"I believe strongly in a rules based global order," she said. "The establishment of the institutions that give effect to it in the mid 20th century was a crucial foundation for much of the growing peace and prosperity the world has enjoyed since. And the tragic history of the first half of the last century reminds us of the cost of those institutions' absence."
Her tone was strikingly different from the speech she made to her Conservative Party conference in October, when she attacked those who see themselves as "citizens of the world." She praised Britain's racial diversity, and insisted the country is outward-facing.
Where she did echo that speech was in her warning to audience members that they can't continue business strategies of exploiting workers and avoiding taxes. Voters are angry about a system where "those who prosper play by a different set of rules, while for many life remains a struggle," she said, calling for "responsive, responsible leadership."
"We have to step up and take control to ensure that free trade and globalization work for everyone," she said. "For business, it means doing even more to spread those benefits to more people. It means playing by the same rules as everyone else when it comes to tax and behavior."
In the audience in Davos was Howard M. Meyers, Chairman of Quexco Incorporated, the Dallas, Texas-based recycled metals company. He said he was impressed with May's focus on global trade. "As a U.S. businessman with a British interest, I thought she did a very good job," Myers said.
Others were less enthusiastic. "In the Twitter world, you need a speech-writer who knows how to write in memorable tweets," said Ngaire Woods, Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University. "This year people are quoting at least 20 of Xi Jinping's tweets. That tells me he has a brilliant speech-writer. If I were Mrs. May's chief of staff I would want to hire that speech-writer."
