"Winston Churchill once said: "The optimist sees opportunity in every
danger. The pessimist sees danger in every opportunity"

************


----- Original Message -----
From: "Andy Mensah" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 8:59 PM
Subject: [unioNews] Shaping prospects for a dangerous world


Tuesday, January 20, 2004
<H3>Shaping prospects for a dangerous world</H3>
Klaus Schwab

DAVOS, Switzerland
<B><i>Winston Churchill once said: "The optimist sees opportunity in
every danger. The pessimist sees danger in every opportunity."</i></B>

Optimists have had little cause for cheer in the first years of the
21st century. Security and prosperity are under threat. Instability
and conflict are clouding a rosy view of the future.

Despite the capture of Saddam Hussein in December and the recovery in
financial markets in recent months, the world still seems fraught
with danger and uncertainty.

Global terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, the worsening of
ethnic, religious, cultural and territorial tensions - these are
grave dangers that threaten the world. Equally grave are the
challenges to long-term sustainable development such as mass poverty,
lack of access to water and basic services, degradation of the
environment, the spread of infectious diseases, as well as economic
and financial instability and business malpractice. These development
challenges must not be ignored - for they are true threats to human
security, as great as terrorist attacks and the act of war.

But as all leaders know, with every risk comes an opportunity - an
opportunity to challenge old assumptions and divisions, to develop
new thinking and insights, to form new alliances and partnerships,
and to effect new leadership and new solutions.

At the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, which will start
Wednesday in Davos, global leaders will confront one basic fact: we
will not have strong, sustained economic growth across the world
unless we have security, but we will not have security in unstable
parts of the world without the prospect of prosperity. To have both
security and prosperity, we must have peace. This is the Davos
imperative.

But the pursuit of peace cannot be accomplished alone, however strong
a nation, business or organization. It can be achieved only through
partnerships between and among business, political and civil society
leaders from around the world. Security has become the key priority
for governments in the wake of recent atrocities and threats. And
rightly so. It is the responsibility of every government to make its
citizens feel safe and secure.

At the same time business is an engine of global growth and
prosperity. Businesses have the power and the responsibility to
ensure that the breakthroughs in scientific and technological
innovation, in communication, in education, in health care and in
knowledge creation are used to enhance the prospect of a more
prosperous and more just world for all. But to function properly,
business needs an enabling environment. Physical and political
security, and macroeconomic stability, are indispensable ingredients
for business to fulfill its role in society.

The leaders at Davos must demonstrate how pioneers, visionaries and
risk-takers in all fields of life can become true leaders of the
world community, where business, government and civil society can act
together in the common interest, where responsible, enlightened
leadership can transform people's lives and aspirations.

As the world's leaders gather in Davos, they face great challenges:
to identify the risks and threats that are preventing an optimistic
view of our globalized world, to find new ways of tackling them, to
break out of a negative cycle and to rebuild confidence in the future.

To do so will require that business, political, intellectual and
other leaders of society work together to battle and overcome the
threats to our shared security and prosperity, that we identify,
understand and respect the values that unite us as a common humanity
and the differences that distinguish us as individuals and as peoples.

If we succeed in our effort, we may be able to look back on this
period of conflict and uncertainty as a time of great opportunity and
liberation. We will have found new reasons for hope and optimism. We
will have found peace.

***
The writer is founder and executive chairman of the World Economic
Forum.

 Copyright © 2003 The International Herald Tribune



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QUOTATION:

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Marcus Mosiah Garvey <i>(1887 - 1940)</i></A></html>

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