Carney's First Year: Clear Eyed Abroad, Tone Deaf at Home | The Walrus

"We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false. Just because Canada benefited from it didn't hide the fact that it was unfair. The rules didn't apply equally to everyone. The strongest would exempt themselves when convenient. Power, not principle, set the terms."

"Carney likened this awareness to Václav Havel's assertion that communism survived because ordinary people continued living within a lie. Communism's power came from everyone's willingness to perform as if it were true. When it comes to the old post-Cold War consensus, it's time to stop living within the lie."

"Carney's argument rested on two ideas that sat uneasily together. On one hand, he spoke of sovereignty, of the need for Canada to secure its supply chains, deepen its industrial capacity, and reduce exposure to geopolitical shock. On the other, he reaffirmed faith in the very global systems whose unravelling made sovereignty newly urgent."

Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a significant speech at Davos asserting that the post-Cold War international rules-based order was partially false and unfairly applied. He argued that powerful nations exempted themselves from rules when convenient, with power rather than principle determining terms. Carney compared this to Václav Havel's observation about communism surviving through collective performance of falsehood. He contended that the Trump era demonstrates fundamental change has occurred and the old consensus must be abandoned. However, Carney's position contains an unresolved tension: while advocating for Canadian sovereignty through supply chain security and reduced geopolitical exposure, he simultaneously reaffirms faith in the global systems whose instability created the need for sovereignty.

Read at The Walrus