Davos 2026 in the Age of Power Politics

William Cash | 20th January 2026 | Brussels, Diplomacy, International, Lobbying, Policy & Think Tanks, Politics

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND - JANUARY 21: (EDITOR’S NOTE: This Handout image was provided by a third-party organization and may not adhere to Getty Images’ editorial policy.) In this handout image provided by the German Government Press Office (BPA), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (C) speaks to (from left) Boudewijn Siemons, CEO of the Rotterdam Port Authority, Börje Ekholm, CEO of Ericsson, Blake Moret, CEO Rockwell Automation, Christian Bruch, CEO of Siemens Energy AG during a working lunch with international entrepreneurs at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting on January 21, 2025 in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo by Guido Bergmann/Bundesregierung via Getty Images)

Davos is meant to be the place where the global public affairs class can compress a year of stakeholder management into five days, with a badge, a diary, and a blizzard outside. In 2026 it is also where the public language of cooperation collides with the private mechanics of leverage.

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting runs from 19 to 23 January in Davos Klosters under the theme A Spirit of Dialogue, with the Forum framing discussion around five questions: cooperation in a more contested world, unlocking new sources of growth, investing in people, deploying innovation at scale and responsibly, and building prosperity within planetary boundaries. That is the official map. The real terrain is shaped by security, tariffs, sanctions, technology controls, and the hardening of blocs. For the global public affairs and diplomatic community, the key driver at Davos is not a single panel topic but a single operational reality: governments are now using economic instruments as statecraft at speed, and corporates are being asked to pick a posture, not just a position. The World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2026 describes an age of competition, with the short term risk ranking led by geoeconomic confrontation, misinformation and disinformation, and societal polarisati...

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