‘Rupture, Not A Transition’: Canada's Mark Carney Warns US-Led World Order Is Fading

Last Updated:January 21, 2026, 17:39 IST

Mark Carney said the world was no longer experiencing a temporary transition but a structural break driven by intensifying great-power rivalry and the erosion of shared rules.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney (IMAGE: Reuters)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that the US-led global system of governance is enduring “a rupture," warning that the rules-based international order that has shaped world affairs for decades is fading. Mark Carney delivered the speech to political and financial elites at the World Economic Forum, one day before US President Donald Trump was due to address the gathering in Davos.

Since entering Canadian politics last year, Mark Carney has repeatedly cautioned that the world would not return to a pre-Donald Trump status quo. He reaffirmed that message in remarks that did not name Donald Trump directly but offered a blunt assessment of the US President’s impact on global affairs.

“We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition," Mark Carney said.

End Of Rules-Based Order

Mark Carney acknowledged that Canada had benefited from the old “rules-based international order," including from what he described as American hegemony that helped provide global public goods. Those included open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security arrangements and frameworks for resolving disputes, he said.

But that system, Mark Carney argued, has given way to a harsher reality.

“Call it what it is: a system of intensifying great-power rivalry where the most powerful pursue their interests using economic integration as coercion," he said.

“The old order is not coming back," Mark Carney said, adding, “We should not mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy."

‘If We’re Not At The Table, We’re On The Menu’

In an apparent warning against efforts by smaller nations to appease major powers, Mark Carney said countries like Canada can no longer assume that accommodation or compliance will guarantee security.

“Compliance will not buy safety," he said, asserting, “It won’t."

“The question for middle powers, like Canada, is not whether to adapt to this new reality. We must," Mark Carney said, adding, “The question is whether we adapt by simply building higher walls or whether we can do something more ambitious."

“Middle powers must act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu," he said, explaining, “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."

Mark Carney’s remarks came as Donald Trump’s rhetoric continues to unsettle US allies. After winning the 2024 election and returning to office, Donald Trump repeatedly referred to Canada as a potential “51st state" and suggested a merger would benefit both countries.

While such annexation talk has eased in recent months, Donald Trump posted an image on social media this week showing Canada and Venezuela covered in the US flag, implying a full American takeover.

The Davos meeting has also been overshadowed by Donald Trump’s renewed threats to enforce US control over Greenland, which he has described as irreversible.

Mark Carney addressed the issue directly, voicing support for Denmark and Greenland.

“Canada stands firmly with Greenland and Denmark and fully supports their unique right to determine Greenland’s future," he said.

News world ‘Rupture, Not A Transition’: Canada's Mark Carney Warns US-Led World Order Is Fading

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