Mark Carney

We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.

Great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons.

Tariffs as leverage.

Financial infrastructure as coercion.

Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.

The middle powers must act together because if we're not at the table, we're on the menu.

This is not sovereignty.

It's the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination.

That's the problem.

We have a recognition of what's happening and a determination to act accordingly.

We understand that this rupture calls for more than adaptation.

It calls for honesty about the world as it is.

We are taking the sign out of the window.

We know the old order is not coming back.

We shouldn't mourn it.

Nostalgia is not a strategy.

But we believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just.

This is the task of the middle powers, the countries that have the most to lose from a world of fortresses and a most to gain from genuine cooperation.

In a time of democratic decline, we can show how rights can be protected and equal freedoms endure.

In a time of rising walls and thickening borders, we can demonstrate how a country can be both open and secure, welcoming and strong, principled and powerful.