Canada’s PM admits “rules-based international order” was facade

(MENAFN) Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney acknowledged that the concept of a “rules based international order” was always partly a narrative rather than a fully accurate description of global governance. He delivered this message in a keynote address at an international economic forum, saying that states maintained the idea of such an order for many years because it was advantageous.

“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,” Carney said. “And we knew that international law applied with varying rigor depending on the identity of the accused or the victim,” he added.

Carney compared decades of accepting the system to a shopkeeper displaying a sign he did not truly believe in just to avoid conflict, calling it “living within a lie” to “avoid trouble.” He argued that this arrangement no longer functions in today’s geopolitical climate.

Carney described current global dynamics as marked by a significant shift toward fierce competition among major powers. In his remarks, he said the world is experiencing a “rupture” in the established order, not merely a transition, explaining that economic integration, tariffs, and financial structures are increasingly being used as tools of “weapons” and “coercion” rather than for mutual cooperation.

His speech resonated with similar observations from other global actors who have noted an erosion of established international norms, and it was delivered against the backdrop of heightened tensions over recent international disputes involving major powers.

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