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The prime minister said Canada and other countries have no choice but to create new alliances to oppose pressure tactics
Bloomberg News
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos on Jan. 20, 2026. “Stop invoking the ‘rules-based international order’ as though it still functions as advertised,” Carney said in a speech. Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI /AFP via Getty Images
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney used a major address in Davos to argue that the world’s middle powers must band together to resist coercion from aggressive superpowers.
Recent events have shown the “rules-based international order” is effectively dead, Carney said, which means Canada and other countries have no choice but to create new alliances to oppose pressure tactics and intimidation by the world’s great powers. His speech didn’t mention United States President Donald Trump by name.
Canada stands firmly behind Greenland as tensions rise in the Arctic over Trump’s repeated statements that the U.S. must own the territory for security reasons, the prime minister said at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday. The semi-autonomous island and Denmark have a “unique right to determine Greenland’s future,” he said.
His remarks amounted to a call for a new architecture of co-operation among mid-sized countries. The prime minister said such alliances can be the last line of defence in an era when dominant states use their economic and military might to impose their will, and he urged joint investments in deterrence.
“Stop invoking the ‘rules-based international order’ as though it still functions as advertised,” Carney said. “Call the system what it is: a period where the most powerful pursue their interests using economic integration as a weapon of coercion.”
Canada is working with partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to secure the alliance’s northern and western flanks, and its commitment to Article 5 — NATO’s joint defence clause — is “unwavering,” Carney said.
His speech came amid a widening transatlantic rift. Hours before Carney’s speech, France’s Emmanuel Macron attacked Trump’s trade strategy, which includes the threat of further tariffs on European nations unless the U.S. is allowed to acquire Greenland.
Overnight, Trump posted a photo of a map that shows both Greenland and Canada covered by the American flag.
Faced with strong-arm tactics by larger nations, “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,” Carney said. “It won’t.”
“Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu,” the prime minister added.
‘Weapon of coercion’
Canada and Mexico are also preparing for negotiations with the White House on the North American trade pact, and American officials have publicly mused about breaking up that accord and pursuing bilateral talks instead.
Trump is scheduled to attend the summit Wednesday, the same day Carney is leaving. It’s not yet known if the two leaders will cross paths.
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