Mark Carney speaks about world order at the WEF.Image: keystone
In Davos, Canada’s Prime Minister spoke of a world in dissolution. He paints a bleak picture of the international order – and calls for a radical rethink.
01/21/2026, 07:27January 21, 2026, 07:35
Christoph Cöln / t-online
At the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a remarkable speech in which, among other things, he sharply criticized the US President and his politics of division. Also on Tuesday, Donald Trump published two photo montages on his online platform Truth Social that suggested that he wanted to bring Canada, along with Greenland, under the control of the United States.
In the past, Trump had publicly toyed with the idea of bringing Canada under US control several times. The neighboring country should be part of the United States and the “51st. become a federal state”. The Canadian head of government clearly rejected Trump’s territorial ambitions last May.
Without explicitly mentioning Trump’s name, Carney spoke in Davos of the fact that major powers were in the process of turning the world order on its head.
“Let me say it very clearly: We are currently experiencing a deep rift, not a transition.”
While over the past two decades people have worked to promote the integration of a large part of the global community with the help of joint economic projects and to make them resistant to crises, this is now over. “In recent times, economic policy instruments have been used as weapons.”
Trump published this manipulated image on Tuesday.Image: truth social
Davos: Self-accusation of liberal democracies
As an example, Carney cited punitive tariffs or the dependence on financial infrastructures and supply chains, which are now being used as a means of blackmail. However, the Canadian Prime Minister also put his finger in the wound. For years, people in charge of global trade relations have been fooling themselves.
“We secretly knew that the rules-based order of politics was a bit of a window dressing. We knew that the strongest within this order would stop following the rules as soon as it suited him. Globalization had an imbalance from the start. And international criminal law was sometimes applied more, sometimes less rigorously – depending on who was currently accused.
What the 60-year-old said was essentially a self-indictment of liberal democracy. For a long time, people were deluding themselves with well-sounding labels such as ‘rules-based order’ and ‘global trade’. This narrative was useful because many nations and economies benefited from it. But this story, according to Canada’s Prime Minister, was just a fantasy, an auxiliary construct that people were all too happy to believe in.
«We have always avoided naming the contradictions between our rhetoric and reality. But this horse-trading no longer works.”
Crises such as the global financial crisis or the corona pandemic have already made the vulnerability of this system noticeable. Now the illusion will be finally destroyed. It was probably clear to everyone in the room who it was: Donald Trump. Globalization has now become the root cause of oppression, Carney said. Institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and summits such as the COP climate conference have lost their power.
“But if the rules that once protected us no longer protect us, we must ensure that we can defend ourselves.”
Carney: “The old order is not coming back”
As a result of this finding, many states realized that they had to build up “strategic independence”. Areas affected include energy and food supplies, important raw materials such as rare earths, the financial industry and also supply chains. This is the only way to effectively defend ourselves against aggressive hegemonic powers in this new world order, said Carney.
“A country that cannot finance itself, that cannot provide itself with energy and defend itself, does not have many options.”
The leader of Canada’s Liberal Party warned of a “world of fortresses” – but this world is already emerging and countries like Canada need to join forces with other like-minded people to stand up to the dominance of larger, richer and militarily stronger countries. He called this “classic risk management”. And that has its price, but the costs can be shared.
Carney also gave hope to the less powerful countries. If you form strategic alliances, you can achieve a lot.
«The old order is not coming back. We shouldn’t mourn her. Nostalgia is not a strategy. But from this turning point we can build something better, stronger and fairer.”
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