‘The New Global Context’ – Professor Woods at Davos

This week, government representatives, international organisations, business leaders, philanthropists and academics gather in Davos, Switzerland for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, among them Professor Ngaire Woods, Director of the Global Economic Governance Programme (GEG) and Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government.

The meeting will be grappling with the theme of “The New Global Context”. Might an era of economic integration and international partnership be ending? How are profound political, economic, social and technological transformations changing the way we look at the future and we make decisions?

Professor Woods will be involved in a number of public and private events and meetings while at Davos. As moderator of an Open Forum on “The End of Democracy?” she will ask panelists what has gone wrong with democracy, and more importantly, how it can be revived.

Acting as moderator for a Forum Debate on “The Multipolar World”, Professor Woods will lead a discussion about the declining role of the United States leadership and how that will affect global governance. Panelists confirmed include H.R.H. Prince Turki Al Faisal Al SAud (Prince of Saudi Royal Family), Jan Eliasson (Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations), Jane Harman (Director, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars), Ursula vor der Leyen (Federal Minister of Defence, Germany) and Yung Buyng-Se (Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea). This Forum Debate, scheduled for Friday, will be broadcast live.

Professor Ngaire Woods will be moderating the following debates:

Wednesday 21 January

• Big History, Big Future: From the origins of life to megacities - What can leaders learn about cooperation from the origins of humankind to the formation of civilization?
• The End of Democracy? - Democratic uprisings in the 21st century have resulted in failed states and social unrest. The United States used to be a model for political and economic dynamism but now other nations offer attractive alternatives that dissociate economic from political freedoms. Is democracy on the wane?

Thursday 22 January

• Big History, Big Future: Innovation since the modern revolution - What can leaders learn about innovation from evolutionary biology to the scientific and industrial revolution that shaped our modern world?

Friday 23 January

• Forum debate: The Multipolar World - Will global governance stall as American leadership weakens?. This session is webcast live from 09.15-10.15 am 
• Big History, Big future: Globalisation, growth and stability - What can leaders learn about the foundations of globalization from the origins of international trade to the advent of the Anthropocene era?