Research and editorial essay by Jeremy Harrigan for MaloneInstitute.org

“The drive of the Rockefellers and their allies is to create a one-world government combining supercapitalism and Communism under the same tent, all under their control. Do I mean a conspiracy? Yes, I do. I am convinced there is such a plot, international in scope, generations old in planning, incredibly evil in intent.”

–Rep. Larry P. MacDonald, killed in Korean Air Lines 007, 1983

As we shared with this audience back in September, the World Economic Forum (WEF) continues to expand its globalist ideology and agenda by recruiting other key nations to share its vision. Despite bilateral relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia having sunk to the most contentious level in decades, three weeks ago Wall Street executives and some of the world's wealthiest investors flocked to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a conference nicknamed "Davos in the Desert." 

The sixth edition of Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference, which actually began in 2017, has gradually come to compete with the WEF’s annual winter meetings in Davos, and in the summer Annual Meeting of the New Champions forum in China (as previously covered). A few of the attendees and keynote speakers at this glittering investment, a showcase for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), were Jamie Dimon and David Solomon, the CEOs of J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, respectively. They shared the desert stage with billionaires Stephen Schwarzman (of The Blackstone Group), and Ray Dalio (founder of the world's largest hedge fund). Former President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also appeared at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference, and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is scheduled to speak on Wednesday. Both Kushner and Mnuchin now run private equity funds backed by Saudi Arabia.

Other speakers included Ben Horowitz, one of the world's best-known venture capitalists, and Sam Bankman-Fried, the now former CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX.  Speaking of Sam Bankman-Fried, this may very well have been his last prestigious trip in the position and notoriety he held just one week ago until his cryptocurrency empire FTX collapsed overnight, as the 30-year-old billionaire was forced to sell FTX on Nov. 8 to a major rival due to a cash crisis- but not before donating millions to Democrats and left-wing causes. No cabinet officials or senior staff from the Biden Administration were in attendance, due in large part to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman cutting oil production as a slap in the face to Biden’s demands to do just the opposite, which of course has driven up energy prices.

The FII conference agenda and topics included artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, tourism and hospitality, and investing.  The real focus of the event’s intent this year can be found here.  They are not shy at all about promoting a New Global Order and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles.  A full list of speakers who contributed are listed in this article.

Richard Attias, CEO of the conference’s organizer FII Institute, provided a summary of the proceedings;

“180 sessions, 30 workshops and four mini-summits will be held during the conference. This year’s event features forums on new pathways for global investment, analysis of critical industry trends, and networking chances for corporate heads, policymakers, investors, and industry experts. Topics also include balancing economic success and sustainability, the rise of world geo-economic powers, increasing global inequality, new challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as opportunities in the post-pandemic recovery.”

As the conference has begun to slowly take shape and spread its wings in an effort to clean up MBS’s image post the brutal October 2018 killing in Turkey of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the event was colloquially referred to by some media and commentators as "Davos in the Desert". All of this to say the WEF has objected to the use of "Davos" in such contexts for any event not organized by them.  So as this was not a WEF-sanctioned event, Klaus Schwab did not of course attend, nor were any WEF-sourced agenda or initiatives championed. Back to Richard Attias, the master of ceremonies (the MC if you will) of the FII conference, according to a page on the FII’s own website: 

“Richard Attias’ talent for anticipating and managing the most pressing issues of our time, activating powerful networks and inspiring innovation, is based on the development and production of more than 2000 events over the past 30 years. The following are just a few examples of the leading platforms he has produced: World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos, Clinton Global Initiative, Nobel Laureates Conferences, The New York Forum, The New York Forum AFRIC, UNESCO NGO Forum, One Planet Summit, Olympism In Action, Future Investment Initiative, Bloomberg New Economy Forum, The African Cup, The African Games, and multiple opening ceremonies.”

Readers will be forgiven if they are not one bit surprised that the annual meeting in Davos is listed first in this resume excerpt; Attias and his team can bring that experience each year back to Saudi Arabia or a future host city in the region as these conferences will likely continue.

You may ask yourself, ‘OK so what’s the big deal—Saudi Arabia is just trying to attract global investors and the WEF did not even attend this conference?’ Let me point you to a survey posted on the WEFs own website, which states only 50% of respondents in the United States have ever heard of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which largely coincide with the WEFs goals. If we remain driven to stay on top of what the WEF is up to, one quickly realizes that some of the same conversations, discussions, topics and narratives that have been perpetuated in WEF-Davos (winter)) and in WEF-China (summer) were naturally carried forward in Saudi Arabia a few weeks ago, without the influence and presence of the WEF in Saudi Arabia having even been necessary.

Consider the following examples:

• A move to a more moderate form of Islam "open to all religions and to the world"

• Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG)

• More COVID-19 pandemic-related preparations or other planned biological weapon releases

The Middle East and Gulf region is of particular interest to the WEF, so it makes perfect sense that a ‘Davos in the Desert’ venue continues to gain popularity and media attention.  According to Douglas Broom, Senior Writer, “Formative Content of the WEF” from an article from April of 2019 :

“People are experiencing the consequences of climate change across the Middle East, from floods in Jeddah to rising sea levels in the Mediterranean which are putting many coastal cities at risk. Participants at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa, held at the Dead Sea in Jordan, can see the effects of global warming first-hand. The salt lake has shrunk by almost a third in the last two decades, due to lower rainfall, higher temperatures leading to increased evaporation, and water being siphoned off from the River Jordan, which flows into it.”

The WEF and Davos enthusiasts have plenty of crises in the region which can be exploited to justify exerting and expanding their influence. The worlds’ fastest growing populations are in the middle east and gulf region, so if you are the WEF and you want to control the masses, it’s awful tempting to be the ‘early bird that gets the worm’ by focusing/shifting more attention on this region.