Friday briefing: What the mood at Davos can tell us about a changing world order

<p>In today’s newsletter: As global tensions rise, this year’s Davos gathering reveals a world struggling to adapt to shifting power dynamics and the erosion of old certainties</p><p></p><p>Good morning. The annual gathering of political and business leaders in Davos opened against a backdrop of war, trade threats and a rapidly fraying global order – with the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/">World Economic Forum</a> once again struggling to reconcile its talk of cooperation with the realities of great-power confrontation.</p><p>Above all, one figure has dominated the week more than any theme or panel discussion – Donald Trump. He appears to have been determined to use the Alpine summit as a stage for his own vision of how the world should work.</p><p><em><strong>Davos </strong></em>| Volodymyr Zelenskyy has taken aim at Europe in a fiery speech at Davos, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/22/zelenskyy-accuses-eu-leaders-waiting-direction-donald-trump-greenland">accusing leaders of being in “Greenland mode”</a> as they waited for leadership from Donald Trump on Ukraine and other geopolitical crises rather than taking action themselves. The day ended with news of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/23/us-ukraine-russia-abu-dhabi-talks-putin-witkoff-kushner">trilateral talks to start on Friday</a> in Abu Dhabi between the US, Russia and Ukraine.</p><p><em><strong>UK news </strong></em>| The UK government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/22/uk-government-borrowing-falls-december">borrowed less than expected in December,</a> official figures show, after record-breaking receipts, giving a boost to the chancellor.</p><p><em><strong>Daily Mail </strong></em>| Elizabeth Hurley has accu