As world leaders gather in the Swiss resort town of Davos, along with allies of the United States World Economic Forum (WEF), US President Donald Trump’s attacks on the current global order have turned on their heads, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said the US-led world order is “disintegrating”.
Trump’s threat to take office GreenlandBy coercion, if necessary, it has swayed its European allies, who have pushed back against the US president’s policy of using brute force to achieve his foreign policy goals. On January 3, US forces Kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and took them to the United States in a military operation that shocked the world.
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Trump has threatened to impose new tariffs on European nations if they object to Greenland.
Top European Union officials have called the proposed tariffs a “mistake” while Canada’s prime minister has warned the middle power risks being sidelined if they fail to act together.
Here are the key points from Tuesday’s WEF meeting:
Carney said the world’s middle powers must unite to resist the coercion of aggressive superpowers, warning that traditional assumptions about the world order no longer hold.
“If the great powers abandon even the pretense of norms and values in the unfettered pursuit of their power and interests, the gains from pragmatism will be difficult to replicate.”
“So we’re engaging broadly, strategically, with open eyes,” he said. “We actively take the world as it is, not wait for the world we want.”
The Canadian leader dismissed as a “fantasy” the idea of a world system built around “American hegemony,” arguing that multilateralism is disappearing as institutions including the World Trade Organization and the United Nations are “massively diminished.”
“Canadians know that our old, comfortable assumption that our geography and coalition membership automatically provide prosperity and security is no longer valid,” Carney said. “Let me be direct. We are in the middle of a disintegration, not a transition.”
“You can’t live in the ‘lie’ of mutual benefit when integration becomes the source of your subjugation,” Carne added.
He said “middle powers” including Canada should cooperate with each other because “if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”
“Nostalgia is not a strategy. But we believe that out of fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just.”
Turning to Greenland, Carney said:
“Canada strongly opposes tariffs on Greenland and calls for focused discussions to achieve our shared goals of security and prosperity in the Arctic.”
France’s Macron: ‘We respect gangsters’
French President Emmanuel Macron used his speech in Davos to condemn Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on Greenland to pressure European countries.
Macron described the “endless accumulation” of new tariffs as fundamentally unacceptable, he said, “when they are used as leverage against territorial sovereignty”.
Wearing aviator sunglasses during his address, which the Elysee Palace said protected his eyes after a blood vessel burst, Macron joked:
“It’s a time of calm, stability and predictability,” to laughter from the audience.
He then struck a more serious tone.
“It is clear that we are reaching a period of instability, of imbalance,” the French president added. “More than 60 wars in 2024, a perfect record, although I understand that some of them are fixed.”
Macron concluded by outlining his vision for Europe’s role in addressing global challenges:
“We are committed to trying to deliver this global agenda to address global imbalances through greater cooperation in 2026, and we will do our best to make Europe stronger,” he said.
“Here, at the heart of this continent, we believe we need more growth, we need more stability in this world.”
He called on Europe to strengthen its trade defense instruments and at the same time sought investment from China, the world’s second-largest economy.
“China is welcome, but for our growth, we need Chinese foreign direct investment in Europe in some key sectors, not just to transfer some technology and export to Europe,” he said.
Speaking about Greenland, he said: “We have decided to participate in mutual exercises in Greenland, without threatening anyone, just supporting a friend and another European country, Denmark.”
He ended his speech by saying: We respect gangsters. We prefer science to plotism, and we prefer the rule of law to cruelty. Welcome to Europe and welcome to France.”
EU’s Ursula von der Leyen: ‘Nostalgia will not bring back the old order’
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said a series of recent geopolitical shocks would force the EU to create a more independent Europe.
“The good news is that we acted quickly. Whether it’s energy or raw materials, defense or digital, we’re moving fast.”
But she cautioned that the EU “can only seize this opportunity if it recognizes that this change is permanent”.
“Of course, nostalgia is part of our human story, but nostalgia will not bring back the old order.”
Von der Leyen also said that the EU is close to finalizing a free trade agreement with India although more work is needed to finalize the deal.
“We are on the brink of a historic trade deal,” she said.
“Some call it the mother of all deals, which will create a market of 2 billion people that is almost a quarter of global GDP.”
Von der Leyen is likely to visit India early next week.
The European Commission president also said that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Denmark and Greenland cannot be discussed.
“We are working on a package to support Arctic security,” she said, adding that the EU is preparing a “massive European investment boost in Greenland” to support the local economy and infrastructure.
China’s He: ‘There is an opportunity for China’s development’
China’s development is an opportunity rather than a threat, and Beijing is willing to use market power to share development with other countries, China’s Vice President He Lifeng said at the World Economic Forum.
“China’s development presents an opportunity, not a threat, to the global economy,” he said, adding that disputes and misunderstandings in international trade should be resolved through “equal consultation” to build trust, bridge differences and resolve issues.
He also emphasized that China will continue to open up its economy.
“China will open its doors to the world,” he said, pledging to align the policy with high standards of international economic and trade rules.
He said China will continue to create a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment and treat domestic and foreign companies equally.
“We welcome foreign enterprises to continue to invest in China and share in China’s opportunities,” he said, urging other governments to provide a fair, non-discriminatory, transparent and predictable investment environment for Chinese businesses.
