Europe and its allies came out fighting on Tuesday with key figures attacking US President Donald Trump's “world without rules”, hours before his arrival at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned of the “shift towards a world without rules, where international law is trampled underfoot and where the only law that seems to matter is that of the strongest”.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stressed that the sovereignty of Greenland was “non-negotiable”.
Ms von der Leyen said the threatened tariffs were a mistake that could plunge relations into “a downwards spiral”. The White House has used it as a threat to every dispute in the past year.
And Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said recent events, including Mr Trump's desire to seize Greenland, show that the “rules-based international order” is effectively dead.
The seemingly co-ordinated speeches came one after another, complete with punchy sound bites, although they largely avoided mentioning Mr Trump by name.
The US administration has travelled in force to Europe's highest town for the first time in years, with cabinet secretaries, members of Congress and hundreds of businesspeople in tow.
A large church in Davos' main street has been transformed into a little America, complete with bald eagle motifs covering the glass windows.
But on Tuesday, some of Mr Trump's opponents came out before his appearance to get their message across.
Mr Macron said that “imperial ambitions are resurfacing”, referring to American plans to take Greenland from Denmark, although he also did not mention Mr Trump by name.
He said the four-year Russian war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East were examples of how the traditional world order had been eroded.
The crisis that the global economy faces includes “American over-consumption, Chinese under-consumption”, and European underperformance.
Mr Macron, who wore sunglasses to protect a burst blood vessel in his eye from the glare of stage lights, promoted Europe as a place “where rule of law and predictability” were prized.
“It's a good place, a good place for today and for tomorrow,” he said. “We will do our best to have a stronger Europe, much stronger.”
In a question-and-answer session with WEF co-chairman Larry Fink, Mr Macron said additional tariffs imposed on opponents of the US were “crazy”.
Mr Trump is expected to release further details of the Gaza Board of Peace, after naming high-profile world figures and leaders in recent days.
There is speculation that he will attack opponents and stake his claim to a run of recent geopolitical successes, including in Venezuela and Iran.
Meanwhile, Qatar's Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, warned that military action against Iran would only increase regional instability.
Amid threats from Mr Trump against the Iranian regime after large numbers of deaths among protesters, Sheikh Mohammed drew comparisons with Iraq when highlighting the risks of external military intervention.
He said Qatar always believed that there was “room for diplomacy” and that “escalation will have consequences”.
“This has been tried in Iraq 20 years ago and it hasn’t worked … we don’t want to see military escalation in our region,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
“What’s worrying me is the growing tension that’s happening within this region, whether it’s the Gaza war or what’s happening with Iran. Any other front in the region can explode if we don’t address it.”
In a discussion with Borge Brende, the World Economic Forum’s president and chief executive, Sheikh Mohammed called for a new “regional security architecture” in the Middle East so that countries did not feel threatened by one another.
“A lot of things happened last year that have been more positive than negative,” he said. “In Syria, we have a President [Ahmad Al Shara], in Lebanon we have a new government. The war in Gaza has almost stopped, but we’re still, unfortunately, seeing the killing continue.
“We’re in a better place, but it doesn’t mean the region is moving towards stabilisation. Until now there’s a lot of uncertainty.”
