ALPINE DISRUPTION

DAVOS 2026 PRESENTED A SHARP DEPARTURE FROM THE PAST WITH GEOPOLITICS TAKING CENTRE STAGE

- SIDDHARTH ZARABI

WALKING THE LANES of Davos in Switzerland felt different this year. The scenes were familiar—people bundled up, hurriedly walking about to get to the next session or meeting. Chief executives of multi-billion-dollar corporations walked into the Congress Centre of the World Economic Forum (WEF) for familiar ‘Davos’ talk: economic growth, disruptive technology, the future of capital, the next big opportunity in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), etc.

However, the air was different this year—it was all about geopolitics. There was a sense that the world is no longer one and that it is splintering into an era where everyone is scrambling to protect their own interests—often under the threat of another disruptive announcement by US President Donald Trump.

That feeling came sharply into focus when Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney took the stage and tore up the old script of how leaders from his country spoke at such gatherings. Holding out a stark warning on the rupture, he said, “Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. The old order is not coming back. We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false. That the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient. That trade rules were enforced asymmetrically. This fiction was useful, and American hegemony, in particular, helped provide public goods. But this bargain no longer works.”