After 9/11, the World Economic Forum — the Davos people — decided to do a conference in, and on, the Middle East. I report to you from the sixth one. Lately, the conference has alternated between Jordan and Egypt. In Jordan, the conference is by the Dead Sea; in Egypt, it is in Sharm El Sheikh, which is in the Sinai peninsula, on the Red Sea.
In the past, I have asked the cutesy question, “Better Dead than Red, or better Red than Dead?” Both settings are pleasant and suitable. Also, I, and others, have referred to the World Economic Forum’s Middle East fest as “Davos in the Desert.” (Davos is the little town in the Swiss Alps where the WEF’s Annual Meeting is held.)
And who is around this year? Some heads of state — for example, Mubarak, our host, and King Abdullah of Jordan, and Valdis Zatlers of Latvia, a wild card. And how about another wild card? President George W. Bush. He has not before done a Davos, whether in Switzerland or here in the Middle East.
The Duke of York is here, too — otherwise known as Prince Andrew, otherwise known as Mr. Fergie (once). Tony Blair is another Brit — he acts in his role as “Middle East Quartet Envoy” of the United Nations.
There are gobs of foreign ministers, including many (most?) from the Middle East. One of them is Israel’s Tzipi Livni. Some say that she will be the next prime minister. Also, Bernard Kouchner of France is here. He is a co-founder of Doctors Without Borders, and one of the most interesting men in politics.
Iraqis are plentiful, including Barham Salih, the deputy prime minister, and Hoshyar Zebari, the foreign minister. Israelis besides Livni include Ehud Barak, now the defense minister, and Benjamin Netanyahu, now chairman of Likud.
Early in the conference, I see Bibi, sort of scowling and looking bad-a**.
Americans besides Bush? There’s Robert Zoellick, who heads the World Bank, and Susan Schwab, the trade representative, and at least two congressmen: Jane Harman (D., Calif.) and Christopher Shays (R., Conn.).
The place is, of course, crawling with business people, including E. Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coke, and Jimmy Wales, founder and “chair emeritus” of Wikia, USA. Pretty cool name, huh? I mean, both “Jimmy Wales” and “Wikia, USA.” And “E. Neville Isdell”’s not too bad either.
Al Arabiya plans an interesting debate, headed “The Gathering Storm of Inflation.” Two of the participants are Bassem Awadallah, the Jordanian king’s brilliant and reformist chief of staff; and Youssuf Boutros-Ghali, finance minister of Egypt. The Boutros-Ghalis keep coming, huh?
Mohamed ElBaradei, the atomic-energy chief and Nobel laureate, is here. If he says a cross word about Iran or North Korea, I’ll fall off my chair. If he says a cross word about the United States or Israel, I may yawn.
Leafing through the list of participants, I take special notice of Jorge Sampaio. Why? His title: High Representative of the Alliance of Civilization, United Nations. How about that? Can it get grander? I also take special notice of Ewa Björling, trade minister of Sweden — because I wonder whether she’s related to the great, late tenor Jussi. He is some people’s favorite singer, all-time, you know.
Egypt’s First Lady, Suzanne Mubarak, will speak. And very much on the scene is her son, Gamal. He is touted to succeed the old man as president — and we could do worse, it must be said.
Virtually all of the panels and forums are devoted to the problems of the Middle East (which is never short of problems) — but there are two oddball sessions. One of them is, “All You Ever Wanted to Know About Relationships, but Were Afraid to Ask.” It is led by a psychologist. And the other is “The Scent of Success,” about perfume.
Just in case you tire of war, peace, and all that jazz (I won’t).
Giving the welcoming address is President Mubarak, who, as I keep saying, looks amazingly good for a senior citizen: He just turned 80. He does not look like he will be giving up the reins anytime soon. And I don’t expect he’ll lose reelection.
He begins with words about the Sinai, and its importance in history — not neglecting to mention Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. This is the same thing he said in his opening remarks two years ago. But there’s nothing wrong with such repetition.
He talks about the economic “crisis,” triggered by the “collapse” of U.S. real-estate and financial markets. He talks about the problem of food scarcity. He notes possible conflicts between energy needs and food needs (a true-ringing theme). And he says that the world is “facing the negative effects of climate change.” We will have to come to grips with global warming, he says.
As he speaks, I try to imagine him tossing and turning at night, worrying about global warming. I cannot.
On the subject of reform and democracy, Mubarak says that such things must come from within, not from without. There must be no “imposing.” And he dwells on the Palestinian question, which he suggests is the critical problem. I wonder what Egypt is doing for the Palestinians — especially in Gaza, Egypt’s former holding.
He heaps praise on Mahmoud Abbas, whom he calls “Abu Mazen.” He hails him as a man of courage and vision. I get the impression Mubarak is bucking up the Palestinian leader, against those who call him a weakling and sellout.
And I appreciate something else from Mubarak: He says “Israel” and “Israeli.” Every time an Arab leader uses those words, it’s a victory of sorts — because those words are better than “Jew,” “Zionist entity,” and so on.
When he says, “The future starts from this particular moment,” I think of the line they teased LBJ about: “The future lies before us” (and where else?).
About Hosni Mubarak, I have long had one great question: Is he a dictator, albeit of the “presidential” kind, who has kept Egypt down, and held her back? Or is he a patriot, who has kept the Muslim radicals at bay? Or is he some combination? Moreover, could Egypt have done better, all these years?
Sitting together, during Mubarak’s speech, are Awadallah (the Jordanian king’s chief of staff) and Salih (the Iraqi deputy PM). That strikes me as natural: They are two of the greatest liberalizers in the Middle East. (Perhaps it would be better to say “would-be liberalizers.”)
And as I look at Mubarak’s entourage, I wonder, “What is really in their heads?” Some weeks ago, I did an item in Impromptus on Abdallah al-Ashal, who was deputy foreign minister of Egypt. He is now a professor of international law and political science at the American University in Cairo. And he was on television talking about how George W. Bush and Ariel Sharon conspired to commit the atrocities of 9/11.
I’m sorry, but I have to wonder: What is in the heads of these elegant-looking elites?
Following Mubarak at the podium is King Abdullah of Jordan. He is clean-shaven now, looking rather younger than he did with scruff. He is not looking at a text — he is either reciting a speech from memory or reading from a teleprompter. (It cannot be extemporaneous.) I vote No. 2: teleprompter. But I don’t see that device.
He begins, “When they write the histories, this could be 2008: the birth-year of independent Palestine; an endpoint to a 60-year timeline of conflict; the start of a new global position for the Middle East.”
He says,
Time is now of the essence. [Yeah, when is it not?] It is vital that the year 2008 not end as the year 2000 did: with progress cut off, the sphere of agreement collapsing, and years of expanding violence to come. We need to ask ourselves, how much further ahead would we be today if these last eight years had been years of peace and stability? If, all this time, a sovereign Palestine had been building and thriving?
And so on. That is very well done. The rest of the speech? So-so (to comment in brief).
Next at the podium is Bush — and a somewhat funny thing happens to me. I read about the speech before I hear it. On the Internet, I see a report from the Associated Press. It begins, “Israel got glowing praise from President Bush earlier this week. On Sunday, the Arab world got a stern lecture, on the need to spread freedoms and isolate state sponsors of terror that he said are holding the region back.”
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