By: Rami G. Khouri – News World Communications Inc.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — What happens when you put on the table all the major crises facing the world, identify how they are linked to each other, and attempt to start charting a path towards their resolution? What happens when you do this by bringing together 700 experts and leaders in their fields from around the world who analyze and recommend action on 68 issues and regions of the world?

MASSIVE BRAINSTORMING — The World Economic Forum founder and chairman Klaus Schwab audaciously but accurately called the Inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda, “the biggest brainstorming exercise ever held on a global agenda.” It was held in the Gulf state of Dubai, shown here. (Newscom)

This is what took place in Dubai last weekend when the World Economic Forum (WEF) convened the inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda, in partnership with the government of Dubai. WEF founder and chairman Klaus Schwab audaciously but accurately called it “the biggest brainstorming exercise ever held on a global agenda.”

The 700 “thought leaders” from business, government, academia and civil society assessed a very wide range of issues of relevance to the entire world, including water, energy, youth, terrorism, health care, climate change, food, sustainable development, women’s rights, education, capital flows, and four dozen other topics. Simultaneously, teams analyzed the current state and future prospects of all the world’s geographic regions and a few major countries like Russia, China, Korea and India.

I had the opportunity to participate in this pioneering three-day event, which was as instructive as it was novel and ambitious. The recommendations that emerged at the end are worth noting because they capture a few overriding themes that tell us much about how we got into the current global crisis. (Summaries of the 68 group findings are on the WEF website).

The main recommendation was that the world must re-examine the basic operating systems that drive its economies, markets and societies, and aim for a “fundamental reboot” to establish a fresh platform based on renewed confidence and trust, and on sustainability, responsibility, and ethical principles.

A theme that permeated many areas was the loss of trust and confidence in existing national and global governance systems. It was noted that the current global financial crisis represented a failure of both economic markets and political sovereignty.

A second theme was a need to identify and observe the carrying capacity of the natural environment.

A third was the vital importance of “inclusive” decision-making, i.e., everyone has to have a voice and a seat at the table to fix the current global problems. We’re all needed to manage things once the ship is righted.

Greater transparency and availability of information and data were priorities for many of the 68 councils, who traced some of today’s problems to excesses anchored in insufficient disclosure of information with excessive risk-taking and poor regulation.

Since most major crises reflect clusters of several individual problems or imbalances that merge together, analyses, diagnoses and solutions similarly must be multi-sectoral and transnational. Everywhere, it was acknowledged, that the foundation of good governance should be anchored in the rule of law – a vital prerequisite for a livable, secure world.

Finally, the participants recognized the need for reasonable global governance systems that set basic rules but do not stifle entrepreneurship. It was noted, for example, that global capital markets collapsed in recent months due to lack of quality regulation and governance, but the global trading system thrives, because it is governed by globally accepted rules.

One morning during the weekend was devoted to interaction among the 68 different councils, allowing participants to walk around the immense conference facility to hear and speak with experts from different sectors and regions.

What struck me as I worked my way through sessions on youth empowerment, climate change, food security, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the future of the city, demographic shifts and a dozen other subjects was the constant theme of inter-linkages among the individual issues or threats.

Climate change impacts on water resources, which affects agriculture and urban quality of life, prompting migration, which causes new stresses on education and health services, in turn leading to political stress, and on and on.

Cascading stresses and threats need multi-sectoral responses.

The weekend experience was troubling for pointing out just how severe are the problems the world faces, but it was also hopeful for reminding us that we have immense reserves of human talent and knowledge to find solutions to man-made problems.

Members of each of the 68 Global Agenda councils will continue their deliberations all year through advanced web-conferencing technology, and will convene again next year in Dubai.

The Network of Global Agenda Councils, as this effort is called, is one example of how like-minded people around the world can pool their knowledge and resources in a global collaboration to address growing challenges and threats that are no longer confined to a single sector, country or region. One-off gatherings don’t have much impact: They need to lead to ongoing mechanisms managed by the private sector, NGOs, and governments alike to work together on the great challenges facing our planet.