Carney Is Offering a Rehab Program for Bruised U.S. Allies
Marc Champion says Prime Minister Mark Carney has done a better job than most leaders at standing up to U.S. bullying and working to strengthen Canada’s long-term position by diversifying its markets, supplies and security relationships. Noting Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum, Champion writes: "Canada’s central banker-turned politician was talking his own book, of course, and who knows if he’ll succeed. But this was a grown-up assessment of what the future holds for America’s abandoned allies — from London to Berlin, from Tokyo to Sydney. All of America’s allies are going to need this kind of pragmatism to manage Trump, while at the same time acknowledging their weaknesses, building up their military and economic strength and diversifying trade, energy and security relationships so as to end their overdependence on American money and power." Donald Trump’s Davos speech, meanwhile, was a blunt shakedown of America’s allies, Champion writes, highlighting how far the U.S. has moved from partnership toward intimidation and why Carney’s approach resonates." When the US president claims his country gained nothing from allies for shouldering the costs of their protection over the last eight decades, he is fundamentally wrong," he says.
