Will cooler heads prevail at the Davos WEF 2026?

I’ve been going to the World Economic Forum since 2009, when I was a young news assistant at Squawk Box Europe and had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Then as now, it’s CNBC International’s biggest outside broadcast of the year, and it’s still a thrill to be a part of.

The heady combination of world leaders, the most powerful players in business and a dash of celebrity, all navigating the snowy streets of the Alpine ski resort of Davos, makes for a unique experience.

Over the years I have seen many versions of Davos: the aftermath of the Great Financial Crisis and the European debt crisis; the trading scandal that rocked the French banking giant Société Générale; the rise of the Arab Spring; the rise and fall of Russia; the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic and now the upheaval of the world order that has existed since the end of the Second World War.

Everyone has an opinion about this meeting, but one thing is true: it never gets boring. And 2026 will certainly be no different.

The tension between countries that call themselves allies is palpable at this meeting.

US President Donald Trump has begun 2026 by shocking the international community with a series of actions that challenge sovereignty and decades-old alliances.

He will speak at the forum on Wednesday as the global community struggles to assess the impact of his actions in Venezuela, his tough stance on Iran, progress in Greenland and slow progress toward a peace deal for Ukraine.

The World Economic Forum called this year a “spirit of dialogue,” but the organization itself warned in its latest Global Risk Report that “rules and institutions that have long underpinned stability are under siege in a new era in which trade, finance and technology are used as weapons of influence.”

Ahead of Trump’s speech, we will hear from a number of other world leaders on the first full day of the forum.

These include European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. It is likely that all three will emphasize the importance of NATO’s role as it faces its biggest challenge since its founding.

President Trump’s threats of military force in Greenland have put the previously unthinkable – the end of the NATO alliance – on the table. Reports suggest the G7 could meet on the sidelines of the event, ostensibly to push for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, but tensions with NATO will inevitably be up for debate.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will also speak on Tuesday as there appears to be a tentative trade truce with Washington DC, despite recent data showing that China will record the world’s largest ever trade surplus in 2025, exceeding $1 trillion. Business leaders with significant interests in China, such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, will also speak at the forum as they try to navigate an increasingly political business landscape.

Outside of geopolitics, the debate over central bank independence will continue to heat up the frosty Davos summit. Central bankers around the world were outraged by the Justice Department’s announcement that it would launch a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Jerome Powell.

In a statement, Powell said the investigation is “whether the Fed will continue to be able to set interest rates … or whether monetary policy will be driven by political pressure or intimidation.”

His colleagues from all over the world has issued an amazing letter of supportincluding signatures from ECB President Christine Lagarde and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, among others. Former ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet told Squawk Box Europe that markets were not taking the threat seriously enough, calling the situation “extremely serious.”

If I had told my 20-year-old self in 2009 that these would be the big debates for Davos in 2026, I certainly wouldn’t have believed it.

Today the influence of the G20 and G7 was put to the test, making the World Economic Forum an even rarer occasion for face-to-face diplomacy. As someone who values diplomacy in all aspects of my life – at work, at home, in the content I consume and the people I am influenced by – I hope cooler heads can prevail in the Alps.

Tuesday: EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen; Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and French President Emmanuel Macron

Wednesday: US President Donald Trump

Thursday: Israeli President Isaac Herzog; Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz