Invoking Vaclav Havel, he said it was time to stop pretending that what the western powers called a rules-based order was not a self-serving sham.
“Great powers can afford, for now, to go it alone. They have the market size, the military capacity and the leverage to dictate terms. Middle powers do not. But when we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what’s offered. We compete with each other to be the most accommodating,” he said
“Being a happy vassal is one thing, being a miserable slave is something else,” he said.
“If you back down now, you’re going to lose your dignity, and that’s probably the most precious thing you can have in a democracy, it’s your dignity.”
I watched the speech. It’s one of the most profound, intelligent speeches I’ve ever heard a politician give.
Agreed, we should always expect such coherence and conciseness from our leaders. Up your game Starmer!
Nah here in the US we went a different way and it’s working out great!
/s
I’m glad you’re enjoying it 😁
I’d like to meet the person who wrote it.
I guarantee you Carney was heavily involved in writing it. Nobody writes that speech alone, but he isn’t the kind of guy to leave it to others.
Carney himself wrote it. He’s attended Davos 30+ times so is quite comfortable speaking to the rich rabble.