The Silent Majority of the New South: Small States, Davos 2026, and the Last Line of International Law

Ferid Belhaj and Otaviano Canuto

No 2605, Policy briefs on Economic Trends and Policies from Policy Center for the New South

Abstract: This article examines the quiet but profound implications of the erosion of U.S.-led hegemony for small and vulnerable states of the New South. While the post-1945 international order was never egalitarian, it offered predictability: power was organized through law, and sovereignty for weaker states rested less on justice than on procedural stability. Davos 2026 marked a turning point in the public acknowledgment of that system’s unraveling. Statements by leading Western figures revealed not a revolt against American power, but a growing recognition that the United States is increasingly retreating from the obligations that once distinguished hegemony from dominance. As rules give way to discretion, and institutions to transactional bargaining, the capacity of states to navigate global disorder is becoming sharply unequal.

Date: 2026-02
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