“The most important foreign policy speech in years,” headlined this week the prestigious analyst Ezra Klein in ‘The New York Times’. He was referring to the words of prime minister of canadaMark Carney, at the Davos economic forum last week.
Carney made an accurate diagnosis of the current geopolitical situation. It is, in his words, the “rupture” of the world as we knew it until now, as a result of the coercive policies of Donald Trump.
Carney not only analyzed the damage that the president of the United States is doing to international institutions (among others, the United Nationsthe World Trade Organization oh go Paris Climate Agreements), but gave recipes on how to survive in this new global disorder. He suggested that the middle powers unite to try to withstand the clash. Faced with the coercion or brute force that the great powers (the United States and China, but also Russia) are determined to use, he proposed a kind of alliance of countries that still defend these institutions. Separately they are weak, together they have a chance.
The speech was brief, 15 minutes, but enough for get the biggest standing ovationof the economic and political elites present at the conclave in the Swiss city. And so that his words went “viral” on social networks and the media.
Ottawa, Canada, January 27, 2026. Prime Minister Mark Carney with his wife Diana Fox Carney / Associated Press/LaPresse / LAP
Until last week, Carney was essentially unknown to the general public. He did not have the charisma of his predecessor, Justin Trudeau. In fact, his speech in Davos seemed like that of a bored bureaucrat: cold and expressionless gesture, monotone tone. It contrasted with the performance on the same stage and with the same strong idea of the glamorous president of France, Emmanuel Macron.
Carney is a man of substance, cerebral and analyticala technocrat of the global economic elite.
“Carney’s career in public administration is very relevant. He does not act as a politician or as someone who has been trained in party politics; rather “He operates almost like someone who despises ‘politicking.'”interprets for EL PERIÓDICO Alex Marlandprofessor of Political Science at Acadia University in Canada. “He is used to moving in elite circles as a senior bureaucrat. The fact that he became prime minister before having been elected to anything before speaks volumes in itself.”
PhD in economics from Harvard
Carney has 60 years. Nation in Fort Smitha small town in a remote region of Canada’s Northern Territories, in 1965. He grew up with his parents, teachers, in Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, in a middle-class family. He was a hockey goalie.
good student, graduated from Harvard and it PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford. He began his career in the investment bank Goldman Sachs. He then held the position of Governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020. He was also president of the G20 Financial Stability Board.
None of these positions are normally associated with high geopolitical strategy. And yet, his was a high-impact speech. Trump took the hintdespite the fact that Carney did not name him at any time, and responded with an attack. “Canada gets a lot of free stuff from us. They should be grateful, but they’re not,” he said. “I saw your Prime Minister yesterday. He wasn’t so grateful… you should be grateful to us, Canada. Canada exists thanks to the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
The Prime Minister of Canada had put his finger on the sore spot. The Western world is amazed at the use of tariffs as a weapon of pressure by the country, the United States, which until now had been the guarantor of free trade.
“Mr. Carney’s career as a central banker was important for the reception of his speech because he already had a reputation in Davos,” he says. Adam Chapnickprofessor at the Canadian Forces College. “But, more generally, what best explains his actions so far, in my opinion, is the confidence he has in his own analytical abilities and his lack of fear in the political arena”.
Canadian Social Liberal Party
Carney has been Prime Minister since March 14, 2025, after winning the internal elections of the Liberal Party with 85.9% of the votes. This is what happened to Justin Trudeauwho had resigned as prime minister and leader of the left-liberal party in January. Carney was revalidated in the position in the federal elections a month later, in which he won by 13 points over the conservative candidate, Pierre Poilievre.
Carney made part of his campaign with the proposal to strongly resist the coercive attempts of the new United States Administration. Trump and his team have hinted at their intention to bring in Canada as the 51st state of the Union. He has underestimated the country that fought alongside the United States in World War II or Afghanistan, saying that it is not a real country. At the beginning of his term, he imposed 25% tariffs on them. “Americans should not underestimate us; in trade, as in hockey, Canada will win,” he said, referring to the national sport.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney / Adrian Wyld / AP
Carney promised reinforce the “economic sovereignty” of the countryreducing trade dependence on the United States through market diversification towards Europe and Asia. Politically, he proposed negotiating but without humiliating himself. Militaryly, Canada joined the European joint security program SAFE.
“It is risky to do anything that might irritate the president of the United States now, because he has proven to be unpredictable and subject to few restrictions,” adds Adam Chapnick. “The Canadian economy depends largely on a seamless access to the US marketand the free trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico will be reviewed this year.”
Recently, Carney traveled to China and signed a series of trade agreements with the Asian giant, which has earned him the threat of 100% tariffs from Washington.
exponent of liberal democracy
What Mark Carney did in Davos is take up a flag, take the first step of a movement of countries that cannot finish breaking with the United States but also cannot stand the economic or military threats the Trump.
“In the western liberal democraciesthose who oppose President Trump and his political agenda are looking for a leader to confront him. No leader of a large country, traditionally considered a close ally of the United States, is willing to do so; However, Carney did so with diplomatic aplomb,” says Alex Marland. “Carney’s message is consistent with his time as prime minister. But his critics in Canada point out that does not back up his words with actions. For example, during the campaign he advocated an “elbows up” approach. [una referencia a la forma agresiva de jugar de un histórico jugador de hockey sobre hielo canadiense] which is now sometimes ridiculed because, on many issues, the Canadian Prime Minister has deferred to President Trump.
Certainly, Carney has been forced to nuance its relations with Chinaafter Trump’s tariff threat. He has stressed that his country has no intention of signing a free trade agreement with Beijing. “By virtue of the T-MEC (trilateral trade agreement that includes Mexico, Canada and the US)we are committed not to seek free trade agreements with non-market economies without prior notification. We have no intention of doing so with China or with any other non-market economy,” said the Canadian prime minister.
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