Davos and Trump's new global order |
History will long remember and quote what two speeches, delivered at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting 2026 at Davos, confirmed that the rule-based global order of liberal internationalism is dying. President Trump of the United States addressed the audience comprising global leaders for one hour and twelve minutes. That was a speech by the most powerful person on the planet, and Thucydides famous phrase "strong will do what they can and weak must suffer what they must" sums up and gives us the gist of his speech. And Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, while saying that "if we are not on the table we are on the menu", aptly described the changing American mood and the resulting changing global order that President Trump wishes to lead — a global order designed by and led by a powerful state with no limits and no constraints against the powerless.
To survive in the new global order, the ordinary and medium powers will be asked to adjust, show accommodation, and be willing to go along with the United States because only compliance will buy them safety and security.
This new Trumpian order will facilitate those who comply, and laws will be applied selectively depending upon the identity of the accused (Israel) and victim (Palestinians), as in the case of the Gaza Peace Plan, which is the first salvo being fired in promotion of this order. The rhetoric sells this order as a harbinger of stability over resistance, economic integration over ideological confrontation, and the containment of the axis of resistance, including Iran. But so far, all this is on a piece of paper. The progress the Trumpian........