LONDON — The World Economic Forum has never suffered from a lack of extravagance. But this year the champagne may be flowing even more freely than usual in the Swiss Alps resort of Davos, owing to a turn in the global situation pleasing to the sorts of people who make the annual pilgrimage — heads of state, corporate chieftains and those who manage extraordinary piles of money.

The last time these putative guardians of civilization convened for this festival of internationalist concern, they found themselves in an uncustomary position: in the cross hairs of a global insurrection.

Britain had recently voted to abandon the European Union, dealing a shock to post-World War II European integration. An outsize share of the French electorate was in the thrall of Marine Le Pen and her threats to advance the revolt against European leadership. Donald J. Trump was only days away from his inauguration pledging to use the Oval Office as a war room in a relentless assault on global institutions, including the World Trade Organization, NATO and the Paris climate accord.

From inside the World Economic Forum, which starts on Tuesday, these events seemed part of the same storm system, one energized by anger in many major economies over widening income gaps. Those wealthy enough to own jets — a group amply represented at Davos — were pulling away from everyone else. The resulting popular fury was threatening to tear down decades-old international agreements.