Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Savin
[REGNUM] This past week, heads of government, banks, large corporations, as well as economists and other supporters of the program that the founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Klaus Schwab calls the “fourth industrial revolution” or “reset” gathered once again in Davos, Switzerland.
The WEF is also well known for working with celebrities and public figures to help advance its agenda. This time, former Spice Girl Melanie Brown was featured in Davos as a victim of domestic violence.
The speeches of many participants were a rather strange cocktail of ideas of globalism, capitalism, technological development and neoliberalism, seasoned with "democratic" rhetoric. There is no point in dwelling on all the speeches in detail; it is worth highlighting only the most striking details.
THE BEGINNING CONFRONTATION
Compared to previous forums, there was a certain nervousness in the air, caused, above all, by the return to the White House of Donald Trump, who has effectively declared war on globalism, and therefore on the agenda that the Davos Forum is promoting.
Ahead of the meeting, various economists and bankers called 2025 a difficult year that could change. And that is absolutely true: under Trump, the EU will come under greater pressure.
In his Davos speech, he accused European Union regulators of targeting Apple, Meta* and Google, calling the lawsuits against US companies a "form of taxation."
The US president specifically cited a €13 billion court case that Apple lost last year. The EU court in Luxembourg upheld a landmark 2016 ruling that Ireland had violated state aid laws by giving Apple an unfair advantage. And the money, which had been sitting in an escrow account until the final ruling, should be returned.
Given that virtually all major US tech companies support Trump (and he, accordingly, them), the White House is clearly intent on pushing the interests of these giant corporations in the EU.
In general, with the new course of US foreign policy, the globalists gathering at the WEF are unlikely to feel comfortable.
Secret depravity of the Davos global elite
Especially considering that there is a clear division in the EU between supporters and opponents of Trump.
There is, for example, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who will certainly be listening closely to signals from Washington. On the other hand, there are the heads of Germany and France, who are still having problems with the electorate.
And, of course, the most striking example of the emerging confrontation with the US is Britain, which is closely linked to the EU. Its Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with the easy help of billionaire and one of the key members of Trump's team Elon Musk, has already received the nickname "Pakistan rapist".
GLOBALIZATION IN CHINESE
The second noteworthy moment of the forum was the speeches by representatives of China. In a special address, Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Ding Xuexiang called on governments to support multilateral institutions and warned against the ever-wider use of protectionist policies.
"We must jointly uphold and practice genuine multilateralism. Multilateralism is the right way to maintain world peace and promote human progress. It is the golden key to solving the difficulties and challenges facing the world," he said.
Earlier, the US administration of Barack Obama, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, advocated for the aforementioned “multilateralism”. Why is China now talking about it?
To some extent, this country is trying to replace the globalization under the auspices of the United States with its own globalization. Of course, it differs from the American one in a number of parameters, but still, from the point of view of national economies, it is the same globalization.
Under it, goods and services are displaced by Chinese ones, and the expansion of international infrastructure (the Belt and Road Initiative) serves the long-term interests of China itself, helping to saturate other countries with its goods. It is just done more gently, without the overt pressure or coercion previously practiced by Western transnational corporations.
FIGHTING "OPPONENTS OF DEMOCRACY"
As for the notable speeches of other state leaders, commenting on the US desire to have greater control over the Panama Canal, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino once again stated that the canal belongs to his country and called for respect for international agreements. He also emphasized the strength of Panama's alliance with the US.
Trump uses his menacing rhetoric and pressure as a “booster” in further negotiations, including to strengthen the US position in Central America as a whole.
In reality, a military intervention to establish control over the canal, which Panama fears, is unlikely. And the American president's harsh attacks are explained by the presence of infrastructure in the canal area, operated by China.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also spoke at the forum, calling on the EU to help “make social media great again” (to borrow Trump’s slogan) by cracking down on tech platforms he says are run by lawless tycoons.
“Tech billionaires want to overthrow democracy. This is the truth about the terrible threat we face,” Sanchez said, citing the spread of “disinformation” that fuels anti-liberal political movements. “The technology that was supposed to liberate us has become an instrument of our own oppression,” the Spanish prime minister said.
The truth is that with the advent of Trump, social media began a sharp turn away from the liberal globalist agenda, although they had previously followed it and introduced strict censorship towards any opponents and critics of it.
But now that the liberals’ criticism has “suddenly” become in demand, they immediately began to be indignant, explaining the new rhetoric as the machinations of “opponents of democracy.”
Volodymyr Zelensky also attended the forum, but he did not distinguish himself with any innovations. He was concerned that the US and Russia could reach an agreement on Ukraine, so he called on the EU to unite and continue to provide assistance to Kiev. In his opinion, Europe is interested in strengthening and repelling the “Russian threat”.
His call for NATO countries to increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP surprisingly coincided with Donald Trump's demands. Although Zelensky has his own interest here - receiving further military-technical assistance.
However, it is unclear how European countries can stabilize their economies without cheap Russian gas in order to increase military spending. The EU leadership has confirmed that energy resources will become even more expensive. Therefore, increased spending, which continues to destroy the European economy, is inevitable.
Therefore, statements about the EU investment plan, which supposedly will ensure a technological breakthrough, support the “green” agenda, and strengthen collective defense, do not look very convincing.
Overall, the Davos forum leaves a strong impression that both it and the globalists' program as a whole, despite their connections and influence, continue to crack. And the most significant contribution to this is now being made by the main player in the Western world - the United States.
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