The 2026 edition of the World Economic Forum opens today in Davos and runs through Friday, 23 January. For the first time in decades, the gathering is taking place without its founder, Klaus Schwab, who established the Forum in 1971 and led it for more than half a century before stepping down from the board in 2025 following allegations of misconduct.

Stepping into the breach is Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, who has assumed the role of interim co-chair and taken responsibility for this year’s edition. Rather than allowing the Forum to drift toward irrelevance amid scandal and scepticism, Fink chose to double down. He personally reached out across his global network: prime ministers and presidents, chief executives of the world’s largest corporations, and leaders of major international NGOs. The result is a striking show of attendance, including Donald Trump, who is attending Davos in person for the first time.

Fink has been quick to address the familiar criticism that Davos is merely a conclave of global elites making decisions over the heads of ordinary citizens. His response is that, in an era of fractured alliances and deepening geopolitical fragmentation, providing a neutral forum where world leaders can still speak to one another is itself a public good. That rationale underpins this year’s theme: “A Spirit of Dialogue.”

The timing could hardly be more charged. Leaders are gathering in the Swiss Alps amid escalating international tensions, recently escalated by Trump’s decision to impose an additional 10 per cent tariff on eight European countries that pledged support to Greenland’s territorial integrity. At the same time, Trump has tightened his grip domestically, placing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, former running mate of Kamala Harris, under federal investigation.

The list of global flashpoints is long. Beyond Greenland, there is the effective US takeover of Venezuela; American backing for protests in Iran that could yet trigger regime change; the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelensky expected to meet Trump in Davos; and rising tensions over Taiwan all the while China expands its Belt and Road investments and capitalises on waning US influence in parts of the Asia-Pacific.

Then there is the Middle East, where Trump has just appointed a so-called “Board of Peace” for Gaza. Add to this a daunting set of macroeconomic challenges, fraught policy debates including questions around central bank independence, and a rapid technological transformation reshaping economies and markets, not least through the emergence of digital assets and digital currencies.

Against this backdrop, the hope is that, at a moment when multilateralism and the rules-based international order appear increasingly out of favour, private-sector-led platforms such as the World Economic Forum can still serve a vital function: keeping channels of dialogue open among superpowers, regional actors, policymakers, and market participants, even as the world becomes more divided.