Thousands of prominent political and business figures are congregating in Davos, Switzerland, this week for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), whose theme, “Cooperation in a Fragmented World,” focuses on the “cost of living crisis.”
In recent years, the WEF and its founder and chairperson, German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab, generated controversy by promoting ideas such as the “The Great Reset” and the “Fourth Industrial Reich Revolution.”
In promoting ”The Great Reset” in 2020, Schwab said the COVID-19 “pandemic represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world.”
In its mission statement, the WEF claims “it is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests.”
The statement continues:
“The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does.”
However, critics describe the WEF as a “fanatical political organization masquerading as a neutral entity” with the goal of “centralizing power into the possession of hand-picked global elites” and for operating with no public input or accountability.
Some critics argue the WEF’s annual meeting “acts as the go-to in-person, invite-only, closed to ideological outsiders policy and ideas shop for the global ruling class.”
Statements emerging from this year’s meeting have done little to quell concerns about the WEF’s real agenda.
The Defender examines some of the key themes of this year’s meeting — taking place under a militaristic security blanket and amid accusations that participants are not practicing what they preach when it comes to their own behavior.