For 51 weeks out of the year, if you visit the ski town of Davos in Switzerland,

my colleague Mercedes-Rul says it'll feel something like this.

It's quiet, it's clean, it's a very small alpine town high up in the Swiss Mountains,

and it's in a big, long valley.

And so you're looking at white peaks.

And for most of the year, it's known for skiing, hiking, and fresh mountain air.

But for one week in January, the town transforms.

Hello to everyone.

Here I am in Davos, Switzerland.

In the next couple of days, there will be a lot of discussions, debates, views, analysis,

produced and debated.

It suddenly becomes jam-packed with thousands of the world's so-called elite,

like the European Central Bank's Christine Lagarde, who you just heard,

business leaders like J.P. Morgan's CEO, Jamie Diamond,

heads of state like Ukraine's president, Volodemir Zelensky.

They all pile in in their parkas for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Over the years, this meeting has played host to some important moments. In the 80s, it hosted a thaw in Greek-Turkish tensions when the country signed a peace declaration.

In the 90s, it facilitated Israeli-Arab dialogue after the Oslo Accords. In the 2000s, Bill facilitated Israeli Arab dialogue after the Oslo Accords.

In the 2000s, Bill Gates used the forum to launch major vaccine funding initiatives.

So I do think the WEF is a barometer.

It's not a definitive answer about how global power is organizing itself, but it's a good indicator.

Next week, the World Economic Forum will kick off its 56th annual meeting in Davos.

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