Peacemaking efforts did not seem to prosper much either. A clutch of Balkans presidents came and made their pitch about regional reconstruction while scarcely looking at each other. But for this first-time observer of the Davos scene there was plenty of attraction still in the intellectual bazaar which is laid out for the delegates. You can hear Hong Kong businessmen urging President Bush to send all his congressmen on cultural classes, stroll by legendary music producer Quincy Jones signing CDs for fellow delegates and hear President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria discussing the future of their continent. It is a heady mixture.
Old hands say it is a touch short of the glory days.
But there is still plenty of business being done in those back rooms. And politicians back home will have to find answers over the next few years to many of the questions which earned an airing at Davos. Pages will open in a new browser window External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive. An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.