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Andrew Sheng
Andrew Sheng

Opinion | As major powers fight, the rest of the world must learn to help themselves

  • With Europe preoccupied by war, the US riven by domestic politics, China struggling with Covid-19, and corporate titans hedging their bets, emerging economies must nurture resilience
  • The rise of localised food production and distribution shows it is already happening

Reading Time:4 minutes
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People grow their own vegetables on a plot of land at the Koningshof urban agriculture initiative, in Utrecht, the Netherlands. There is a growing movement against the current food industry with more local products appearing in restaurants and shops. Photo: EPA-EFE
Andrew Sheng

There is an African saying – when elephants fight, the grass gets trampled. The weak gets hurt every time the powerful fight.

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Coming back from the Emerging Markets Forum in Paris last month, and observing the annual corporate love fest in Davos, it became obvious that the rift between the superpowers is widening by the minute with the Ukraine war.

Talking face to face with old and new friends after more than two years of lockdown behind masks reminded me that there is no substitute for personal contact to know how people really feel about issues.

Much of the “dialogue of the deaf” between the warring elephants is due to the fact that, during the pandemic, leaders and their key advisers have social-distanced themselves into their own bubbles, not getting good feedback on what is really happening on the ground.

The town of Davos on the closing day of the World Economic Forum, in Switzerland, on May 26. The annual gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities was overshadowed by economic worries and the war in Ukraine. Photo: Bloomberg
The town of Davos on the closing day of the World Economic Forum, in Switzerland, on May 26. The annual gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities was overshadowed by economic worries and the war in Ukraine. Photo: Bloomberg

Pre-pandemic backchannels have virtually disappeared. These are low-key meetings between top advisers to key rivals who can talk freely with each other and get good readings on what areas of compromises are possible. Away from TV cameras, one could have serious discussions without being trapped by the need to repeat simplistic sound bites for the home market.

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