EDITORIAL: Real world crushes Mark Carney’s Davos speech

When great powers act, middle powers always react in their own best interests

Published Jun 20, 2026  •  2 minute read

Prime Minister Mark Carney gestures as he speaks during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 20, 2026. Photo by Fabrice Coffrini / AFP /Getty Images

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Prime Minister Mark Carney’s head-spinning change of positions on the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran and the tentative peace deal to end the war is what “diplomacy” is all about.

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In the immediate wake of the attack on Feb. 28, Carney was firmly on side with their decision.

“Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security,” Carney declared, adding Canada “reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself and to ensure the security of its people.”

But within days, after grumbling from some Liberal MPs at home, the PM, on an international trade mission at the time, shifted to what diplomats call a “nuanced” position.

He said Canada supported the attack “with regret” because it was “another example of the failure of the international order.”

He criticized the U.S. and Israel for not consulting the United Nations first, or its allies, including Canada, suggesting the attack appeared to be “inconsistent with international law”.

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Now, in the wake of the tentative peace deal, Carney has joined other G7 leaders in declaring their support for the outcome saying it was “worth it” if it prevents Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

While some will call Carney two-faced, his response was no different from other European leaders who were more critical of the U.S. attack when it occurred, but supported its outcome at the G7.

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Carney would describe it as accepting the world as it is, not as we want it to be.

But more fundamentally, it’s about what happens when the idealism of Carney’s Davos speech — where he called on the world’s middle powers to work together to counter the domination of China, Russia and, most especially, the U.S. — encounters the real world.

In realpolitik, the other six members of the G7 — the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada — had no choice but to endorse the outcome of its seventh member, the U.S., attacking Iran, in order to have any say about what comes next in a conflict that sent global oil prices skyrocketing.

When great powers act, middle powers always react in their own best interests.

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