On January 20, 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that served as a response to the systemic disruption of Donald Trump’s norm-shattering American presidency and a road map for the geopolitical future. With many thanks to our contributors, here’s our Policy insight and analysis on the Carney Davos speech.

We open with our Policy Verbatim post of the full text/video of Mark Carney’s speech, in which he pronounced the end of the rules-based international order and urged the world’s middle powers to unite in a new system of “plurilateralism”. Here’s ‘The Old Order is Not Coming Back: Mark Carney’s Speech to the World Economic Forum.

From Massey College Pubic Policy Chair Tom Axworthy, we have a look at the Davos speech through the prism of the speech to which it is most often been compared, then Minister of External Affairs Louis St. Laurent’s Gray Lecture. “If St. Laurent’s purpose in 1947 was to educate the Canadian public (and perhaps his own government) on the necessity of building a rules-based international order,” writes Axworthy, “Mark Carney’s mission at Davos nearly 80 years later was to tell the world that the assumptions and preconditions of that order were eroding and that it was illusory to pretend otherwise.” Here’s Tom Axworthy with Two Crossroads, Two Speeches: Carney at Davos and St. Laurent’s Gray Lecture.

In the latest of our series of Policy Q&As with Lisa Van Dusen and Policy Contributing Writer and Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade Chair Sen. Peter Boehm going back to the foreshadowing of Charlevoix, we have Policy Q&A: Sen. Peter Boehm on Mark Carney’s Davos Speech and the Evolving Global Order.

From Colin Robertson, we have a piece weaving together Carney’s Davos speech and his Quebec City speech two days later into a policy whole. “One addresses the world, the other our nation,” writes Colin, “but together they articulate a governing credo that seeks to integrate Canadian foreign and domestic policy more tightly than at any time since the early Cold War.” Here’s Colin Robertson with The Carney Credo.

From former Privy Council advisor and Policy Columnist Lori Turnbull, a look at how the week that unleashed Carney’s global reach will play out in Ottawa with the opposition, in and out of the House of Commons. “In all likelihood,” writes Turbull, “the opposition parties will be more determined than ever to wear down the reservoir of political capital that Prime Minister Carney is accumulating.” Here’s Lori Turnbull with Mark Carney is a Global Rock Star. How Will Domestic Politics Adjust?

From former United Nations Ambassador and Policy Columnist Bob Rae, a sense of the guts and global impact of Carney’s speech, which went viral across foreign capitals. “My former United Nations colleagues have been reaching out since he delivered the speech to applaud his leadership and vision,” writes Rae. Here’s Bob Rae with New Rules: Mark Carney Just Changed the Global Conversation.

From Policy columnist and former ambassador Jeremy Kinsman, we have a look at both the immediate context of Carney’s speech and its geopolitical implications. “In Davos, Carney is on home ice,” writes Kinsman. “They came to hear advice from one of their own who knows the score.” Here’s Jeremy Kinsman with Man with a Plan: Mark Carney’s Davos Speech.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s post-speech Q&A with Financial Times Columnist Gideon Rachman/X

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From Massey College Chair in Public Policy Tom Axworthy,

From former United Nations Ambassador Louise Blais, we have a cautionary piece about Carney’s speech on the strategic hazards of punching above your weight. “The challenge is timing,” writes Blais. “In today’s leverage-based international system, credibility is measured less by intent than by capacity.” Here’s Louise Blais with The Carney Speech: Declaring Strategic Autonomy Without Leverage is an Invitation to Pressure.

From former Canadian ambassador to the United States Derek Burney, a look at this week’s Davos speeches from both Carney and Trump as just the latest exhibit in the case against Trump’s volatility. “During a week when Mark Carney made ‘order’ the theme of Davos,” writes Burney, “the disordered, upside-down world of Donald Trump was on full display for contrast at this year’s World Economic Forum.” Here’s Derek Burney with The Upside-Down World Of Donald Trump.

From former CBC anchor and Policy Columnist Don Newman, the defence and security context of Carney’s speech amid Donald Trump’s latest trolling of Canada’s sovereignty as well as Greenland’s. “The Carney doctrine posits that the world is getting more Hobbesian and brutal,” writes Newman, “but middle powers like Canada can mitigate that.” Here’s Don Newman with The Carney Doctrine.

From Policy Editor and Publisher Lisa Van Dusen, a piece addressing Carney’s criticism of the democracy-led order now pronounced defunct in the context of what might replace it. “As a character in our ongoing systemic soap opera, Carney represents the future, and that’s how he was greeted at Davos” writes Van Dusen. “But what will that future look like?” Here’s Lisa Van Dusen with Carney in Davos: ‘The Old Order is Dead”…Long Live What, Exactly?

From economist, social entrepreneur and Policy Columnist Anil Wasif, the big picture of this year’s World Economic Forum, including the Carney and Trump speeches, and the absence of founder Klaus Schwab. “There is a collision of geopolitical and economic disruption looming,” writes Wasif. “And it seems that the players best equipped to exploit it are also the best prepared.” Here’s Anil Wasif with End of an Era: The Reckoning at Davos.

From Policy contributing writer Aftab Ahmed, a look at the Carney speech from a generational perspective. “Carney’s speech landed as a signal that someone in a position of power was finally speaking of the world millennials have come to recognize,” writes Ahmed. Here’s Aftab Ahmed with A Millennial Take on Mark Carney’s Davos Speech.

From Policy contributing writer, longtime Liberal strategist and novelist John Delacourt, the essential analysis of the Carney speech from a political communications master. “The paradox of transforming authenticity of message and intention is that it requires a sophisticated understanding of artifice — of form over content,” writes Delacourt. “There are many reasons why Carney’s speech has seemed to – cliché alert – meet the moment.” Here’s John Delacourt with Carney’s Davos Speech: Governing in Prose.

And, circling back to our Davos 2026 scene-setter from longtime Policy contributors former Privy Council clerk Kevin Lynch and former White House aide Paul Deegan — well worth a read after a week of world-changing news. Here are Kevin Lynch and Paul Deegan with Welcome to Davos 2026: High-Altitude Damage Control.

With many thanks our Policy contributors, sponsors, and readers.