Fearing Trump's scorn, the global elite pay their respects while looking to the East.
The general sense among the elite is that they'll just be able to ride this one out. After all, the elites have always ruled (and always spawned fear). But every sign is that they'll be willing to double-down on illiberalism: "A democratic winter is about to descend. Those who are in the best position to stop it won’t—because they don’t have to." That's partially because for business leaders, a surprising reality is playing out; China is waiting in the wings as a new champion for business-friendly globalism, ready to lead the Beijing Consensus. President Xi Jinping more or less made that appeal directly at Davos, characterizing himself as the only adult left to be trusted with the world's business.
In interesting ways this mirrors Nazi Germany's experience. The key failure wasn't about the rise of a xenophobic far right—that element is always there. It's that the business elite welcomed them as a matter of political expediency, legitimizing hate and providing the resources for it to gain official power.