Davos arrives as world on verge of nervous breakdown

Do-gooding captains of industry and government will travel up a Swiss mountain this week for the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos with one hefty task on their minds: how to make the world a better place.

Dozens of heads of state, 2,500 business leaders, cultural emissaries and industry experts will converge on the town of 11,142 for five days of workshops, speeches and networking starting Tuesday night.

According to USA Today, there's no shortgage of topics to discuss. Islamic extremists show no sign of slackening their barbarous pace, as evidenced in the recent attacks in Paris and Nigeria. Fears have resurfaced over Greece's upcoming elections and what they might mean for the future of the eurozone. Plummeting commodities prices have thrown emerging markets into disarray.

"This event is an extraordinary opportunity and keeps its validity because it's able to attract so many interesting people from the world of business and government and other communities for a relatively informal and open conversation," said Ian Goldin, a Davos veteran and the director of the Oxford Martin School, a research institute attached to Oxford University.

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