Diplomacy 101: Undiplomatically Speaking
Where Beliefs Clash and Stories Flash
The Davos Disconnect
The 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos opened to unusually blunt rhetoric. UN Secretary-General António Guterres accused world leaders of “dithering while systems collapse,” warning of a fragmented multilateral order. U.S. Treasury officials stressed the importance of AI governance, while China emphasized BRICS-led digital infrastructure alternatives.
A key theme was regulatory divergence—on data privacy, AI standards, and carbon border taxes. The EU’s proposed CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) drew fire from India and Brazil, who framed it as climate protectionism in disguise.
Outside the plenary halls, civil society groups protested the presence of fossil fuel executives and arms industry sponsors. Davos remains a weather vane, not a compass—revealing anxieties more than solutions. As ever, consensus proved elusive.