Thursday, 13 July 2017

Flash Diplomacy: The World Economic Forum

Over the past forty years, the WEF has grown into the archetype of the new diplomacy: informal, efficient, and involving all relevant types of actors on equal footing. At WEF summits, collaborations among companies, NGOs, and government agencies are both incidental and facilitated. Organizations with obvious complementarities waste no time in launching joint projects. One of the most common refrains one hears is “We should have met ages ago!” Importantly, WEF meetings are not places where the only people you meet are those you already know. Instead, bloggers, social entrepreneurs, and a host of “change makers” under the age of twenty build networks with one another and otherwise far-off leaders. Many great ideas and projects are born through connections made at these summits. The WEF will never get any credit—but who cares? 

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