The World Economic Forum (WEF) is coming to the Big Apple in January "to show solidarity with the people of New York and the American people," says founder Klaus Schwab. But a growing number of anti-corporate-globalization groups counter that the annual gathering of the global elite is looking to leave its protest-ridden home of Davos, Switzerland for a more hospitable site, and they want no part of it.

One group of anarchists is calling for "joyful, creative resistance," and calls the WEF’s arrival a "provocation."

"The richest and most powerful men on earth have decided to come and party on the wreckage," says the Anti-Capitalist Convergence (ACC). The anarchists charge that the wealthy summiteers are seeking to celebrate "the billions of dollars of taxpayer money that they’ve just been handed by their respective governments and explore new opportunities to [profit] from permanent global warfare."

The ad-hoc Knickerbocker Fair Trade Campaign is organizing consumer activists, labor unions, faith-based networks, left-leaning think tanks, and environmental and human rights groups to participate in a week of teach-ins, rallies, "hootenannies", press events and town hall meetings.

"So far, the reaction has been resoundingly positive," said Mike Dolan of Public Citizen, who played a key role in bringing together labor and environmental groups in Seattle two years ago.

Dolan said that the various groups will seek to tie the WEF and the Bush Administration’s "explicitly Republican agenda" together.

"To the extent we are able to make it a seamless critique of the Bush Administration and the clubbishness of the Davos by the Hudson, we succeed," Dolan said.

Founded in 1970, the WEF brings together corporate executives, political leaders, prominent journalists, academics and scientists in invitation-only meetings to develop an elite consensus on important global issues. It is largely funded by 1,000 transnational corporations that pay as much as $300,000 a year for membership. As the Forum’s website notes, there is "a unique club atmosphere which is very conducive to … addressing key issues of global relevance or initiating new business contacts."

Based in the Alpine ski village of Davos, the WEF is fleeing its home base after encountering heavy protests the past two years.

Benjamin Barber, author of the 1995 classic "Jihad vs. McWorld", told the Indypendent that "Their mood is one of abject terror." Barber, who lunched with Forum organizers on November 28, explained, "They feel their system is coming apart at the seams. I told them, ‘you can’t turn this over to your public relations or corporate communications division.’"

On November 7, New York Mayor Giuliani announced the city would host the January 31-February 4 meeting, which is expected to attract 3,200 delegates and visitors.

"This is a vote of confidence in our city," Giuliani said. "It sent a message that New York is back in business, and that it is the place to be for world leaders and decision makers."

Dolan said moving the Forum was an "incredibly shrewd" public relations maneuver to build public support for corporate-led globalization.

"They might be on a public relations offensive to show how outreachy they are and how able they are to be open and transparent," Dolan said.