To no one’s surprise, Bill Clinton isn’t fading into obscurity. On September 15, the three-day inaugural meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative opened. It’s star-studded list of attendees covered a broad ideological spectrum and included, among others, Prime Minister Blair (UK), President Yushenko (Ukraine), Prime Minister Erdogan (Turkey), King Hussein (Jordan), Vice Premier Peres (Israel), President Mbeki (South Africa), President Obasanjo (Nigeria), Secretary-General Annan (UN), Secretary-General Moussa (League of Arab States), Secretary of State Rice, former Secretary of State Albright, President Paul Wolfowitz (World Bank), Mary Robinson (former UN High Commissioner of Human Rights), Al Gore and last, but not least, George Soros.

The sponsoring partner list is equally impressive: Alibaba.com, Citigroup, Financial Times, Fried Frank, Goldman Sachs, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Louise T. Blouin Foundation, Microsoft, Mittal, Nokia, Rockefeller Foundation, Starbucks, and Yahoo.

The goal of the Initiative the Clinton Global Initiative is to provide discussion and debate on four of our “most pressing” global challenges:

    The Escape from Poverty: Forging a New Deal Between the Developed and Developing World

    Religion, Conflict and Reconciliation

    Climate Change: Business Opportunity, Business Challenge

    Governance, Enterprise and Investment

With these high-powered attendees and deep-pocketed sponsors, this NGO is likely to make waves. I’ll be paying attention.