What was present was that segment of the international elite that is committed to preserving the international system as it was prior to Sept. 11, 2001. The world view at Davos was of those who remain committed to the world and the alliances founded by American power after World War II -- and adopted by much of the rest of the world since then. Resistance to the idea that this world now could be defunct was intense, as much among the American representatives as among the rest of the world. It was a meeting in which two concepts, never expressed clearly but always present, dominated: Preserve what is; restore what has been lost.
The NGOs and the think-tanks, combined with the multinational organizations, form the intellectual center of gravity at Davos. Combined with representatives of the European Union, they constitute a powerful phalanx of thought. They are strongly supported by most of the academics present, including those from the United States. Other blocs are present. The Asians spent their time thinking about economics, trying to drive away thoughts of international conflict. The Asians also wistfully recalled their former days of glory -- assuring everyone that the glory lives on in China, and hoping that no one posed any serious security or geopolitical questions to them. Muslim leaders, seeking to block U.S. adventures in Iraq, aligned with the Europeans, although their mindset was far from that of Brussels on most issues.
The NGOs and the think-tanks, combined with the multinational organizations, form the intellectual center of gravity at Davos. Combined with representatives of the European Union, they constitute a powerful phalanx of thought. They are strongly supported by most of the academics present, including those from the United States. Other blocs are present. The Asians spent their time thinking about economics, trying to drive away thoughts of international conflict. The Asians also wistfully recalled their former days of glory -- assuring everyone that the glory lives on in China, and hoping that no one posed any serious security or geopolitical questions to them. Muslim leaders, seeking to block U.S. adventures in Iraq, aligned with the Europeans, although their mindset was far from that of Brussels on most issues.