Canada's Prime Minister Said The International Rules-Based Order Is Over And Countries Need To Wake Up
Carney said the world order is facing “rupture” and the beginning of a harsh reality where the large, main powers are subjected to no limits.
Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney gave a blistering speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, saying that the world must face the reality that the rules-based international order has ended, as large powers like the US face no limits or constraints.
During his speech on Wednesday, Jan. 21, Carney said the world order is facing “rupture” and the beginning of a harsh reality where the large, main powers are subjected to no limits, in an apparent criticism of US president Donald Trump, who he didn’t mention by name.
Trump had earlier suggested that Canada should become the 51st state of the US and has recently added the country to his push to take control of Greenland by posting on social media a map of the US, Canada and Greenland with an image of the American flag laid over it.
Trump had also threatened to impose tariffs on European countries that oppose his annexation of Greenland, but later announced that he will not be imposing new tariffs after he had reached a framework with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
"Great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited," Carney said, adding that the "bargain" that included American hegemony no longer works.
Carney called the old US‑led rules‑based order “pleasant fiction” and said you “cannot thrive within the illusion of mutual benefit through integration when that integration becomes the source of your subordination.”
He said that Canada had previously bought into this system but would no longer do so, urging other middle power countries to follow the path and apply “the same standards to allies and rivals,” instead of criticizing economic coercion or aggression from one side while ignoring it from another.
He added that Canada firmly stands with Greenland and Denmark to determine the future of Greenland and strongly opposes tariffs over Greenland and calls for focused talks to achieve security in the Arctic.
Carney’s address came just a few days after Canada announced a new “strategic partnership” with China. including a preliminary trade deal to remove barriers and reduce tariffs.
Trump had responded to Carney’s speech at WEF by saying in his own speech that Canada lives because of the US and that Carney “wasn’t so grateful,” before later threatening to impose 100% tariffs on Canadian exports if Canada makes a deal with China.
Cherry Mohamed
Sofia Hou
Flavie Chen
