World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an independent, international, not-for-profit organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1971 by Swiss business professor Karl M. Schwab, the WEF serves as a platform for business and political leaders from numerous countries to discuss and debate social and economic issues of global concern. According to the WEF, its mission is to improve the state of global political, economic, and social affairs in coordination with various industry and governmental partners. The core membership of the WEF consists in about a thousand corporations, most of which are among the foremost multinational corporations in the world. Member corporations must meet annual revenue requirements and pay significant annual fees in support of their membership in the WEF. The WEF's annual meeting is held in Davos, Switzerland. Along with representatives from its corporate members, [Page 2277]assorted political leaders, academics, journalists, and leaders of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are invited to participate at the open sessions at the Davos meeting. Apart from the open sessions, numerous informal meetings, workshops, and assorted industry networking activities take place at the annual meetings of the WEF. Unlike the open forums, these informal sessions are generally closed off from media access. In addition to its annual meeting in Davos, a number of regional meetings are also held by the WEF in various locations around the world to further promote its mission. The WEF also funds various social and economic initiatives and publishes economic reports on different aspects of the global economy.

In recent years, a number of interest groups, including environmental, labor, and antiglobalization organizations, have held highly publicized protests during the annual meeting of the WEF in Davos. These demonstrations are indicative of the strong opposition to the WEF from certain quarters. While the WEF promotes itself as an impartial forum for the discussion of global social and economic issues, critics of the WEF accuse the organization of serving solely as a mechanism for the promotion of corporate economic interests. Such critics have argued that the WEF's activities are geared more toward securing profits for its corporate members than actually addressing global social and economic problems, that it functions largely as a political lobbying organization for corporate interests, and that its membership, largely stemming from the United States, Europe, and Japan, is not truly reflective of global demographics. In recent years, the WEF has taken several positive steps to respond to some of these criticisms, including inviting more NGOs to participate in its annual meetings, expanding its membership base from underdeveloped nations, and initiating a series of dialogues with groups traditionally critical of the organization. Despite such gestures, many critics of the WEF remain unappeased. In many ways, this ongoing debate is not surprising, as the dispute over the WEF is connected to the larger arguments about the nature and direction of globalization. As such, it is likely that the function of the WEF within the global economy will remain contested in the foreseeable future.