Free Thinkers Society at Davos 2024 (PAST EVENT)
Virtuous Leadership in an Age of Polarization
Registration
Davos 2024 Programme (Past Event)
Part 1: Business Leadership in a Time of Financial Fragmentation
Tuesday 16 January 7:00am - 8:30am
DAVOS HOTEL BELVÉDERE STEIGENBERGER - SALON DUNCAN
Join us for an exclusive Private Breakfast where industry leaders and experts will convene to discuss and debate how geopolitical, geostrategic, and geoeconomic realities and shifts are impacting the continued growth and development of the digital financial economy. As disruptions of the existing order continue to occur, trust is being disrupted faster than it can be rebuilt. At this breakfast, we’ll discuss how this dynamic is playing out in the geopolitical environment, especially the hardening of “blocs,” the resulting difficulties and bottlenecks in working across these blocs, and the challenges and opportunities presented by jurisdictions where people, goods, data, and value transit across blocs. The goal is to identify requirements for technological innovation that must occur—in areas like security, identity, privacy, data integrity, provenance, etc.—in order to enable continued innovation and growth in the digital financial economy in light of geopolitical, geostrategic, and geoeconomic realities.
With Niall Ferguson and Nouriel Roubini. Discussion moderated by Alan Cohn.
*Hotel Security Badges are required to enter the venue and attend the event. Upon confirmation of your registration.
Part 2: The Future of Democracy in a Multipolar World
Tuesday 16 January 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Stromback Penthouse at Hotel Europe
The global situation today is one of multiple interlocking crises. On the economic plain, we find high levels of inflation, interest rates, and debt. The geopolitical landscape is marked by multiple wars and the growing impact of the Sino-US rivalry. Climate change and AI accelerate a general sense of unpredictability while surging populist movements render the future of democracy fragile. Most detrimentally, in Western societies trust in experts is veining to the extent where free thinking, and even the notion of “truth” itself, is debated.
In light of the contestation between Western countries and those of a rising Global South, this session will analyze the state of democracy and its alternatives, and the shape of the future world order.
A conversation with:
Niall Ferguson, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution Stanford University
Nouriel Roubini, CEO of Roubini Macro Associates, LLC
Martin Wolf, Associate Editor and Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times
Moderated by: Victor J. Willi, Executive Director, Middle East Institute Switzerland
Introduced by: Trudy Di Pippo, Founder TDP & Partners
Part 3: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Leadership
Tuesday 16 January 9:00pm - 10:30pm
PROMENADE 71B – Private Dining Room
Henry Kissinger can surely be counted among one of the greatest statesmen of the 20th century. In his book Leadership, published in 2022, he defined an inherent paradox facing the leader-as-strategist: “In circumstances that call for action, the scope of decision-making is often greatest when relevant information is at its scantiest. By the time more data becomes available, the margin of maneuver tends of have narrowed”.
At a time of growing multipolarity and tensions in the international system, this session will look at the life and legacy of Henry Kissinger in order to understand how his leadership lessons can guide statemen and policymakers through today’s uncertainties.
A Conversation With: Niall Ferguson, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution Stanford University
Moderated by: Victor J. Willi, Executive Director, Middle East Institute Switzerland