In the 1920s and ’30s, the unthinkable was put in writing in the form of “War Plan Red,” America’s plans for an invasion of Canada, and “Defence Scheme No. 1,” Canada’s plans for a preventive war with America. The former allies had secretly been planning their mutual annihilation. One hundred years later, with Mark Carney standing at the podium in Davos, declaring the end of the Western world, it’s hard not to think that those plans weren’t so much quaint relics of a bygone era as previews of a conflict in its early stages.

Last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Canadian Prime Minister declared to the world, “the old order is not coming back,” in what many have deemed the strongest speech of the conference. In his remarks, he essentially said that the rules-based global order has broken down, and that the choice is to adapt as a middle power to avoid becoming collateral damage in the age of great-power coercion.

Carnney’s action is a bet, a calculation, on the value of predictability over principle. Just recently, the government he is part of reached a deal with the Chinese government on electric vehicles and agricultural products, ending a period of tension in their relations. Symbolism aside, when Washington is unpredictable, even authoritarian regimes look attractive.

The high-visibility pivot to the East comes at a time when Trump is consistently driving a wedge between America’s strongest allies. His latest remarks on NATO forces’ contributions to the conflict in Afghanistan are a perfect example. Trump falsely accused NATO forces of “staying a little back, a little off the front lines.” He ignores the fact that 457 British soldiers died, 158 Canadians, 44........

© Middle East Monitor