{"id":94485,"date":"2025-01-22T12:17:15","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T10:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=94485"},"modified":"2025-01-22T12:19:11","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T10:19:11","slug":"media-lens-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/media-lens-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Lens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n22 January 2025 | 12:16 p.m. CAT
\n3-minute read<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The 55th<\/sup> annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is currently underway in Davos, Switzerland. Davos 2025, which began on Monday and is set to conclude on Friday, convened under the theme \u201cCollaboration for the Intelligent Age\u201d.<\/p>\n

Since its inception in 1971 by German engineer Klaus Schwab, the WEF has grown significantly, with Davos 2025 bringing together 3 000 attendees from over 130 countries. An international organisation that connects leaders from business, government, society, and academia to shape global, regional, and industry agendas, the WEF\u2019s \u201cGreat Reset\u201d plan has been criticised as a strategy to instate a communist world order by abolishing private property while using COVID-19 to solve overpopulation and enslaving what remains of humanity with vaccines.<\/p>\n

Discussions at Davos 2025 will include geo-economic uncertainty, AI, reimagining growth and safeguarding the planet, among other topics.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking at artificial intelligence (AI), issues of language models, and how they can impact skills, labour; technological advancements, and also sustainability, because these processes and data centres require much energy,\u201d Hafidh Ibrahim said during this week\u2019s Media Lens<\/a>. \u201cTwo other big focuses is the issue of building trust, especially artificial intelligence and misinformation, geopolitical contestation, and the need to promote more cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Discussions thus far have explored the transformative potential of large language models and machine learning on industries and the workforce. Experts warned that 40% of jobs worldwide are already impacted by AI technologies, a figure expected to rise significantly. Policymakers and business leaders emphasised the urgent need for comprehensive upskilling and reskilling strategies to prepare workers for the evolving job market.<\/p>\n

Concerns over sustainability also featured prominently. AI-driven data centres consume enormous amounts of energy, raising questions about their long-term environmental impact. Forum participants stressed the importance of balancing technological growth with sustainable practices to mitigate ecological harm.<\/p>\n

Combating misinformation and navigating geopolitical competition were highlighted as key challenges. The rise of multipolarity\u2014with China, India, and a resurgent Europe increasingly asserting economic influence\u2014presents both opportunities and risks. Protectionist trade policies and heightened competition among major economies have fuelled concerns about global stability.<\/p>\n

Media coverage of WEF meetings is typically sparse, and this year has been no different, with two major events having eclipsed Davos 2025: the Gaza ceasefire deal and Trump\u2019s inauguration as the 47th<\/sup> president of the United States of America (USA).<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s transactional approach to international relations, including potential withdrawal from key agreements, has raised concerns because his policies could weaken global cooperation on trade and climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see this with the US-China competition, but also EU-China, EU and itself: this \u2018protectionism\u2019 from last year\u2019s IMF and WEF conferences,\u201d Hafidh Ibrahim said. \u201cThe US, as much as it wants to protect itself as the world\u2019s main hegemony, is actually decreasing in favour of the growing power of China, the growing power of India, a resurgent Europe, Japan, and now with the African continent free trade agreement and the growing power of the African continent\u2014that opens possibilities for global conflict and global tensions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forum participants from the EU and China voice apprehensions about threats to global trade, and experts warn that a fragmented global economy could hinder efforts to address collective challenges like conflict and technological colonialism\u2014a term used to describe the dominance of powerful nations in the AI race.<\/p>\n

Analysts suggest increased competition, rather than cooperation, may dominate international relations in the coming years. The potential for economic conflict and strained multilateral relations has raised concerns about world peace and stability among some, while others see it as a combatant against a \u201cNew World Order\u201d.<\/p>\n

Listen <\/strong>to the Media Lens<\/a> on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za 22 January 2025 | 12:16 p.m. CAT 3-minute read The 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is currently underway in Davos, Switzerland. Davos 2025, which began on Monday and is set to conclude on Friday, convened under the theme \u201cCollaboration for the Intelligent Age\u201d. Since its inception in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":92107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/the-media-lens-15-july-2024.jpg?fit=2268%2C2268&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-ozX","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 14:47:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}