#BTDAVOS2026 | Gideon Rachman And Ishaan Tharoor On Strongmen Politics And The Future Global Order

On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Rajdeep Sardesai, Consulting Editor, India Today, spoke with Gideon Rachman, Associate Editor and Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator at the Financial Times, and Ishaan Tharoor, Global Affairs Columnist at The Washington Post. The conversation focused on the rise of strongman politics and growing global unpredictability. Both warned that the world is entering a prolonged phase of noise, conflict, and uncertainty. Drawing sharp parallels, the panel described U.S. President Donald Trump’s transactional leadership style as resembling a “mafia boss” model, arguing it may deliver brief calm but ultimately fuels instability, undermining democratic norms and global order.