50 years in, Davos meets at troubled tipping point

THE World Economic Forum (WEF) is making final preparations for its landmark 50th anniversary summit at Davos, Switzerland next week. Yet, while the session is a landmark for international cooperation after a half century of such sessions, storm clouds are on the horizon as reflected in this year's theme of "stakeholders for a cohesive and sustainable world".

The fact that US President Donald Trump is perhaps the most high-profile guest in the Swiss ski resort personifies these tensions. It is his own "America First" vision which has been a key driver of the breakdown in international agreements and cooperation in the last few years by undermining a range of global agreements, including the Paris climate change treaty, unravelling the international order that Washington carefully constructed with allies after World War II.

To be sure, Mr Trump has significant support - in the United States and internationally - with his agenda, and he stands a considerable chance of winning four more years in office in November. Yet, he will not be very popular among the elites and activists in and around Davos who tend to see him more as a menace than as a global messiah.