Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the international rules-based order has entered a period of “rupture, not transition,” accusing major powers of weaponizing economic integration and urging middle powers like Canada to resist coercion rather than retreat behind “higher walls.”
Carney’s remarks, widely praised by other leaders at the summit, came as he strongly rejected U.S. tariff threats tied to Washington’s push to acquire Greenland. Finnish President Alexander Stubb called Carney’s address the “best speech of the meeting,” saying it captured the depth of global change and emphasized core Canadian values.
Carney said the old order – anchored for decades by “American hegemony,” which ensured free sea lanes, stable financial systems and collective security – no longer reflects global realities. “We knew the story of the rules-based order was partially false,” he said, adding that recent crises in finance, health, energy and geopolitics have exposed the vulnerabilities created by extreme integration. “Great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons – tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities.”
