Carney’s Davos Speech: It is not just about the US

By Ariana Gic

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Much praise has been given to Prime Minister Carney’s Davos speech. A lot seems to be missing in the analysis of what he said. Many seem to fail to see the contradiction of the approach of “values-based realism” as though pragmatism and principles of justice, fairness, etc. are mutually compatible principles. Pragmatism will undermine values – as in the case of Canada’s reset “with clear guardrails” with China.

But more importantly, it appears to be lost on many that the Prime Minister’s speech was a polite, but rather scathing, criticism of the European Union for putting the “sign in the window” playing along with Trump’s America, rather than criticizing the US for violating the rules of the international order.

Carney was obviously criticizing the EU for not forging a united front with Canada in this time of ‘rupture’ of the US-led collective West. He urged them to embrace that this rupture is not a bump in the road, but permanent, and to stop slavishly accept humiliating concessions to Trump.

This was an appeal to the European Union to “name reality” rather than playing along with a fiction of the collective West working in concert.

Carney also made his disappointment with the EU and other democratic nations on the matter of the US tariffs very clear. Instead of holding a joint line against Trump’s bullying, Western democracies caved to US pressure. The EU largely chose to ignore the hostile US trade war on Canada, instead offering Trump humiliating concessions. To defend against the hegemons abusing their power, we need to be resilient, and that resilience is achieved through, among other things, international solidarity.

But what I fear is not clear to many is that the problem of the death of the collective West under American leadership is NOT the death of the universal principles of the rules-based world order which protects everyone – individuals and nations large and small. The rules have not disappeared. The rules still exist. These rules protect Canada, Denmark, and Ukraine.

The problem is that the United States has abandoned its role as the leader of the free world, and destroyed the “collective West” as a united political and economic force. Trump’s America has effectively sided with anti-democratic authoritarian regimes to redraw spheres of influence in the world.

The problem is Trump’s VIOLATION of the rules. The problem is that the United States is destroying trans-Atlantic unity. The problem is that the United States is destroying the global economy, using its advantages to coerce and exploit smaller countries. The problem is that the United States does not want to submit to the international legal order, acting outside and above the legal order to pursue its aggressive goals without fear of the consequences of violations of law.

This speaks to the problem of the inadequacies of the institutional framework of the rules-based order – which, by design, allows global powers to abuse the institutions.

The most notorious example of this abuse is the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) which allows the aggressive and genocidal regimes of Russia and China to decide on matters of peace in the world, obstructing legal venues of achieving peace.

Another example is countries like the United States and Russia exempting themselves from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, because they want to pursue their aggressive wars on other nations without any repercussions.

There are many more examples of where the architecture of the rules based order can be improved.

But we do not throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water. The rules-based order need not be declared dead and abandoned. When national institutions are corrupted, nations do not abandon their Constitution, they fix the institutions. We need to reform the international rules-based system.

In the case of the UN: The UNSC can be REFORMED by abolishing the veto power of the permanent members, and preferably the status of the permanent members, (something which my colleagues and I have championed for years), is long overdue. I would like to see Canada championing such reform.

Moreover, Canada and like minded countries already have tools at their disposal to circumvent the problem of the corruption of the UNSC in the most egregious cases – the General Assembly. In the case of Russia and China blocking international action for support of Ukraine, the vote can be moved to the General Assembly (a solution Roman Sohn and I have championed for years).

But we need rules. We need rules that apply equally to all nations. The EQUAL application of rules to ALL nations should be our objective.

Instead of delegitimizing international laws, we should strengthen them with action to uphold them.

The best example is Ukraine. After 12 years of Russia’s war, world democracies have not found the courage to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine against Russia. Our inaction in fulfilling obligations and upholding international law is what will kill the rules based order.

The slavish following of Washington by our nations is killing the rules based order. But the rules are there. We just need to uphold them.

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About author

Ariana Gic, Canadian political and legal analyst, Director, Direct Initiative International Centre for Ukraine. Sanctioned by the Russian Federation according to the Statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Personal Sanctions against the citizens of Canada, dated November 14, 2022
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