In full: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos

What this episode is about

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum highlights the decline of the rules-based international order, emphasizing that the ongoing power rivalry and compliance culture fail to protect weaker nations. He draws on Václav Havel's concept of "living within a lie" to argue that countries must break free from the façade of compliance and challenge the underlying truths of global politics for genuine progress and stability.

Key takeaways

• Embrace reality: compliance in a power rivalry doesn't guarantee safety; it's merely a façade that masks fragility.
• The 'rules-based order' is crumbling; countries must choose between high walls and ambitious, collaborative resilience.
• The illusion of mutual benefit through integration is a lie; when dependency defines relationships, autonomy becomes a survival strategy.
• Strategic autonomy is essential, but building fortresses might be costly—a collective approach fosters resilience and cooperation.
• Value-based realism requires an agile mindset—remain principled but pragmatic; engage with the world we have, not the one we want.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Mark Carney (Guest) · 16 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Václav Havel
2. 6:00 – 9:00: Alexander Stub, China, India
3. 9:00 – 12:00: NATO, European Union, G7, Trans-Pacific Partnership
4. 12:00 – 15:00: Václav Havel

Notable quotes from "In full: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos"

• Integration becomes the source of your subordination, the multilateral institutions on which the middle powers have relied, the WTO, the UN, the COP, the architecture, the very architecture of collective problem solving are under threat.

  about United Nations · at 4:03

• Principled in our commitment to fundamental values, sovereignty, territorial integrity, the prohibition of the use of force except when consistent with the UN charter, and.

  about Alexander Stub · at 6:56

• We've agreed a comprehensive strategic partnership with the EU, including joining SAFE, the European defense procurement arrangements. We have signed 12 other trade and security deals on.

  about European Union · at 8:26

• So, we're working with our NATO allies, including the Nordic Baltic Gate, to further secure the alliance's northern and western flanks, including through Canada's unprecedented investments in.

  about NATO · at 9:38

• What does it mean for middle powers to live the truth? Well, first, it means naming reality. Stop invoking rules-based international order as though it still functions as advertised.

  about Václav Havel · at 12:28

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Václav Havel — Person · Referenced dissident and political thinker · 2 mentions · first at 1:40
  Used as the central moral/philosophical reference point via his essay 'The Power of the Powerless' and the idea of 'living within a lie' to frame state and corporate behavior under coercive systems.
• Alexander Stub — Person · Referenced contemporary political leader (source of a framework) · 1 mention · first at 6:45
  Cited as the origin of the term 'value-based realism,' which the speaker presents as Canada's guiding approach—balancing principles with pragmatism in foreign policy.

Companies & orgs

• NATO — Company · Key alliance · 1 mention · first at 9:33
  NATO is mentioned as a critical alliance for Canada's security and collective defense strategy.
• European Union — Company · Strategic partner · 1 mention · first at 10:18
  The EU is a key partner for Canada in trade and defense, with a comprehensive strategic partnership mentioned.
• United Nations — Company · International institution · 3 mentions
  The UN is referenced as part of the multilateral institutions under threat, highlighting its role in global governance.
• World Trade Organization (WTO) — Company · Trade institution · 3 mentions
  The WTO is mentioned as one of the multilateral institutions facing challenges in the current geopolitical climate.
  Integration becomes the source of your subordination, the multilateral institutions on which the middle powers have relied, the WTO, the UN, the COP, the architecture, the very architecture of collective problem solving are under threat.
• ASEAN — Company · Trade partner · 3 mentions
  ASEAN is mentioned as a group with which Canada is negotiating free trade agreements.
  Four continents in 6 months. In the past few days, we've concluded new strategic partnerships with China and Qatar. We're negotiating free trade packs with India, ASEAN Thailand Philippines and Mercur.
• Qatar — Company · Strategic partner · 3 mentions
  Qatar is mentioned as a country with which Canada has concluded new strategic partnerships.
  12 other trade and security deals on four continents in 6 months. In the past few days, we've concluded new strategic partnerships with China and Qatar. We're negotiating free trade packs with India, ASEAN Thailand Philippines and Mercur.
• China — Company · Strategic partner · 1 mention · first at 8:41
  China is mentioned as a country with which Canada has concluded new strategic partnerships.
  12 other trade and security deals on four continents in 6 months. In the past few days, we've concluded new strategic partnerships with China and Qatar. We're negotiating free trade packs with India, ASEAN Thailand Philippines and Mercur.
• India — Company · Trade partner · 1 mention · first at 8:43
  India is mentioned as a country with which Canada is negotiating free trade agreements.
  Four continents in 6 months. In the past few days, we've concluded new strategic partnerships with China and Qatar. We're negotiating free trade packs with India, ASEAN Thailand Philippines and Mercur.
• Trans-Pacific Partnership — Company · Trade agreement · 1 mention · first at 10:16
  The Trans-Pacific Partnership is mentioned as a trade agreement Canada is working to bridge with the EU.
  On plurilateral trade, we're championing efforts to build a bridge between the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the European Union, which would create a new trading block of 1.5 billion people. On.
• G7 — Company · Economic group · 1 mention · first at 10:24
  The G7 is mentioned as a group anchoring buyers clubs for critical minerals.
  Trading block of 1.5 billion people. On critical minerals, we're forming buyers clubs anchored in the G7 so that the world can diversify away from concentrated supply. And on…

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 It seems that every day we're reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry, that the rules-based order is fading, that the strong can do what they can and the weak must suffer what they must. And this apherimism of Thusidities is presented as inevitable, as the natural logic of international relations reasserting itself. And faced with this logic, there is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along, to accommodate, to avoid trouble, to hope that compliance will buy safety. Well, it won't. So, what are our options?

0:50 In 1978, the Czech dissident Vaslav Havl, later president, wrote an essay called the power of the powerless. And in it, he asked a simple question. How did the communist system sustain itself? And his answer began with a green grosser. Every morning, this shopkeeper places a sign in his window, workers of the world unite. He doesn't believe it. No one does. But he places the sign anyway to avoid trouble, to signal compliance, to get along. And because every shopkeeper on every street does the same, the system persists, not through violence alone, but through the participation of ordinary people in rituals they privately know to be false.

1:40 Havl called this living within a lie. The system's power comes not from its truth, but from everyone's willingness to perform as if it were true. And its fragility comes from the same source. When even one person stops performing, when the green grosser removes his sign, the illusion begins to crack. Friends, it is time for companies and countries to take their signs down. For decades,

2:20 for decades, countries like Canada prospered under what we called the rules-based international order. We joined its institutions. We praised its principles. We benefited from its predictability. And because of that, we could pursue values-based foreign policies under its protection. We knew the story of the international rulesbased order was partially false. That the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient. That trade rules were enforced s asymmetrically. And we knew that international law applied with varying rigor depending on the identity of the accused or the victim.

2:59 This fiction was useful and American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods, open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security and support for frameworks for resolving disputes. So we placed the sign in the window. We participated in the rituals and we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality. This bargain no longer works. Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. Over the past two decades, a series of crises in finance, health, energy, and geopolitics have laid bare the risks of extreme global integration. But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.

3:58 You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration. When integration becomes the source of your subordination, the multilateral institutions on which the middle powers have relied, the WTO, the UN, the COP, the architecture, the very architecture of collective problem solving are under threat. And as a result, many countries are drawing the same conclusions that they must develop greater strategic autonomy in energy, food, critical minerals, in finance and supply chains. And this impulse is understandable. A country that can't feed itself, fuel itself, or defend itself has few options. When the rules no longer protect you, you must protect yourself.

4:49 But let's be cleareyed about where this leads. A world of fortresses will be poorer, more fragile, and less sustainable. And there's another truth. If great powers abandon even the pretense of rules and values for the unhindered pursuit of their power and interests, the gains from transactionalism will become harder to replicate. Hegeimons cannot continually monetize their relationships. Allies will diversify to hedge against uncertainty. They'll buy insurance, increase options in order to rebuild sovereignty. Sovereignty that was once grounded in rules, but will increasingly be anchored in the ability to withstand pressure.

5:40 This room knows this is classic risk management. Risk management comes at a price. But that cost of strategic autonomy of sovereignty can also be shared. Collective investments in resilience are cheaper than everyone building their own fortresses. Shared standards reduce fragmentations. Complimentarities are positive sum. And the question for middle powers like Canada is not whether to adapt to the new reality. We must. The question is whether we adapt by simply building higher walls or whether we can do something more ambitious.

6:23 Now, Canada was amongst the first to hear the wakeup call leading us to fundamentally shift our strategic posture. Canadians know that our old comfortable assumptions that our geography and alliance memberships automatically conferred prosperity and security, that assumption is no longer valid. And our new approach rests on what Alexander Stub, the president of Finland, has termed valuebased realism. Or to put another way, we aim to be both principled and pragmatic. Principled in our commitment to fundamental values, sovereignty, territorial integrity, the prohibition of the use of force except when consistent with the UN charter, and respect for human rights. and pragmatic in recognizing that progress is often incremental, that interests diverge, that not every partner will share all of our values. So, we're engaging broadly, strategically with open eyes. We actively take on the world as it is, not

7:26 wait around for a world we wish to be. We are calibrating our relationships so their depth reflects our values. And we're prioritizing broad engagement to maximize our influence given and given the fluidity of the world at the moment, the risks that this poses and the stakes for what comes next. And we are no longer just relying on the strength of our values, but also the value of our strength. We are building that strength at home. Since my government took office, we have cut taxes on incomes, on capital gains and business investment. We have removed all federal barriers to interprovincial trade. We are fast-tracking a trillion dollars of investments in energy, AI, critical minerals, new trade corridors, and beyond. We're doubling our defense spending by the end of this decade, and we're doing so in ways that build our domestic industries.

8:23 And we are rapidly diversifying abroad. We've agreed a comprehensive strategic partnership with the EU, including joining SAFE, the European defense procurement arrangements. We have signed 12 other trade and security deals on four continents in 6 months. In the past few days, we've concluded new strategic partnerships with China and Qatar. We're negotiating free trade packs with India, ASEAN Thailand Philippines and Mercur. We're doing something else. To help solve global problems, we're pursuing variable geometry. In other words, different coalitions for different issues based on common values and interests. So on Ukraine, we're a core member of the coalition of the willing and one of the largest per capita contributors to its defense and security.

9:15 on Arctic sovereignty. We stand firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully support their unique right to determine Greenland's future. Our commitment to NATO's Article 5 is unwavering. So, we're working with our NATO allies, including the Nordic Baltic Gate, to further secure the alliance's northern and western flanks, including through Canada's unprecedented investments in over the horizon radar, in submarines, in aircraft, and boots on the ground, boots on the ice. Canada strongly opposes tariffs over Greenland and calls for focused talks to achieve our shared objectives of security and prosperity in the Arctic.

10:12 On plurilateral trade, we're championing efforts to build a bridge between the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the European Union, which would create a new trading block of 1.5 billion people. On critical minerals, we're forming buyers clubs anchored in the G7 so that the world can diversify away from concentrated supply. And on AI, we're cooperating with like-minded democracies to ensure that we won't ultimately be forced to choose between hedgeimons and hyperscalers. This is not naive multilateralism, nor is it relying on their institutions. It's building coalitions that work issues by issue with partners who share enough common ground to act together.

11:00 In some cases, this will be the vast majority of nations. What it's doing is creating a dense web of connections across trade investment culture on which we can draw for future challenges and opportunities. argue the middle powers must act together because if we're not at the table, we're on the menu. But I'd also say that great powers, great powers can afford for now to go it alone. They have the market size, the military capacity, and the leverage to dictate terms. Middle powers do not. But when we only negotiate bilaterally with a hedgeimon, we negotiate from weakness.

11:44 We accept what's offered. We compete with each other to be the most accommodating. This is not sovereignty. It's the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination. In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice. Compete with each other for favor or to combine to create a third path with impact. We shouldn't allow the rise of hard power to blind us to the fact that the power of legitimacy, integrity, and rules will remain strong if we choose to wield them together, which brings me back to Havl.

12:28 What does it mean for middle powers to live the truth? Well, first, it means naming reality. Stop invoking rules-based international order as though it still functions as advertised. Call it what it is, a system of intensifying great power rivalry where the most powerful pursue their interests using economic integration as coercion. It means acting consistently applying the same standards to allies and rivals. When middle powers criticize economic intimidation from one direction but stay silent when it comes from another, we are keeping the sign in the window.

13:08 It means building what we claim to believe in rather than waiting for the old order to be restored. It means creating institutions and agreements that function as described. And it means reducing the leverage that enables coercion. That's building a strong domestic economy. should be every government's immediate priority. And diversification internationally is not just economic prudence. It's a material foundation for honest foreign policy because countries earn the right to principled stands by reducing their vulnerability to retaliation.

13:45 So Canada has what the world wants. We are an energy superpower. We hold vast reserves of critical minerals. We have the most educated population in the world. Our pension funds are amongst the world's largest and most sophisticated investors. In other words, we have capital, talent. We also have a government with immense fiscal capacity to act decisively. And we have the values to which many others aspire. Canada is a pluralistic society that works. Our public square is loud, diverse, and free. Canadians remain committed to sustainability.

14:29 We are a stable and reliable partner in a world that is anything but. A partner that builds and values relationships for the long term. And we have something else. We have a recognition of what's happening and a determination to act accordingly. We understand that this rupture calls for more than adaptation. It calls for honesty about the world as it is. We are taking the sign out of the window. We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn't mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy. But we believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just. This is the task of the middle powers, the countries that have the most to lose from a world of fortresses and a most to gain from genuine cooperation.

15:21 The powerful have their power, but we have something too. The capacity to stop pretending, to name reality, to build our strength at home, and to act together. That is Canada's path. We choose it openly and confidently, and it is a path wide open to any country willing to take it with us. Thank you very much.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "In full: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos"?

Mark Carney (Guest).

What is "In full: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos" about?

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum highlights the decline of the rules-based international order, emphasizing that the ongoing power rivalry and compliance culture fail to protect weaker nations. He draws on Václav Havel's concept of "living within a lie" to argue that countries must break free from the façade of compliance and challenge the underlying…

What is mentioned in this The Journal episode?

12 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Václav Havel, NATO, European Union, United Nations, World Trade Organization (WTO), Alexander Stub. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "In full: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos"?

The episode runs 16 min; the transcript is about 2,014 words in 20 timestamped sections.

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