Security, both inside and outside the Congress Center, was exceptionally tight, but this only added to the uncertainty of the participants. If euphoria was the defining feature of the 2000 Davos meetings, which took place against a backdrop of an unprecedented surge in technology stocks, this years meeting was characterized by a sense of gloom. The reasons for this were not hard to uncover. The meeting's four main themes were a slowing U.S. economy and an uncertain global economic outlook; the pros and cons of globalization....; poverty reduction and debt relief; and efforts to start a new round of multilateral trade negotiations....
John J. Sweeney, President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), said that the world was witnessing not a backlash, but the pangs of birth. 'We are witnessing,' he suggested, 'a new internationalism, bottom-up driven, and located in the public square rather than the boardroom.' He pointed to student movements against sweatshops and for workplace rights everywhere. 'Seattle should be celebrated for calling the WTO [World Trade Organization] to account,' he said. 'We've been able to transform the agendas of various organizations including this one. Now is the time for actions such as debt forgiveness, increased aid, and greater World Bank and IMF support for education and health.