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EVERY year they come, to the jamboree staged by the World Economic Forum, high up in the Alps: kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers, power-holders and glitterati of all kinds. There is always a smattering of arts types, and this year we have Emma Thompson, the actress, and Yo-Yo Ma, the cellist. Also Alice Waters, the chef (a kind of artist). And two rockers: Peter Gabriel and Bono. One morning, Bono and Al Gore put on a show, titled “A Unified Earth Theory: Combining Solutions to Extreme Poverty and the Climate Crisis.” Nifty how that works out, huh? Business is represented by men and women at its commanding heights, including Indra Nooyi, who runs Pepsi; Rupert Murdoch, who runs some of our favorite media outlets; and Bill Gates, who invented the modern world (or something). It occurs to me that I’ve never seen Gates out of a sweater. It then occurs to me that I’ve never seen him outside the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum-which takes place in the middle of the Swiss winter. Henry Kissinger is a co-chairman of this event, and he makes a weighty observation. Every part of the world is changing significantly, and these parts are changing at the same time. Moreover, the changes are linked. Kissinger cannot think of a precedent for this in history. And at this gathering are several figures who occupy important places in this world convulsion. Pervez Musharraf has a well-nigh impossible job-president of Pakistan. He comes to Davos in the wake of the assassination of one of his political rivals, Benazir Bhutto. He himself has survived assassination attempts. And his country is considered one of the world’s touchiest powderkegs. In previous visits to Davos, Musharraf has appeared calm, cool, and crisp. This year, however, he seems somewhat flustered, under strain-a little off his game. One can well imagine why. Riding a tiger can be hard on the nerves. Musharraf is eager to talk of Pakistan’s upcoming elections. They will be “free, fair, transparent, and peaceful,” he says. He defends the democratic progress his country has made-halting as that progress may have been. And he has a plea for his Western listeners: “Give us some time to adopt what you achieved over centuries.” He admonishes us about how to “judge” a developing country: “Don’t use Western eyes. Try to see it from the point of view of that country. We are arriving at democracy in our own ways.” As you know, this is the sort of relativism that makes many people groan. And some groaning may be in order. But I can’t

help smiling as I listen to Musharraf, because he reminds me of the good liberals and leftists by whom I was taught. “Ethnocentrism” was one of the biggest sins you could commit; we were not to see anybody through Western eyes.

About the Author

Jay Nordlinger

Jay Nordlinger was a senior editor of National Review and a book fellow at National Review Institute.

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EVERY year they come, to the jamboree staged by the World Economic Forum, high up in the Alps: kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers, power-holders and glitterati of all kinds. There is always a smattering of arts types, and this year we have Emma Thompson, the actress, and Yo-Yo Ma, the cellist. Also Alice Waters, the chef (a kind of artist). And two rockers: Peter Gabriel and Bono. One morning, Bono and Al Gore put on a show, titled “A Unified Earth Theory: Combining Solutions to Extreme Poverty and the Climate Crisis.” Nifty how that works out, huh? Business is represented by men and women at its commanding heights, including Indra Nooyi, who runs Pepsi; Rupert Murdoch, who runs some of our favorite media outlets; and Bill Gates, who invented the modern world (or something). It occurs to me that I’ve never seen Gates out of a sweater. It then occurs to me that I’ve never seen him outside the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum-which takes place in the middle of the Swiss winter. Henry Kissinger is a co-chairman of this event, and he makes a weighty observation. Every part of the world is changing significantly, and these parts are changing at the same time. Moreover, the changes are linked. Kissinger cannot think of a precedent for this in history. And at this gathering are several figures who occupy important places in this world convulsion. Pervez Musharraf has a well-nigh impossible job-president of Pakistan. He comes to Davos in the wake of the assassination of one of his political rivals, Benazir Bhutto. He himself has survived assassination attempts. And his country is considered one of the world’s touchiest powderkegs. In previous visits to Davos, Musharraf has appeared calm, cool, and crisp. This year, however, he seems somewhat flustered, under strain-a little off his game. One can well imagine why. Riding a tiger can be hard on the nerves. Musharraf is eager to talk of Pakistan’s upcoming elections. They will be “free, fair, transparent, and peaceful,” he says. He defends the democratic progress his country has made-halting as that progress may have been. And he has a plea for his Western listeners: “Give us some time to adopt what you achieved over centuries.” He admonishes us about how to “judge” a developing country: “Don’t use Western eyes. Try to see it from the point of view of that country. We are arriving at democracy in our own ways.” As you know, this is the sort of relativism that makes many people groan. And some groaning may be in order. But I can’t

help smiling as I listen to Musharraf, because he reminds me of the good liberals and leftists by whom I was taught. “Ethnocentrism” was one of the biggest sins you could commit; we were not to see anybody through Western eyes.