End of rules-based world order: Carney

With the “rupture” in the rules-based world order, Canada’s new approach will be principled and pragmatic and multilateral, as it seeks to rapidly diversify abroad while negotiating free trade deals with countries like India, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a special address at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.

- Anirudh Bhattacharyya

The speech was described by commentators as a “eulogy” for the current world order and came as President Donald Trump posted an Al-generated image with the American flag superimposed on Greenland, the Danish territory he wants to annex, and Canada, which he earlier said should be the 5lst state of the US.

Carney addressed the “rupture in the world order, the end of a nice story”, which marked “the beginning of a brutal reality where geopolitics among the great powers is not subject to any constraints”.

He stressed that middle powers were not powerless but had the “capacity to build a new order” embodying their values. Carney said it was known “the story of the international rules-based order was partially false” with the strongest exempting themselves “when convenient” with trade rules “enforced asymmetrically”.