This year’s Davos was expected to have as its main protagonist . But the presence of the Canadian prime minister, at the annual meeting of the global economic and political elite, made a special impression, turning the spotlight – even for a while – away from the American president.
The fact is that what Carney said on Tuesday (20/01) regarding the global political reality – from whom he was applauded – as much as those who saw his speech worldwide after the momentum it took.
The Canadian Prime Minister made a series of unpleasant observations about the return to a regime of brute force enforcement by the great powers (“no longer subject to any restrictions”), the assessment that the old order is not going to be restored (“nostalgia is not a strategy”) and the reminder that the cooperation of middle nations is considered a necessary option (“work together to create a third way with impact”).
“Canada lives because of the USA. Remember that Mark”
Reactions to Carney’s pitch were largely positive. “This is a realistic and thoughtful analysis,” said Finnish President Alexander Stubb, while California Governor Gavin Newsom called it “impactful.” French President Emmanuel Macron, although he did not make a direct reference, fully agreed with the conclusions and rhetoric of the head of the Canadian government.
Unique but expected dissonance Trump, who the next day responded in his familiar, provocative style: “Canada lives because of the USA. Remember that Mark.”
One of the most important speeches in Davos
Carney’s speech, which he wrote himself, is no rhetorical firework. As the New York Times reminds us, the attitude of the Canadian leader has its explanation in the crisis that broke out last year between Washington and Ottawa, with Trump’s return to the White House. “Trump began his second term saying he would make Canada the 51st US state, followed up by threatening to end the USMCA trade agreement, followed by tariffs on key Canadian economic sectors. All this while advisers to the US president, such as Steve Bannon, extolled the benefits of Canada’s annexation.”
But this kind of accumulated negative experience served as a valuable lesson for Carney. In Davos, he managed to “impose” himself in the room and deliver one of the most important speeches of the World Economic Forum.
Under other circumstances, Trump’s behavior and hard facts would have prevented the leader of a country so economically and culturally tied to the US from acts of bravery. Canada and the US share the world’s longest international border between two states (8,891 km), while 75.9% of exported goods and services produced on Canadian soil go to the US.
The two countries also cooperate closely at the military level, as they maintain a form of joint command to protect the air defense of the wider North American zone, called NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command).
Mark Carney’s response to Washington politics is characterized on the one hand by avoiding high tones and exposure to Trump’s high communication temperatures, focusing his criticism on the big, structural changes of the emerging multipolar world. On the other hand, it is intensifying its contacts with states capable of ensuring economic benefits in the Canadian market, such as Qatar and China.
He even signed an economic agreement with Beijing to ease tariffs on Chinese electric cars and Canadian canola oil. More important, however, is the joint reference by Carney and Xi Jinping to the “strategic cooperation” of the two parties.
The Canadian prime minister’s focus on a more diversified and multidimensional foreign policy than in the past is also shown by the fact that he has spent 60 of the total 313 days of his administration on international visits. The dialectical relationship with the harsh reality of the Trump administration and the need for Canada to find its balance in the evolving world scene explain Carney’s politically charged, strategically deep and at the same time institutional intervention in Davos.
As the Canadian diplomat Jeremy Kinsman points out, in the domestic political magazine Policy, “Carney made it clear with his speech that in a globalized world a working multilateralism is required.”
