We have entered a new Middle Ages: an era that most resembles the pre-Westphalian era of nearly 1,000 years ago. That was the period of history when the East was as powerful (if not more so) than the West, cities mattered more than nations, powerful dynasties and trading companies were engines of growth and innovation, private mercenaries fought in all wars, religious crusades shaped inter-cultural relations, and new trade routes over land and sea forged the world’s first (nearly) global economy.
Davos and Huntington's "Davos Man"
He also has an interesting take on Davos, and how it ushers in an era of informal global governance.
Davos has nothing to do with sovereignty and everything to do with authority: it’s peer-to-peer among anybody who’s somebody. Where else do hundreds of Fortune 500 CEOs, American cabinet secretaries, the mayor of London, prime minister of Catalonia, chairman of China’s Export-Import Bank, investor-statesmen like George Soros, rock-star activists like Bono, and billionaire hybrid executive philanthropists like Bill Gates speak directly and honestly, and form new ventures on the spot?
Of course, Davos as a method of informal global governance is anti-egalitarian, anti-democratic, in-just, illegitimate, etc. It certainly isn't peer to peer. What is it? It is a collection of elites generated by the antiquated, hierarchical systems of the 20th Century -- akin to a collection of corrupted inebriated noblemen from depleted, inbred bloodlines discussing the future of war, peace, and prosperity during the post fox-hunt feast.
Regardless, Davos is an important gathering. What they do there does have an impact on our future. However, given its provenance, the chance that it will have a beneficial impact on our future is close to nil/zero/nada.
PS: I haven't had the chance to get his new book yet: How to run the World If he sends it to me, I will definitely try to fit it in.