As delegates started to settle in to Davos 2023 for the start of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, the regular question about the future of globalisation re-emerged.
There is no doubt that the forum is a product of a post-Second World War, western-led system that grew after the end of the Cold War.
However, the impact of Covid-19, US-China competition and sanctions on Russia after the Ukraine war means that system is effectively over.
Globalisation as it was at the start of the century is no longer relevant. The question that will be addressed this week is what the next system will resemble.
All eyes will be on Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, who will deliver the first major address to this year’s WEF on Tuesday morning, followed by Liu He, the Chinese Vice Premier.
