GWYNNE DYER: Why Mark Carney could launch a new 'middle power' alliance

Advertisement 1 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Breadcrumb Trail Links HomeAtlantic CanadaCape BretonCape Breton OpinionNewfoundland & LabradorNewfoundland And Labrador OpinionOpinionPrince Edward Island GWYNNE DYER: Why Mark Carney could launch a new 'middle power' alliance Canada's Prime Minister is building a new allegiance among powers that oppose the 'big three': the US, Russia and China Author of the article: By Gwynne Dyer Published Sep 22, 2026 Last updated 45 minutes ago 4 minute read Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa September 21, 2026. Photo by Blair Gable/Postmedia PHOTO BY BLAIR GABLE /Photo by Blair Gable / Postmedia Article content “You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose,” said former New York Governor Mario Cuomo 40 years ago. Article content Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney is now in the poetic phase of his campaign to create an alliance — maybe just a loose alliance — of middle powers who can resist the brutal strength of the great powers. Article content Article content Carney knows how the world used to work, and how it is changing as the ‘rules-based international order’ fades away under the impact of the three great autocrats, Putin, Trump and Xi. Article content Article content “Middle powers must act together,” he told the Davos conference last January, “because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.” Article content “The old order is not coming back,” he told them. That should have been obvious to all of them, but many countries in Europe and beyond still clung to the belief that somehow, one of these days, maybe after Trump relinquishes power or dies, the old order can be resurrected. Article content In a single speech that catapulted him into the de facto position of leader of the middle powers, he disabused them of that fantasy and offered them a path to resistance instead. Article content They gave him a standing ovation, a very rare thing at Davos — and he managed to convince them without mentioning any of the problematic powers by name. Article content So I will. Article content What does the risk look like from the great powers? Article content The United States is obviously the most dangerous of the three great powers, having fallen under the control of a man who regards war as a useful tool for subjugating countries or changing their governments. The United States has…