Will Carney’s Davos Speech Help Build a Better International Order?
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos made headlines for its willingness to call out the growing appetites of all great powers, including the United States. But it was also noteworthy for its admission that Western countries have been selective in their enforcement of the “rules-based international order.”
Going forward, Carney promises that we will see more “variable geometry” — differing coalitions on different sets of issues. If this leads to a reduction of megaphone diplomacy, then it may be highly welcome. But if it redirects governments’ energies away from reforming multilateral institutions to meet the needs of a post-unipolar world, then it may accelerate the fragmentation of international law and what remains of the inclusive postwar international order.
Join us for a conversation with David Lametti, ambassador and permanent representative of Canada to the United Nations, to discuss how Ottawa sees the possible pathways ahead — and whether a better international order can emerge from today’s turbulence. Zachary Paikin, deputy director of QI’s Better Order Project, will speak with the ambassador.
The conversation will take place on Thursday, February 12th from 12:00 – 1:00 PM Eastern Time.
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Panelists
David Lametti
David Lametti is the ambassador and permanent representative of Canada to the United Nations. Lametti is a legal scholar, former Member of Parliament, and former federal Cabinet Minister. He most recently served as principal secretary to the Prime Minister. Prior to entering service with the Prime Minister, Lametti was counsel at Fasken, Canada’s largest law firm. Lametti was elected to the House of Commons in 2015 as the member of Parliament for LaSalle-Émard-Verdun. During his time on the Hill, he served as parliamentary secretary to the minister of International Trade and parliamentary secretary to the minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, before being appointed as minister of justice and attorney general of Canada, a role he held from 2019 to 2023.
Zachary Paikin
Zachary Paikin is deputy director of the Better Order Project and research fellow in the Grand Strategy Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He is also senior fellow at the Institute for Peace & Diplomacy (IPD), a Canadian international affairs think tank. Previously, Dr. Paikin was researcher in EU Foreign Policy at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels from 2021 to 2023 and senior researcher in the International Security Dialogue Department at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) from 2023 to 2024.