Donald Trump's election has the opportunity to upend an elite consensus that has shaped America's global strategy since World War II – and that reportedly could shake up this year's "Davos class."
As the World Economic Forum gets under way in Davos, Switzerland – the 46th annual gathering of global policy and business leaders – political trends reflected in Trump's election, including a move toward nationalism and against globalism, are raising questions about the so-called "Davos class," The New York Times reported.
Critics of the idea globalization can benefit everyone have usually been missing at the annual meeting, but this year, joining the Davos class will be Theresa May, Britain's new prime minister after the historic Brexit vote, and some of Trump's advisers, The Times reported.
"Trump's election victory is a clear indication that the majority of people are not interested in a world government, but want to return to a classical, local democracy," John Mauldin, an economic researcher and author, recently wrote, The Times reported.
"Strange as it may seem to the Davos men, most people tend to love their 'patria,' the land of their fathers."
Quoting Naomi Klein, a columnist for The Guardian, The Times reported the middle class in Britain and America "have witnessed the rise of the Davos class, a hyper-connected network of banking and tech billionaires, elected leaders who are awfully cozy with those interests, and Hollywood celebrities who make the whole thing seem unbearably glamorous."
"Success is a party to which they were not invited, and they know in their hearts that this rising wealth and power is somehow directly connected to their growing debts and powerlessness," she wrote, The Times reported.
Trump's promise, however, is better trade deals that will bring more jobs and opportunities to U.S. workers, Edward Alden wrote for Politico magazine.
"Done cleverly and diplomatically, his approach could be a long-overdue correction for trade and economic policies that have left too many Americans behind," Alden wrote.
"Done crudely, it could drive the world back into the damaging trade wars of the 1930s, leaving Americans and the world much worse off," he warned.
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