
A wild week for the West
From The Crisis Room by Global
January 22, 2026 · 38 min · Season 1 · Episode 35
About this episode
The episode discusses the implications of recent events in Davos on the Western alliance and features insights from former Defence Secretary George Robertson.
After a week of high drama in Davos, where leaders from Donald Trump to Mark Carney and Emanuel Macron traded blows and the whole western alliance appeared to be on the brink of collapse, Mark & Amber analyse whether there really is a new world order as the dust starts to settle. They're joined by George Robertson, the former Defence Secretary and Secretary General of NATO who triggered Article 5 after 9/11, to discuss the future of the Transatlantic Alliance, whether America would come to Europe's aid if an ally was invaded, and why Keir Starmer needs to put his money where his mouth is on defence spending. Plus, Marc P dials in from an undisclosed location with his reaction to the week's events, and Trump's bizarre speech at the World Economic Forum. Follow us on social media: @crisisroompod
People in this episode
Hosts: Mark, Amber
Guests: George Robertson, Marc P
Topics covered
- Western alliance
- Davos
- Transatlantic Alliance
- defence spending
- world order
Keywords
- Davos
- Trump
- NATO
- defence spending
- Transatlantic Alliance
- world order
- Keir Starmer
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: NATO
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