- Статьи
- World
- Davos and probably: the USA will bring the largest delegation to the WEF forum in Switzerland
Davos and probably: the USA will bring the largest delegation to the WEF forum in Switzerland
The 56th session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) will be held in Davos, Switzerland, from January 19 to 23. The site itself is going through a deep crisis, but this time special attention has been drawn to it due to the arrival of the largest delegation from the United States, led by President Trump. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Harassment and discrimination
The Alpine resort is preparing to host about 3,000 participants from 130 countries, including 850 heads and chairmen of the boards of directors of the world's leading companies, the organizers of the forum said.
Sheba Crocker, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Borge Brende, President of the WEF, Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director of the WEF, Mirek Dusek, Managing Director of the WEF, attend a press conference dedicated to the preparations for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum
According to Berge Brende, the new chairman of the WEF, who replaced Klaus Schwab, the 87-year-old founder of the Davos forum, six leaders of the G7 countries, including Donald Trump, are expected to participate. They will be joined by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and President of Syria Ahmad al-Sharaa, as well as many other world figures. The Chinese delegation will be led by Vice Premier He Lifeng.
A total of 64 heads of state and Government are planning to participate in the summit. Among them are President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Director General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and others. The Russian side has not received an invitation from the organization.
The Davos Forum, founded in 1971 as a non-profit foundation with the mission of "striving for a better world," is currently experiencing a serious crisis due to a series of scandals. In 2024, employees complained of harassment and humiliation, including from the founder of the forum, Klaus Schwab. According to them, they were faced with a toxic atmosphere hostile to women and blacks. Subsequently, Schwab announced his resignation.
Preparations in Davos for the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum
So the future of the WEF in Davos will largely depend on how successful the upcoming session turns out to be.
Everyone is waiting for Trump
US President Donald Trump will bring the largest delegation to the forum. It will include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer, as well as Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. In addition, a large bipartisan delegation from the American Congress is expected in Davos.
Trump has visited Davos twice as president, and last year he spoke at the venue via video link a couple of days after the inauguration.
This time, special attention is focused on the arrival of the American leader. He has already promised to outline his housing policy in detail. "Every American who wants to become a homeowner will be able to afford it," the head of state promised. Prior to that, he announced that the US authorities would buy back $200 billion worth of mortgage bonds to lower the interest rate.
According to Western media, the British, Italian, French and Canadian leaders hope to meet with Trump in Davos to get him to support security guarantees for Ukraine. Vladimir Zelensky is also counting on negotiations.
US President Donald Trump
Last week, the Coalition of the Willing signed a declaration of intent on the deployment of multinational forces after the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine.
Disappointing forecasts
On the eve of the WEF, experts published a new forecast of global risks (Global Risks Report 2026) for the next two years, as well as for a 10-year period. They call wars between states, geopolitical conflicts and extreme weather events the main dangers of 2026. Analysts are confident that countries will increasingly face social polarization, misinformation and the spread of inequality.
The authors call the geo-economic confrontation of the countries the main risk of the coming year.
Analysts note a general drop in trust, a decrease in respect for the rule of law, and increased protectionism. In their opinion, these factors threaten global trade and investment, as well as international relations.
They call the best economic scenario for the near future a rapid increase in efficiency based on new technologies, including AI, as well as the resolution of major conflicts.
The worst-case scenario, according to analysts, is a reduction in global trade and an escalation of trade wars taking place now.
Western analysts are confident that the American delegation is going to the forum to declare the new rules of the game. After all, this meeting of representatives of the political and business elite in Davos will be the first in an environment where the ideas of globalization promoted by the WEF have lost their meaning in the face of the breakdown of the previous system of international relations and the emergence of a new world order.
At the same time, it was Trump who launched the process of breaking down the previous system of international relations and the global economy and trade, which are based on the principles of free movement of goods and capital.
The American leader has already made it clear that he is ready for a benefit at the forum, as well as to popularize his main slogan "Make America great again," around which, in his opinion, the current world order should be built.
What do the experts think
In an interview with Izvestia, Andrei Kortunov, scientific director of the Russian International Affairs Council, noted that Trump's next policy statement regarding his administration's views on the global economy and international economic relations would be heard at the forum.
— Statements on political issues are also possible. Davos is always an opportunity to hold interesting bilateral meetings for Trump on the sidelines, to check the hours. In particular, with European partners and opponents," the expert noted.
He stressed that a number of meetings have already been announced.
— According to economic data from last year, the American economy looks much better than the European one, and in some ways better than the East Asian one. The growth rate is not bad — 2.5%, inflation is relatively low, less than 3%, and unemployment is just over four percent. So Trump has something to brag about," the analyst concluded.
Vladimir Avatkov, head of the Department of the Near and Post-Soviet East at the INION RAS, noted in a conversation with Izvestia that the system of international relations is currently "feverishly rushing around" trying to find a new point of balance.
— It collapsed because the West, striving for total control, reshaped reality to suit its narrow interests. The search for a new balance depends not only on the decisions of major players. He is under pressure from the very international atmosphere, which today consists not of cooperation, but of conflicts. This environment is constantly pushing the world towards a dangerous line, followed by escalation and a major war," the expert believes.
According to the analyst, everything is currently happening at high speed.
— History knows cycles: war was followed by peace, and this allowed the global system to reboot. The most violent changes have always happened not in quiet times, but at the sharp turns of history. And now we are just at such a turning point," the expert believes.
The political scientist believes that the problem also lies in the fact that world institutions do not have clear goals and forces to manage this chaos, the system has become almost uncontrollable.
— Chaos and conflicts breaking out here and there are becoming the new norm. To build a new order, we need the will and willingness of the main players to engage in dialogue, but as long as it does not exist and the system breaks down and reassembles, conflicts will not subside, Avatkov is sure.
The expert notes that even if the United States is now talking about peace, its underlying claims to global leadership have not gone away.
— It's still a policy of selfishness, just in a different package. This means that a new world, as always at the junction of epochs, will be born through force and the threat of its use. Unfortunately, history does not yet know another scenario for such times," the expert concluded.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
