The world order we knew died long ago – PM Mark Carney just made sure everyone was paying attention.

At the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting for 2026, Mark Carney gave a speech that will be remembered as one in a select list of landmark speeches over the course of contemporary history, on par with the Iron Curtains and the I Have A Dreams that have gone on to shape modern cultural, social and political development. With great poise and precision, the prime minister of Canada outlined many unspoken realities that have plagued the existing world order: asymmetrical enforcement of  rules, the farcicial participation of rituals that ven when the world order failed to function effectively and the illusion of integration when subordination was the exercised relationship. PM Carney did not mince his words either, wholly admitting that the world is in a ‘rupture, and not a transition’.

 

It is quite telling that his speech was met with resounding applause parked between the pauses within his speech, and seemed to reflect a gradual sobering in the general population that the new normal has shifted. In fact, we have not seen such a forward and upfront account of the state of affairs since Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech. This reception seemed to mark the new direction of society.

 

But what is this world order that PM Carney speaks of? Built on the ashes of World War II, the current world order built itself on the virtues of peaceful collaboration, free trade, and supranational collaborative institutions like the UN, NATO and G7. The global economy saw great economic progress through this model, anchored on the financial power of countries like the US and the UK – millions were uplifted from poverty and many countries saw significant economic progress.

 

However, numerous global crises since the turn of the century have sown public sentiment that a categorical deficiency actually exists within our global systems: from the 2008 global financial crises, the Covid-19 pandemic to the handling of the Russia-Ukraine war. This is on top of the stagnation of many western economies coupled with the rising cost of living in recent years.  A speech like this simply highlighted the elephant in the room, rather than a radical account of the state of society.

 

So what’s next? PM Carney spent a great portion of the rest of his speech outlining the future of Canada, in which much of it reflected a new playbook, one that showed Canada could not ride on the shoulders of American success any longer, and that Canada had to build its own strategic allegiances worldwide. PM Carney further called on fellow “middle powers” similar to Canada to rise up to the occasion to build a collaborative future with them, rather than subject themselves to a world order that no longer existed. It seems that PM Carney has laid out his hands for all to see, and the onus is on the world to react.

 

The day after this speech, Trump took the stage and threatened Canadian sovereignty and PM Carney for his lack of gratitude towards American contribution to their ‘existence’. Trump’s demeanor only further reflects the direction the world is facing, and PM Carney might have lifted the veil over society.

In Skyfall, Silva tells a story about rats trapped in a barrel with no food: they don’t turn on each other out of malice, but because scarcity leaves them no alternative. In PM Carney’s world, the food ran out long ago, and pretending otherwise is no longer an option.