In the world that he insults
By Amy Davidson Sorkin
The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, getting under way this week in the Alpine town of Davos, Switzerland, has long been known as much for its socializing and its parties as for its serious discussions of policy. But the organizers do their homework, and last Wednesday the W.E.F. released its Global Risks Report 2018, detailing how factors such as interstate conflicts, earthquakes, market bubbles, and a severe energy-price shock ("increase or decrease"
could affect the well-being of populations and businesses around the world. One recurring presence in the report, weaving through a crowd of potential panics and crises that, according to its assessment, he has made more probable, is a figure who is planning to elbow his way through the halls of Davos itself: President Donald Trump.
The report notes that, in addition to such globally devastating acts as the decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement, Trump has exemplified the rise of "charismatic strongman politics," which has contributed to a "febrile" geopolitical environment. Among other things, the report says, this bending of policies to oversized personalities has increased the likelihood of a nuclear confrontation with North Korea. If you are in Davos to assess risk, in other words, just look for Trump. Attended by eight Cabinet members, he’ll be hard to miss ...
The most recent U.S. President to have attended Davos was Bill Clinton, but so many heads of state and government show up that the W.E.F. had to perform triage in its guide to this year’s attendees, focussing on the G7 (six leaders will be present; Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, of Japan, won’t make it) and the G20 (Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of India, will deliver the opening speech; Trump will give the keynote address on the closing day). Although the guide mentions that several heads of African nations will be there, it does not name all the leaders who will have a chance to meet the man who called their countries "shitholes." The leaders of various Muslim and Latin American nations, whom Trump has also belittled, will be present, too ...
When Trump’s trip was announced, there was a flurry of questions, some gleeful, about how someone so "America first" could be headed to an event so globally minded. It is the kind of gathering where you can expect to—and this year will—find Al Gore. The stated goal is to create a "shared narrative," whereas Trump doesn’t stick to the same story from one day to the next. Davos also celebrates the idea of negotiated solutions, such as the Iran nuclear agreement, which Trump has been seeking to undo. John Kerry, who closed that deal as President Obama’s Secretary of State, is also expected to attend ...
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/29/trump-in-the-world-that-he-insults
