[Column by Noh Dong-Il] Our Survival Strategy Through Mark Carney’s Landmark Speech

Mark J. Carney has been serving as prime minister of Canada from March 2025 as leader of the Liberal Party. He studied economics at Harvard University and Oxford, then served as governor of the Bank of Canada from 2008 to 2013 and as governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020. He is widely credited with steering Canada relatively well through the global financial crisis while at the Bank of Canada. As the first foreign-born governor of the Bank of England, he is also said to have helped stabilize financial markets shaken by Brexit, the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU). As his résumé suggests, his expertise lies more in economics than in politics. Yet the most difficult challenge Prime Minister Carney now faces is deeply political: how to manage relations with the United States of America (US), and more specifically with President Donald Trump.
When Donald Trump was president-elect, then–Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited him at Mar-a-Lago. Trump publicly mocked Trudeau with remarks such as, “How about Canada becoming the 51st state of the United States?” and calling him the “governor of Canada.” It was a decisive blow that contributed to Trudeau’s resignation. Carney succeeded him, but Trump’s provocations have continued, including comments that “Canada does not have the ability to defend itself.” In his inaugural address, Prime Minister Carney stressed that Canada would not, in any form, become part of the US.
On January 20, 2026 (local time), at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Prime Minister Carney took the podium. He argued that today’s reality is one in which “the rules-based order has disappeared, and we live in an era where the strong do as they wish and the weak must endure.” Carney stated, “We are not in a transition, but in the midst of a rupture,” pointing to “a brutal reality in which great-power geopolitics is constrained by nothing.” He also warned, “If you are not at the table, you will end up on the menu.”
“When rules no longer protect you, you must protect yourself.” This was Prime Minister Carney’s first prescription. The multilateral institutions that middle powers have relied on — such as the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) — have seen their capacity for collective problem-solving greatly weakened. Many countries are concluding that they must strengthen strategic autonomy in areas like energy, food, critical minerals, finance, and supply chains. These facts support Carney’s core concern that securing national autonomy has become paramount.
Carney also argued that middle powers must join forces. His emphasis was that, in place of the old order, we need a new vision for the future. He urged middle powers or intermediate powers to band together to build strategic autonomy and to diversify partnerships instead of accepting subordination to great powers. Countries, he said, should bolster domestic resilience, form coalitions of middle powers, and create new institutions to support such cooperation.
Prime Minister Carney’s speech was a masterful address that showed what true dignity looks like. He criticized President Trump’s overreach toward Greenland and other places using calm yet persuasive language, without once raising his voice. It was a speech that captured the fundamental transformation of the world order while still offering a clear sense of direction for the future amid the chaos.
Strengthening national strategic autonomy and building solidarity among middle powers — no issues are more urgent for us. In its recently released 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS), the United States Department of Defense (DoD) states that the Republic of Korea is fully capable of bearing “primary responsibility” for deterring North Korea. In plain terms, it is saying that the Korean Peninsula is for the Republic of Korea to handle. This is neither new nor unique to us. It is in line with the DoD’s message to allies and partners in Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere that they must assume primary responsibility for their own defense. The US has simply spelled out more clearly its existing strategy of concentrating all capabilities in the Western Hemisphere while focusing on deterring China. United States Forces Korea (USFK) will inevitably function as a force in the US strategy toward China. This is why self-reliant defense is the most crucial survival strategy for us.
A coalition of middle powers — or quasi-great powers — is also the diplomatic strategy we must pursue. We should first build solidarity with Japan and, on that basis, take the lead in forming groupings that include the Republic of Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada, and others. The current capabilities of the Republic of Korea (ROK) are more than sufficient to play a leading role. Rather than waiting for someone else to step forward, we must create an opportunity to seize the initiative ourselves. We should establish a consultative body of states that share core values such as liberal democracy, Respect for Human Rights, and a market economy. “We no longer rely solely on the power of values; we also rely on the value of power.” These are Prime Minister Carney’s words. When the global order is undergoing fundamental change, that is precisely the moment when a new order can be built. If we lack the strength to do so alone, we must pool our strength and build shared values together. One can only hope that we will have political leaders with the kind of insight that Carney has shown.
dinoh7869@fnnews.com