His speech came shortly after President Trump posted on social media an image generated by artificial intelligence, showing a map with American flags superimposed over Canada and the United States.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney did not name the United States or President Donald Trump in his speech Tuesday at the World Economic Forum, but the message was clear about who he held responsible for what he called a “fracture” of the world order. “Today I will speak about the fracture of the world order, the end of a pleasant illusion and the beginning of a brutal reality, where the geopolitics of great powers is no longer subject to any constraints,” Carney said during a speech in Davos, Switzerland, where he spoke in English and French.
“Every day we are reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry. That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must,” he said, adding: “Let me be blunt: we are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.” Carney was greeted with a standing ovation. His speech came shortly after President Trump posted on social media an image generated by artificial intelligence showing a map with American flags superimposed over Canada and the United States. A former investment banker and former governor of the central banks of Canada and the United Kingdom, Carney was in a familiar setting in Davos. His office estimates he has attended the global forum about 30 times.
He arrived at the conference shaken by the deepening rift between Europe and the United States, caused by Trump’s efforts to turn Greenland, a Danish-administered territory, into part of the United States. Trump’s hostile stance toward European allies on the Greenland issue, including threats of tariffs, has heightened concerns in Canada that he could act on his whim to annex the country as the 51st U.S. state. Greenland, like the United States, is Canada’s neighbor. Canada and Denmark are members of NATO and have participated in joint military exercises in Greenland for years. While Carney and his cabinet ministers have repeatedly condemned Trump’s plan, Canada has not joined European countries in sending troops to the island as a sign of support.
In his speech, Carney stressed that Canada’s commitment to the NATO article that considers an attack on one member as an attack on all is “unwavering.” However, he noted that the article was not drafted with the possibility of one member attacking another in mind, and that it is not clear whether all NATO members would respond militarily in such an event.
Canada and the United States have a joint command for the defense of North America. This week, aircraft from both countries are at a U.S. air base in Greenland as part of a routine exercise that, according to the joint command, has been approved by Denmark. In closing, Carney called on middle powers like Canada to work together to balance the influence of the United States, China and Russia.
“Middle powers must act together, because if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu,” he said. “Great powers can now afford to act alone.”