WEF casts spotlight on changing multilateralism dynamics

The 56^th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) came to an end on Friday.

Attended by more than 3 000 leaders from around 130 countries, the meeting came during one of the most complex geopolitical periods in history and at a time when many appeared to agree that multilateralism, as it’s been known for decades, is changing and weakening dramatically.

Thoughts about these shifts that are usually discussed in private were spoken out loud on podiums, with allies speaking directly against the conduct of each other.

South Africa represented the country with the simple message that it was open for business and was working towards fixing its structural impediments.

Niceties and politeness were set aside to put a line in the sand about the new geo-economic realities of the day.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney did not mince his words, saying that the world is in rapture instead of transition.

French President Emmanuel Macron took to the podium, berating the current international order as it’s become; highly critical of what he described as instability and imbalances from a security and defence point of view, as well as an economic perspective.

While it was clear that the critiques coming from the previously quoted leaders referred much to US President Donald Trump‘s foreign and economic policies without necessarily naming him, Trump himself directly called out those very leaders when it was his time to speak, referring to Carney; as ungrateful and cheekingly questioning why it was that Macron was wearing sunglasses inside the venue.

Trump raved about the anticipated growth of the US economy and how foreign direct investment was expected to exceed 18 trillion dollars. He also encouraged other nations to follow his policy path, speaking scathingly about what Europe had become, saying it had gone in the wrong direction.

Details in the report below: