The World Economic Forum and What Worries the Global Ruling Class?

In an recent opinion piece on the World Economic Forum, author Maya Hossain Aziz, a Professor of International Relations at New York University examines four global risks in the post-pandemic era that are keeping the oligarchy awake at night:

 

 

Based on a multi-year prediction project at New York Univeristy and experts at Wikistrat, the author outlines four trends that the serf class should be concerning themselves about over the remainder of this decade:

 

1.) Power disperses in a post-superpower era - this is something that the World Economic Forum has been harping about for years as quoted from the 2020 Special Report "Shaping a Multiconceptual World":

 

"The technological advances and an economic rebalancing under way are causing the world to enter a new phase – one where the non-Western powers, as well as some non-state actors, see low-cost and relatively low-risk opportunities to weaken the United States and the Western alliance.

 

One area where this danger is pronounced is in East Asia. As China’s growth has vaulted it into the top ranks of global economic power, it has progressively shed its strategy of “hide and bide” and begun to exert itself in political and strategic affairs, in its region and beyond. The economic and export prowess of China is intrinsically challenging the dominance of the Western model in international affairs. Again, some of this is productive: China’s surge into Africa in the 1990s, in search of food, mineral and energy resources to power its growth, helped to pull more than a dozen African nations into middle-income status. But with global economic reach comes global interests and the temptation to project global power; now China has moved into a new phase of expansion – into a global network of ports, technology plays and infrastructure assets that in some theatres seem purposefully designed to challenge the West."

 

The author notes that "....Since the pandemic eased, the reality is we haven’t had enduring global leadership on much, and it’s hard to imagine that changing soon. This is partly because superpowers are terribly burdened with global wars and domestic challenges."  He also states that "...These powers will, of course, still be relevant, compete and attempt to 'lead' everywhere from space to AI and oil. But look for other actors to step up more to fill the leadership void, including 'geopolitical swing states' leveraging rare earth minerals (like Ghana) to reduce the dominance of superpowers; smaller states (e.g. Scotland) using climate funding as a foreign policy tool; the Global South moving away from trading in the US dollar, even attempting a new blockchain payment system."

 

2.) The impact of a big election year in 2024 - The author observes that this election year is particularly vulnerable to AI disinformation, cyber threats and accusations of electoral rigging.  Here's a quote:

 

"Yet, the larger issue is whether these elections will even make a tangible difference in local and global change; widespread government distrust in most political systems has not abated in our post-pandemic era. Let’s not forget democracy—declared the sole surviving source of political legitimacy by the US hegemon at the end of the Cold War—has been in decline globally for 18 consecutive years, according to Freedom House.

 

Anti-government unrest has recurred everywhere since the Arab Spring, representing an enduring global crisis of political legitimacy."

 

3.) A more complex global mental health crisis - this crisis is related to anxiety over climate change (eco-anxiety) created by governments that are failing to transition away from fossil fuels.  I hate to tell the braintrust at the WEF but most people, particularly in the West and among the world's most poor give very little thought to climate change as they struggle for food and affordable housing.

 

One mental health issue that the author raises that I do believe has merit is anxiety over the imposition of artificial intelligence on the world which is creating an underclass of those individuals who are being left behind as their jobs disappear and are replaced by computers.

 

4.) Shock events - there are three shock events that may impact a fragile global reality:

 

a.) emergence of a new global extremist group thanks to the decline of global leadership and multiple wars.

 

b.) an intentional cyber pandemic implemented by a bad actor or actors.

 

c.) climate change claims its first island nation in the post-pandemic era - Here's a quote:

 

"COP28 plan to phase out fossil fuels may take decades and it’s unclear if world leaders will follow through. What’s more probable is that in the meantime certain island nations (who emit only 0.3% of global emissions) will keep fighting their cause, whether it is through international law or new climate funds. But, if these islands do succumb to climate change, sinking a lot faster than we expect, how will climate activists and world leaders react?"

 

Again, my personal belief is that most people are paying only marginal attention to the global climate change "crisis" in light of the existential struggle for survival (i.e. paying their rent or mortgage and buying food an economic environment that has experienced significant inflation since the pandemic) in what is likely to be a looming economic crisis thanks to the massive and unsustainable levels of personal and government debt.

 

While these issues may be causing angst among the ruling class, the proletariat are distracted with the "shiny mirrors and baubles" of social media and are being led to believe by the Western mainstream media that all is well in society as long as the neoliberal agenda continues to be the choice of the electorate.  Most of us really don't care what issues are worrying the global ruling class whose agenda is being communicated by the likes of the World Economic Forum but it is interesting to see where their mindset takes them.