External publications

Global order in transition: anxiety in the North, agency in the South

Ishmael, Len / Stephan Klingebiel / Andy Sumner
External Publications (2026)

published on www.globalpolicyjournal.com, 16.02.2026

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Is today’s global turbulence a sign of collapse, or of overdue rebalancing? There is little doubt about the relevance of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. It was a strong intervention, not least because it drew on Eastern European experience through its explicit reference to Václav Havel’s 1978 essay The Power of the Powerless. Carney’s call for “building coalitions that work” resonated widely especially because, without mentioning President Trump, he spoke with unusual clarity and candour as a Western leader about the state of the international system and the pressures it is currently under.

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