At Davos in January 2026, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a widely applauded speech, arguing that the world’s democratic ‘middle powers’ could work together to counter the disintegration of the world order. This CEPS Policy Brief is the second in a duology that addresses the fundamental issues for Europe posed by Donald Trump’s second presidency. More broadly all three so-called great powers – the US, China and Russia – are failing the world.
If Carney’s idea is to progress, the EU and its Member States will have to play a major part in restoring a rules and values-based world order, together with other like-minded states including Canada and several others. There is a crucial set of policy domains where the middle powers could be – or are already – crafting progressive policies, and where a credible and trusting core group of like-minded countries could give structure to a better world order.
To read the first paper in this duology please click here.
