Today is the last day of this year’s Davos meeting. Throughout the meeting I have been exposed to many thought provoking things/issues.
One of them is the power shift taking place in the internet age, as observed in the drastic political change in Tunisia and Egypt. The effects of WikiLeaks is similar in nature to these shifts.
On the other hand, the world economy’s prospect is still unclear. Mr. David Cameron delivered a wonderful speech as the leader of his nation. Mr. Cameron and his administration are rapidly carrying out many bold policies in this difficult time. I think their task is very difficult. People will criticize them in many ways, naturally, but in today’s circumstances, true leadership is being sought more than ever before.
President Obama also delivered his State of the Union address in Washington DC. A poll right after the speech showed that 55% of the people supported Obama. This is a good rate. There is no one policy that will satisfy all people. It’s best to learn from history, see the trends, equip oneself with intelligence and courage to do what has to be done so that we may adapt to the change taking place in this totally new global world. Leaders are expected to do all this and set clear priorities, to talk to people of the nation and of the world so that they can understand what to do ? a leaders’ ability to do all this is being tested. Such is the world we are in today.
The panel of ‘WHAT IF: there is reunification on the Korean Peninsula? ’was also very thought provoking.
The last session of this year’s Davos meeting, ‘Inspired for a Lifetime’, is on-line in video and summary, too.
Overall, the Japanese media, I regret to say, seemed as if they did not exist at all. The list of media coverage is uploaded on the front page of the Davos meeting, and even the Huffington Post is in the list! The Japanese media were not listed once. Isn’t there any Japanese journalist or journalism that would speak/write not only to Japan but to the world? Are we not the nation of the 3rd largest economy? I did see several (but not many…) Japanese reporters in Davos. It seemed to me however, that even there Japanese reporters were sometimes trapped in ‘traditions’ such as the ‘kisha-club (reporter’s club)’ which is so powerful back at home. However, I saw some good signs in the phenomenon of participants being active in twitter. I like it.
This year, luckily, I had the privilege of traveling with Ms. Junko Kawaguchi, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs to and from Zurich-Davos. Thank you!
I will be back at home on the 31st. I wonder how politics, the economy and everything else in Japan will look to my eyes after having been exposed to so much here?