Canada’s prime minister in Davos says world must stop pretending

The world order long regarded as “rules based” has effectively collapsed, and “middle powers” must stop “living within a lie” and work together to build a new system of international relations, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said at the yearly World Economic Forum in Davos on Jan. 20. 

“[We are at] this pivotal moment that Canada and the world going through,” Carney said at the tiny Swiss resort, describing a “rupture in the world order” and the end of the “the end of a pleasant fiction.”

He added that the world is increasingly defined by the geopolitics of great powers that operate without restraint.

“On the other hand, I would like to tell you that the other countries, especially intermediate powers like Canada, are not powerless. They have the capacity to build a new order that encompasses our values, such as respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the various states,” the prime minister said.

Carney said that the illusion of security through concessions no longer works, and the old order’s “assumptions” are no longer valid. He warned against a “world of fortresses,” which would be “poorer, more fragile and less sustainable,” and emphasized the need for collective solutions.

He said Canada is embracing “values-based realism,” strengthening its own capabilities, diversifying partnerships, and engaging in international coalitions, including efforts to support Ukraine.

“We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn’t mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy, but we believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just. This is the task of the middle powers, the countries that have the most to lose from a world of fortresses and most to gain from genuine cooperation.”

Read the full speech here.