Day One at Summer Davos: It’s all about the Soft Power

“Summer Davos” is the World Economic Forum’s four-year old conference in China, titled “The Annual Meeting of the New Champions.” It’s all about the economic challenges and opportunities emerging markets. Wandering between panels where heads of multinationals, entrepreneurs, government officials and social entrepreneurs are talking about the Chinese consumer that’s just waking up, trillions in foreign investment and where it’s going and the time-bomb of shortages in food, water and energy as the world population goes from 6.9 billion to 9.1 billion in 2050, two things occurred to me: This is my version of porn, and I'm a total nerd. By far the most interesting topic on day one was a panel on so-called “soft power.” Soft power is the name of the game in China—both good and bad, and it’s been on full display so far in Tianjin.