Davos ( CNN ) -- Veterans of Davos often refer to nature 's awe-inspiring work as the Magic Mountain . The name comes from an early 20th century novel by Thomas Mann -- reflecting on life in an alpine health retreat , and the mystery of time in this breath-taking setting . Read more from John Defterios : Why Egypt 's transition is so painful . Since the late 20th century , this ski resort has been synonymous with the World Economic Forum , which represents networking on its grandest scale . This year nearly 40 world leaders -- a record for this annual meeting -- 2000 plus executives and it seems an equal number of people in the media , like yours truly , are in pursuit of them all . The setting is certainly more chaotic then a decade ago . The agendas of the Fortune 500 chief executives are to filled with bi-lateral meetings and back door briefings to allow for the spontaneity that made this venue unique . I first came to Davos as a relatively junior correspondent in 1990 , two months after the fall of the Berlin Wall . It was arguably then , after nearly two decades in the conference business , when the forum became a fixture on the global calendar . Quest : U.S. economy to dominate Davos 2013 . I can remember , quite vividly , working out of a bunker ( like we do today ) in the Davos Congress Centre . West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl sat side-by-side with his East German counterpart Hans Modrow . That meeting before the global community helped set the stage for monetary union , a huge unification fund for what became Eastern Germany and shortly thereafter German elections . The early 90s at Davos were dominated by European reconstruction after the fall of communism . Former party bosses came to the forum to convince business leaders that a transition to market economics could be delivered . Boris Yeltsin made his Davos appearance during that chaotic transition from the USSR to today 's Russia . Davos 2013 : New year , same old problems ? In 1992 , Chinese Premier Li Peng used the setting here in the Alps to articulate plans for the country 's economic opening up to the world . Not by chance , the architect of Washington 's engagement with Beijing , the former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger also took a high profile that year . Again only two years later in 1994 , Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres walked hand in hand on stage , holding a public dialogue leading up to the creation and recognition of the Palestinian Authority . The World Economic Forum , as the saying goes , was positioned to be in the right place at the right time . While the author of the Magic Mountain talked about the complexity of time around World War I , in the 1990s time was compressed here . The fall of communism , the lowering of global trade barriers , the opening up of China , the removal of apartheid in South Africa and the proliferation of the internet all unfolded in that decade . Interactive : How 's your economic mood ? As those events came together , so too did the major players as they made the journey to Davos . Michael Bloomberg , evolving as a global name in financial data and now the Mayor of New York City , sat alongside Microsoft CEO Bill Gates . U.S. President Bill Clinton outlined his party 's historic move to the political center before a packed audience of global business executives . To spice things up , rock stars and actors , as they became activists , chose the Davos platform : Bono , Richard Gere , Sharon Stone , Brad and Angelina would have the wealthiest and most powerful corporate titans freeze in their tracks . Earlier this week , I walked into the main plenary hall as workers put the final touches on the stage and lighting . It is a venue which has welcomed countless political leaders and business executives , during internet booms and banking busts , in the midst of a Middle East crisis and even during the lead up to two Gulf Wars . But that inter-play between geo-politics and business -- during the best and worst of times -- is what keeps the forum relevant . It allows this setting at the base of the Magic Mountain to endure and recreate something unique during what Mann rightly described as the ongoing complexity of our times .
Since the late 20th Century , the ski resort of Davos has been synonymous with the World Economic Forum . Defterios : I first came to Davos as a relatively junior correspondent , two months after the Berlin Wall fell . Fall of Communism , China 's opening , removal of apartheid in South Africa unfolded in the 90s . The fall of communism was followed by an economic boom and then bust cycle that lasted for decades.