Davos, Bamako or Caracas ? The media were spoilt for choice: The World Economic Forum (WEF) on the one hand and the World Social Forum (WSF) on the other. To top it off the WSF now takes place on 4 continents. The Forums, however, did little to light anyone's fire.

The press wrote at length about the main subjects debated at the WEF: Iran's nuclear threat, avian flu, the North-South economic imbalance, the warming of the planet, Irak, the energy crisis and especially the rise in power of both India and China. The Forum spoke about the supremacy of economics over politics, underlining the disequilibrium brought on by world growth, and sporadically deploring the "back to business" in 2006 at the expense of Africa and its fight against AIDS. The press also reported that the WTO conference was not part of the Davos forum and that the Doha agenda would very probably be a failure.

Because of the notable absence of American and European leaders, with the exception of Angela Merkel whose report on energy safety was much awaited, it was the initiatives of famous people like Bill Gates (for his anti-tuberculosis project launched with Great Britain and Nigeria) and Bono (for his battle against AIDS) that made the top of the list. Another major issue: the cooperation between governments, companies, NGOs and the media to finance the fight against epidemics. On this subject, the press stated that governments were not ready to cope with a pandemic of avian flu.

Along with the main discussion themes, the press also reported that many of the meetings took place "informally". Far from being fooled, the journalists pointed out that the real debates took place outside the conference rooms and sometimes deplored the lack of transparency.

Judging by the content of the articles, the WSF is losing some of its influence. War, immigration and development, debt and world trade were the main issues debated on by the groups (pacifists, ecologists, economists, associations or NGOs and others) attending the WSF in Bamako and Caracas. The Forum in Bamako brought the African continent into the limelight, whereas in previous forums it had usually been on the back burner.

However, what were discussed most was the future of social movements and the nature of the debates in Venezuela. The press emphasized Latin America's strong influence and the rise in left-wing politics in this part of the world. Also reported on were the comments by Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, who made an appeal to join Latin America counterparts in forging alternatives in an oppressive world system. There is little doubt, however, that Davos eclipsed the WSF. The lack of any final declaration and decision-making on the future of the movement leaves a lot of questions hanging. Will future forums succeed any better? Will the alterglobalists be able to transcend their differences?

Sylvie Testard-Ramirez, Managing Director, Echo Research France
Analysis and commentary by Echo Research