Listening from the congress hall, I found Condy's speech at davos extremely moving- very eloquent address of the value of values and the need to act with it- a stellar job particularly given the credibility challenge the current presidency faces. A valiant attempt, perhaps, on her behalf trying to address the stereotypical American fallacies and take them head on.
Henry Kissinger was on stage open plenary as a co-chair as well- quite interesting- a throwback to a bygone era, perhaps? He made a point about idealism and realism- which was very interesting-something the art of the possible; about how u needed idealism if u wanted to lead, but needed realism to get there (all a bit confusing after a nearly sleepless night, but hey, there you go)-
Also heard a few views on the "Transatlantic alliance"- I think America has enough going on (Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea) for it to legitimately not focus too much on Europe.
The one thing that came out for me is there seems to be an attempt to create a legacy for George Bush on perhaps gaining some ground around the Israel- Palestine situation. I must profess to skepticism here, don't know if he has enough going on for anyone to listen to him- albeit he is still the head of state of the most economically active nation.
That said, America still has the clout to have a commanding presence wherever it is represented , and it is represented in Force, in Davos -08.
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