Manhattan gives Davos a break from annual mayhem

The Big Apple is well prepared to host the World Economic Forum this week,writes Conor O'Clery in New York

A crowd tries to overturn a car in a motorcade. People chain themselves to railings. A commander barks orders from a helicopter. Riot police charge with batons drawn, chanting "Move! Move!" It was all stage-acted, part of a recent New York Police Department rehearsal at Shea Stadium car-park for possible disturbances during the World Economic Forum in Manhattan this week.

After 31 years in Davos, Switzerland, the annual global get-together of business and political leaders will he held this year in the Big Apple, in what Forum President Klaus Schwab calls a gesture of "solidarity" after the September 11th attacks.

The Forum will now try to recreate the famous jugendherberge (youth hostel) feeling for 3,000 delegates at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue, from January 31st to February 4th. The relocation gives Davos a break from what had become an annual ritual of mayhem and tear gas, with a security bill last year of $5.4 million (€6.26 million). New York is preparing to inherit the anti-capitalist protests which marked the summits at the pristine Swiss ski resort.

However, the world has changed since September 11th. At the time, the anti-globalisation movement was planning a huge demonstration at the IMF-World Bank summit in Washington at the end of September. Tens of thousands of protesters were expected, including contingents of organised labour.

But after the murderous attacks, the IMF-World Bank summit was called off and the counter-capitalism momentum was lost as a patriotic mood swept the country. This week will be a test of the movement's ability to regain the initiative in an atmosphere less tolerant of dissent and and of anything perceived as anti-US.

The banners and slogans will be much in evidence outside the Waldorf Astoria. A non-confrontational mass rally and other protests are being planned by a number of counter-capitalist groups with a mixture of anti- globalisation, anti-war and human rights themes.

"There are a lot of people passionately upset about the damage status-quo globalisation is doing to their lives and our world," said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, founded by Ralph Nader. "We are doing our best to make sure this message is heard through peaceful and non-violent protest."

At the same time, the Forum itself has taken steps to change its image from that of the "dining club for the ruling class" as anti-WEF websites call it, and to make the "Davos by the Hudson" jamboree more responsive to the changed global situation.

"We created a brand new programme for this annual meeting . . . designed to stimulate discussion and provide insights that will help us better cope with the fragility of our times," said Mr Schwab. The Forum is making "a renewed commitment to development issues through market solutions," said Jose Maria Figurés of the Forum's Centre for a Global Agenda.

"We see it as a way of moving towards a virtuous circle of greater interaction between the business community and other sectors of society," she said.

The 1,000 business leaders, 20 heads of state, 230 other politicians, 250 academics and assorted Nobel Prize winners, religious leaders, artists, scientists, and media representatives will be invited to attend sessions on post-September 11th issues including resolution of conflicts in different parts of the world.

A session on Northern Ireland chaired by former US Senator George Mitchell will feature David Trimble, Gerry Adams, Mark Durkan and David Ervine.

The Forum hoped to have a big party in the Waldorf on Saturday evening, February 2nd, but a wedding had been booked for the hotel ballroom on that date, and the wealthy family hosting the event refused to move.

The party will take place instead on the floor of the Stock Exchange on Wall Street - a site that will reinforce for many demonstrators what the Forum is really all about.