Pragmatism is all the rage. It could be the word of 2026 if we make it to December. Mark Carney didn’t invent it in his myth-busting Davos speech but if Carlsberg did words, that’s how it would do it. A David circling the Philistine Goliath before a roomful of billionaires and elites, promoting a “realism” that is both “principled” and “pragmatic”. And getting a rare standing ovation for it.
News headlines confirm the word’s world domination ever since. Japan: an island of pragmatism in a sea of drama. Brussels, edging towards pragmatism over nuclear energy. Tusk in Kyiv: security, energy, economy and a new pragmatism. It has infiltrated every area from “judicial pragmatism” (the president of the European Court of Human Rights) to Steve Borthwick’s Rugby World Cup strategy (“A lesson in pragmatism and plagiarism”) and – sure
Continue Reading on The Irish Times
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.