‘Rules-based order a fiction’: Canadian PM says West excused US hegemony; Mark Carney hints at rupture
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney on Tuesday said the rules-based order, a concept that took shape after World War II, has been “partially false” and a “fiction” as the strongest country would “exempt themselves when convenient”.Stripping off the charade of the rules-based order, Carney said: “International law (was) applied with varying rigour depending on the identity of the accused or the victim.”“We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false — that the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient, that trade rules were enforced asymmetrically, and that international law applied with varying rigour depending on the identity of the accused or the victim,” Carney said in a strong-worded address at World Economic Forum in Davos.In a major confession from a Western leader against the unbridled and unchecked American hegemony, the Canadian PM said the Western nations “avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality” as the American hegemony helped provide public goods.Calling claimed “neutrality” and equal rule-application within that order a fiction, Carney said:”It was useful, and American hegemony, in particular, helped provide public goods: open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security, and support for frameworks for resolving disputes.”He further said: “So we placed the sign in the window. We participated in the rituals. And we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality. This bargain no longer works.Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.”Carney, without naming US president Donald Trump, who have been hostile towards Canada ever before assuming office a year ago, tore into the Republican leader, saying: “You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination.”“Over the past two decades a series of crises in finance, health, energy, and geopolitics have laid bare the risks of extreme global integration. But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as a weapon. Tariffs are leverage, financial infrastructure is coercion, and supply chains have vulnerabilities to be exploited,” the Canadian PM said.Carney’s remarks come against the backdrop of renewed disruption caused by Donald Trump’s foreign-policy posture, particularly his fixation on Greenland. Trump’s revived demand for greater US control over Greenland has unsettled Nato allies and deepened anxiety in Europe, where the move is seen as undermining sovereignty and alliance norms. The issue has sharpened tensions between Washington and European capitals, reinforcing concerns that power, rather than rules, increasingly defines Western decision-making.Carney’s comments also reflect Canada’s direct exposure to Trump’s coercive tactics. Ottawa has faced repeated tariff threats, trade pressure, and inflammatory rhetoric, including Trump’s past suggestion that Canada could become a US state. Similar pressure has been applied to allies such as France, particularly through trade and defence disputes. In this context, Carney’s critique frames economic integration not as mutual benefit but as leverage, arguing that the old bargain of silence in return for stability has collapsed under a more transactional and confrontational American approach.
