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2026 has opened with a series of tense geopolitical moments, as Donald Trump shakes up major international norms.
At Davos this week, Canadian PM Mark Carney said that we are facing a New World Order.
In this instalment of Week in Business, City AM Editor-in-Chief Christian May discusses Carney's warning to the West.
#politics #davos #trump #economics #news
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A new world order has been declared and
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described by Canada's Mark Carney. Is he
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right? And if so, is there room in it
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for Britain? Welcome to the week in
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business. Back in familiar surroundings
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with me, Christian May.
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Davos, that alpine gathering of the
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great and the good, is normally a
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predictably dull affair. To give you a
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flavor of its worthiness, consider the
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formal title of the 2020 summit,
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Stakeholders for a cohesive and
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sustainable world.
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Inspiring stuff. In recent years, this
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jamboree has concerned itself with all
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the acceptable tropes of contemporary
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business and diplomatic nicities. Net
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zero, sustainability, diversity,
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inclusive growth. You get the picture.
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This year, those comfortable topics have
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been shunted down the running order, as
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they have been in many boardrooms of
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late, not least because the conference
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kicked off under the cloud of Donald
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Trump's threats to annex Greenland and
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blackmail European countries that stood
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in his way. In that context, the
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president's speech at Davos yesterday
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was eagerly anticipated. But it was a
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speech given the day before by Canadian
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Prime Minister Mark Carney that really
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got people talking. Now, if you want an
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original and intellectual response to
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the power dynamics that will define the
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years ahead, I urge you to find Mark
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Carney's speech and read it. But I'll
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give you a flavor of it now. Carney, a
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former governor of the Bank of England,
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of course, said that what we called the
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rules-based international order is over.
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But more than that, he said, "It never
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really existed. We just pretended that
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it did." He said, "For decades,
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countries like Canada prospered under
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what we called the rules-based
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international order. We joined its
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institutions. We praised its principles.
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We benefited from its predictability.
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And because of that, we could pursue
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values-based foreign policies under its
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protection. We knew the story of the
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international rules-based order was
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partially false, that the strongest
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would exempt themselves when convenient,
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that trade rules were enforced
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asymmetrically, and we knew that
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international law applied with varied
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rigor depending on the identity of the
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accused or the victim. This fiction, he
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said, was useful. and American hijgemony
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in particular helped provide public
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goods, open sea lanes, a stable
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financial system, collective security
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and support for frameworks for resolving
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disputes.
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It was a fiction, he said, and the
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bargain we made with ourselves to go
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along with it no longer works. Now, this
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strikingly candid observation followed
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Carney's appearance in Beijing, where he
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signed various deals with the Chinese
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and raised eyebrows at the time by
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saying that such arrangements were now
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absolutely necessary for countries like
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Canada given what he called the new
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world order. In his speech at Davos,
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Carney said that there are basically two
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paths open to countries who recognize
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this new reality. build a fortress at
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home and peer nervously out through the
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gates, or his preferred option, focused
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on strength and security at home while
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forging new alliances that are both
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pragmatic, like with China, and
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valuesdriven, such as Canada's
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commitment to NATO and global trade
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agreements. He said, "This is not naive
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multilateralism, nor is it relying on
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their institutions. It's building
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coalitions that work issue by issue with
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partners who share enough common ground
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to act together."
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He was also particularly tough in
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talking up Canada's domestic strengths,
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domestic energy supplies, critical
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minerals, sophisticated investors,
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capital, talent, and now most
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importantly, honesty about the world
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around them. To be sure, there was
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something for everyone in Car's speech.
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Progressives admired the way he appeared
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to stand up to Trump and championed new
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global alliances, and more hardened
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realists liked the way he talked about
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energy independence and clear-headed
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self-interest.
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But where is Kier Stalmer in all this?
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Where is Britain? Could Starmmer have
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given that speech? And would anyone have
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listened if he did? He wasn't even at
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Davos, which is just as well, or he'd
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have had to listen to Donald Trump's
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furious broadside against the UK's
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insane energy policies. Star is most
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comfortable when he's taking part in
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multilateral summits, signing memoranda
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of understanding, developing cooperation
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agreements, and joining coalitions. He
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is the embodiment of the rules-based
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international order. our lawyerin chief
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clinging on to a system that Carney says
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is over. Where is Britain's ruthless
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self-interest? It's not in our energy
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policy, that's for sure. It's not in our
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decision to surrender sovereignty of the
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Chagos Islands. That was a mission
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crafted entirely by lawyers. And it's
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not in our decision to grant China the
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world's most prestigious diplomatic
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presence in the heart of our capital
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city. Stmer has handled Trump quite
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well. And he was right, as I said at the
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start of this week, to keep a cool head
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while the tariff threat blew itself out.
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But now is surely the time for him and
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indeed all our aspiring leaders to
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present a coherent and robust and urgent
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case for the UK's future, its economic
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growth, its security, its borders, its
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energy policy, and its alliances.
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Otherwise, we risk looking like we
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haven't noticed quite how much the world
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is changing around us. That's it from me
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this week. Do stay up to date and in the
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know with the city app and on cityam.com
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and I will see you next week.
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