Is the World Economic Forum compromised? (Part Two)

Yesterday, we discussed the hijacking of the Davos Forum by Trump and today we’ll see what’s likely to happen following this new development. To begin with, the media spotlight has become too narrow, with coverage focusing on the most dramatic personalities and celebrities of the moment, but no longer on the substance of the sessions. 

Another development that we might see is the forum becoming a stage for political signaling, with some leaders eager to exploit what was an important global gathering to project their strength, shape their narrative, try to influence the market and hopefully reassure allies or create even more chaos in the world order. 

All these transformations will not only overshadow, but pervert the Davos forum’s intended purpose. Let’s not forget that public trust erodes when the conversation feels skewed. We all expect global forums to address global problems, but when we can easily spotlight shifts to political theatrics, it clearly feels like the institution has lost its seriousness. 

The most optimistic among us might hope (good for them!) that the underlying work (economic modeling, climate coordination, policy frameworks) will continue quietly in the background. Of course, a more useful question than just “Has the forum become irrelevant?” would be to wonder if the forum is still doing meaningful work behind the scenes, even if the public narrative is distorted? 

Perhaps and hopefully the answer will be yes, but the visibility of that work will gets drowned out by the gravitational pull of a single political figure dominating the news cycle. I’m not certain this will be the case and I’m pretty sure my view of the moment is not so far from reality as global institutions are struggling to maintain focus in an era where media attention is shaped by bullies, polarization and circus-style spectacle!