanted to note:
1) Turkey's Prime Minister Edrogan stormed out of a discussion with Shimon Peres during discusisons on Gaza. Edrogan was given a minute by David Ignathius of the Washington Post to rebute a lengthy comment by Shimon Peres. I think the gesture by Mr. Edrogan must be taken seriously by Israel. It shows the frustration with Israel and the fact that as Amr Mousa said, Israel "does not listen". I was quite disappointed by David Ignathius when he did not grant equal time during the discussions. It seems to me that Dinner could have waited.
2) The Prime Ministers of China and Russia spoke at Davos, blasting the West. I think both men had excellent points. But, both men have a lot of problems of their own and their crediblity is suspect at best. I think Wen Jinbao has been at the forefront of changing China. I think his efforts during the earthquake surprised me. But, the Chinese are undergoing changes that the Government cannot truly contend with and blasting the West is not going to solve it. As for Russia, Tsar Putin can say whatever he wants. The fact is that he is a dictator in a 1000-Dollar Suit speaking about responsbility when his country has profound challenges.
China and Russia have to be watched. They are powerful, they are emergent and they should not be discounted. But, lecturing the rest of the world is disingenious at best. The Davos Alternative, though, also has convened. I am quite interested to see what it achieves. Everyone is still talking, talking and talking. But there is no action at all.
1) Turkey's Prime Minister Edrogan stormed out of a discussion with Shimon Peres during discusisons on Gaza. Edrogan was given a minute by David Ignathius of the Washington Post to rebute a lengthy comment by Shimon Peres. I think the gesture by Mr. Edrogan must be taken seriously by Israel. It shows the frustration with Israel and the fact that as Amr Mousa said, Israel "does not listen". I was quite disappointed by David Ignathius when he did not grant equal time during the discussions. It seems to me that Dinner could have waited.
2) The Prime Ministers of China and Russia spoke at Davos, blasting the West. I think both men had excellent points. But, both men have a lot of problems of their own and their crediblity is suspect at best. I think Wen Jinbao has been at the forefront of changing China. I think his efforts during the earthquake surprised me. But, the Chinese are undergoing changes that the Government cannot truly contend with and blasting the West is not going to solve it. As for Russia, Tsar Putin can say whatever he wants. The fact is that he is a dictator in a 1000-Dollar Suit speaking about responsbility when his country has profound challenges.
China and Russia have to be watched. They are powerful, they are emergent and they should not be discounted. But, lecturing the rest of the world is disingenious at best. The Davos Alternative, though, also has convened. I am quite interested to see what it achieves. Everyone is still talking, talking and talking. But there is no action at all.
 Add Comments
|
|
Comments (1)
Read More
