Alona Lebedieva on the start of Davos-2026: the world is entering a phase of fragmentation
Alona Lebedieva
One of the key topics of the first day—the impact of artificial intelligence on the labor market—immediately revealed the depth of social tension. Employers speak about efficiency, governments about competitiveness, but workers increasingly speak about the fear of losing control over their own future. Even in Europe, where social protections have traditionally been strong, warnings are being voiced: AI may become not a tool for development, but a catalyst for a new form of inequality.
“The problem is not artificial intelligence itself, but the fact that states and corporations are using it faster than they are prepared to invest in people. If society does not provide workers with tools for adaptation, technologies cease to be neutral and become a political factor of instability,” emphasizes Alona Lebedieva, owner of the Ukrainian multi-sector industrial and investment group Aurum Group.
At the same time, today’s first discussions have exposed another critical line of fracture—energy. The rapid growth in electricity consumption driven by data centers and AI is already returning the world to a logic of fierce competition for resources. Calls for diversification and partnerships sound convincing, but the start of the forum shows that energy is once again increasingly viewed as an instrument of geopolitical influence rather than solely of economic policy.
“When energy security is elevated to the level of national security, it means the world is entering a phase of strategic egoism. Under such conditions, weaker economies become vulnerable not through the market, but through politics,” Lebedieva notes.
This context is being further reinforced by Donald Trump, who is expected to arrive in Davos with a record-size delegation and a hardline agenda. Already on the first day it became clear that the issues of Greenland, tariffs, and the principle of “America First” are casting a shadow over all economic discussions. Europe, which for years has built a model based on compromise, is being forced to react without having ready answers to the new configuration of power.
It is precisely around Greenland that this fragmentation is most vividly manifested. The European Union has already shifted into a mode of crisis coordination following statements by the U.S. president about the need to “take control” of the island. President of the European Council António Costa announced preparations for an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders, emphasizing the inviolability of Denmark’s sovereignty and the unacceptability of any forms of economic or political pressure.
According to the Financial Times, Brussels is considering the possibility of imposing trade restrictions against the United States worth up to €93 billion, as well as activating the Anti-Coercion Instrument—an anti-pressure tool that allows restrictions on access to the EU market, investments, and the export of services. Although European capitals officially insist on the priority of diplomacy, the very fact that such steps are being prepared testifies to the depth of the crisis of trust between allies.
The crisis around Greenland is already affecting the Davos agenda. According to European diplomats, this issue has partially displaced topics related to the war in Ukraine, indicating that the situation is being viewed not as a local incident, but as a potential challenge to the entire architecture of transatlantic relations.
Against this backdrop, the Ukrainian issue from the very first day looks telling. Ukraine remains at the center of the forum’s attention, but rather as a test of the West’s ability to combine security, recovery, and political will than as a full-fledged participant in shaping decisions. The absence of the President of Ukraine at the start of Davos due to massive attacks on the energy system only underscores the gap between global discussions and the reality of war.
“Ukraine today is not a separate topic at Davos, but a test of the entire logic of the world order. If security and recovery remain secondary to the domestic political games of major players, no new architecture will be stable,” Alona Lebedieva stresses.
Davos-2026 is only beginning, but from the very first discussions it is already clear: artificial intelligence, energy, and geopolitics are merging into a single knot of risks. And the Greenland case shows just how fragile the very idea of allied relations has become. The main question of the forum is only taking shape, but it already sounds sharp—whether the world is capable not only of talking about transformations, but also of managing them, without losing people and trust between partners.
Alona Lebedieva
Aurum Group
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