As the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 56th Annual Meeting convenes in Davos from 19-23 January 2026 under the theme “A Spirit of Dialogue”, a profound legitimacy crisis confronts the gathering itself. Nearly 3,000 leaders – predominantly from the ranks of the ultra-wealthy, corporate titans, heads of state and financial heavyweights – assemble in luxury to discuss escalating global perils.Yet the very structure of the forum, with its exorbitant membership fees and elite composition, widens the chasm between these “Davos Men” and the world’s peoples. Critics have long denounced this as corporate capture of global governance, where the powerful network in the Alps while ordinary citizens grapple with the consequences of the systems they sustain.The WEF’s own Global Risks Report 2026, informed by over 1,300 experts, starkly illustrates the fallout. It describes an emerging “Age of Competition” marked by fragmentation, where “societal polarisation” ranks fourth among immediate risks for 2026, selected by 7% of respondents, fuelled by deepening disillusionment with traditional governance.The report highlights “streets versus elites” narratives reflecting widespread exclusion from decision-making, eroding public trust and intensifying pressures on democratic systems.Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.Inequality, interconnected with other risks and ranked seventh over two and ten years, exacerbates these divides as social mobility falters amid economic shocks and technological disruption.Half of respondents foresee a “turbulent” or “stormy” world over the next two years, a sharp rise, with longer-term fears centring on environmental collapse and further societal fragmentation.This legitimacy gap is widening globally through surging popular discontent. From youth-led uprisings in Bangladesh, Kenya, Madagascar, Nepal and Indonesia to sustained protests in Serbia, Georgia, France (farmers’ actions) and nationwide demonstrations in Iran since late December 2025 against economic crisis and elite priorities, anti-establishment waves challenge entrenched power.Populist sentiments, framing divides between “ordinary citizens” and “political or economic elites”, resonate across continents, amplified by social media, job displacement fears from AI and protectionism and unresolved crises. As trust in institutions plummets, systems built on elite consensus face declining faith, threatening democratic resilience and fuelling the very polarisation the report warns of.Donald Trump’s first year in his second term has dramatically amplified this crisis. Since January 2025, his aggressive “America First” agenda – sweeping tariffs on China and allies, including threats against Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Denmark over Greenland, deep cuts to foreign aid, with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates of 9-17% declines, retreats from UN climate commitments and transactional demands on North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) – has disrupted supply chains, downgraded International Monetary Fund (IMF) growth forecasts, nearly 1% lower in 2025-2026, and eroded global confidence in US leadership.The WEF’s latest report shows inequality is a long-term problem as well as short-term one, featuring at number 7 twice in ten and two years, respectively.Pew surveys show low trust in Trump’s handling of world affairs in many nations. These unilateral moves hasten the unravelling of the post-1945 liberal order, leaving conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East unresolved while rivals such as China and Russia advance sovereignty-focused platforms via BRICS+.Trump’s in-person return to Davos, leading the largest-ever US delegation, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, guarantees his disruptive policies dominate discussions, even as the Forum promotes dialogue to bridge divides.The irony is inescapable. Geoeconomic confrontation tops the 2026 risks at 18% of respondents, followed by state-based armed conflict, extreme weather, polarisation and misinformation. Yet the gathering, dominated by beneficiaries of globalisation, tax structures and economic interdependence, has become a tragic annual ritual.Elites convene to document dangers largely perpetuated by their actions and the systems they champion, offering polite exchanges over structural reforms such as progressive taxation or binding inequality measures. Historical critiques, from Rutger Bregman’s 2018 viral tax-evasion rebuke to ongoing Oxfam exposés on billionaire wealth amid hardship, underscore the hypocrisy.In this fractured landscape, the legitimacy crisis threatens systemic decline. As economic volatility, trade wars and elite-driven policies erode faith, popular backlash rises, potentially destabilising the very order the WEF has long endorsed. Trump’s populism, while challenging multilateralism, reflects and fuels resentment against perceived “globalist” dominance.Without genuine accountability or redistribution, the disconnect between the powerful few and the discontented many will deepen, amplifying instability and the risks the report flags.Davos may provide a rare venue for rivals to engage amid record attendance, with over 60 heads of state and 64 expected overall, but its elite skew scuttles its transformative potential. The “spirit of dialogue” rings hollow when the gathering symbolises the very detachment fuelling global unrest.The stakes – eroded social contracts, heightened rivalry and potential collapse of trust-based systems – are immense in this new era of competition.Inderjeet Parmar is a professor of international politics and associate dean of research in the School of Policy and Global Affairs at City, University of London and St George’s, University of London, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and writes the American Imperium column at The Wire. He is an International Fellow at the ROADS Initiative think tank, Islamabad, on the board of the Miami Institute for the Social Sciences, USA, and on the advisory board of INCT-INEU, Brazil, its leading association for study of the United States. Author of several books including Foundations of the American Century, he is currently writing a book on the history, politics, and crises of the US foreign policy establishment.