Podcast Summary: What Really Matters with Walter Russell Mead

Episode: Live From Davos 2026

Date: January 23, 2026
Host: Jeremy Stern
Guest/Co-host: Walter Russell Mead

Episode Overview

In this special episode, Walter Russell Mead reports live from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. Jeremy Stern facilitates a discussion structured around Mead’s three dispatches from Davos, touching on the shifting mood from denial to fear, the outsized presence and impact of Donald Trump and the United States, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy's critical speech about European action on Ukraine. The conversation offers rare insider perspective, behind-the-scenes observations, and personal anecdotes about one of the most influential annual gatherings in global politics and business.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Davos: Setting & Evolving Mood

• [01:39] Walter Mead gives context on WEF’s transformation from a European business conference into a global event that draws not just politicians and CEOs, but also activists and NGOs.
• In previous years, climate change and sustainability were prominent; this year, the agenda shifted, bringing back more climate demonstrators as outsiders.
• There’s a hierarchy at Davos – billionaires and CEOs are top tier, while journalists and writers, as Mead describes himself, are “the poor relations.”
• Davos offers unparalleled behind-the-scenes interactions: “It's a great time to get together and see what other people that you… read every day… are thinking and to get behind the headlines.” – Walter Russell Mead [03:14]

Mood Shift: Denial to Fear

• Last year’s “denial” regarding global instability and Trump’s impact gave way to outright “fear” in 2026, reflecting both the state of the war in Ukraine and concerns over Trump’s return to the world stage.
• “Fear, anger, uncertainty about what lies ahead. This was a very different Davos.” – Mead [06:44]

2. The Trump Effect at Davos

• [07:55] The U.S. presence was “a huge visible presence aimed at saying, we don't like any of you people. You people have really made a mess of everything. And we are here to tell you exactly where and how you are wrong.” – Mead [08:18]
• Description of a “display of dominance” by the American contingent, including an ‘America House’ near the main conference zone.
• Trump’s arrival, joined by a big delegation of senior officials, brought near-chaos:
  • “The line to get in when Trump was going to make his speech was insane… It's like the CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation… they're like, you know, regular pros in this horrible scrum. And all for Donald Trump.” – Mead [09:44]
  • “One of the people crammed in next to me said, this isn’t a political conference. This is Woodstock. But of course, it's Woodstock, where almost everybody in the audience hates the act.” – Mead [10:08]
• Trump’s unpredictability and importance:
  • “He is the greatest living entertainer. … I wish you had never been president… but I can't not watch. I can't not be here.” – Mead [11:03]
  • For European leaders, the prospect of NATO unraveling and Russian advances looming “was the end of NATO, you know, and… if there is no NATO, like the Russians can be in Berlin. Everything is at stake and we have absolutely no idea which way the cat will jump here.” – Mead [11:22]
• His speeches and demands around Greenland (military occupation, tariffs) caused “shell shock.”

3. Notable Moments and Quotes

• “The biggest conference hall… line to get in… was insane… It's Woodstock, where almost everybody in the audience hates the act.” — Walter Russell Mead [09:44]
• “He is the greatest living entertainer… I can't not watch.” — Walter Russell Mead [11:03]
• “The dread among Europeans was real: they have no way of affecting the decision that [Trump] is going to make.” – Mead [12:31]

4. Mark Carney’s Speech: A European Hopeful?

• [12:54] While Carney’s speech made waves online as the “big barn burner,” Mead considers it largely “performative.”
• “What Carney did… makes a couple of nice speeches… reduces tariffs on EVs… he's not actually really going against US policy… it was more, people were happy that… someone says anti-Trump things, even though intellectually they know this is not all that relevant.” — Mead [14:00]
• Points out the reality gap, including issues like electric vehicle performance in cold climates, undermining some of Carney’s highlighted initiatives.

5. Zelenskyy’s Speech: Realism, Resistance, and Europe’s Shortcomings

• [15:14] Zelenskyy’s address comes amid one of Kyiv's hardest winters, with power outages and mass displacement: “This is the first winter where the war has really come home for people.”
• “You talk as if, like, having an intellectual conversation will stop a war, or you're always talking about the beautiful future that you would like to have, but you never do the things that are required to make that future real. … The Russian frozen assets, what are you doing about them? Russian ships full of oil… you do nothing.” — Mead, paraphrasing Zelenskyy [18:38]
• Parallel criticism from Trump and Zelenskyy: Both, from opposite ends of the spectrum, saw European action as inadequate (“a bit of a horseshoe effect”).
• Big Takeaway: “There’s a hole in the world order where Europe used to be… the failure of the European Union to develop effective decision making mechanisms or clear lines of workable policy has now gone to the point where Europe no longer has the weight in shaping the world that it used to have.” — Mead [20:33]

6. Other Global Issues and Oddities

• [23:33] Despite significant U.S. military movement toward Iran, “people were not really talking about that. Completely fascinating.”
• The “instant Greenland experts” phenomenon among attendees as Greenland dominated discussions.
• The weirdness of the new “Board of Peace,” a kind of alternative mini-UN, whose symbolism left many baffled. In particular, “Trump comes out… goes into one of his rambling monologues, often recycling some of the same stuff… I didn’t think that was possible, but it turns out that it is, right?” — Mead [26:06]

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• On mood at Davos:
  “Fear, anger, uncertainty about what lies ahead. This was a very different Davos.” – Walter Russell Mead [06:44]
• On Trump at Davos:
  “He is the greatest living entertainer. … I can't not watch. I can't not be here.” – Walter Russell Mead [11:03]
• On European weakness:
  “There’s a hole in the world order where Europe used to be.” – Walter Russell Mead [20:33]
• On Zelenskyy’s criticism:
  “You talk as if, like, having an intellectual conversation will stop a war, or you're always talking about the beautiful future that you would like to have, but you never do the things that are required to make that future real.” — Walter Russell Mead (paraphrasing Zelenskyy) [18:38]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:39] – Davos background & changing atmosphere
• [06:44] – Shift from “denial” to “fear”; Trump’s 2.0 dominance
• [09:44] – Trump’s arena speech as the main event
• [11:03] – Trump as a spectacle; Europeans’ anxiety
• [12:54] – Carney’s speech: More performance than policy
• [15:14] – Zelenskyy’s speech: Ukrainian hardship & plea to Europe
• [18:38] – Zelenskyy’s critique of European action (or inaction)
• [20:33] – Europe’s vanishing influence in global affairs
• [23:33] – Iran, Venezuela, and the “Board of Peace”

Memorable Anecdotes & Moments

• The appetite for “instant Greenland expertise” as the topic dominated conversations: “The number of people I met who could tell me all about rare earths in Greenland… was just astonishing.” – Mead [23:41]
• The “Board of Peace” ceremony’s surreal symbolism, with leaders and dignitaries awkwardly finding their seats, culminating in Trump’s monologue [25:31]
• Mead’s Davos tip: Try the traditional Friday lunch at the Schatzalp hotel, and if adventurous, sample the zebra steak (“I’ve developed quite a taste for zebra steak at past World Economic Forum conferences.” – Mead [29:11])

Takeaways

• 2026 Davos was defined by anxiety, dominated by Trump’s presence and unpredictability, and a sense that old mechanisms (NATO, EU, UN) may be unravelling.
• Both Trump and Zelenskyy, from sharply different vantage points, share skepticism about Europe’s capacity to act decisively.
• The spectacle and surrealism of global politics are front and center in Davos, with insiders desperately trying to understand an increasingly fluid world order.