Donald Trump may be a disaster for Western stability, but no one has benefited from the president’s antagonism as much as Mark Carney, who owes his premiership to the enmity emanating from the White House, and whose ratings have swelled on the back of his nerve in the face of Canada’s dastardly neighbor.
But though Carney has won plaudits from Europeans unprepared for Trump’s “tough love,” we might be wary of seeing in him a prophet for a new world order. While Carney preaches power in numbers, solidarity among the oppressed won’t withstand the pressure of two superpowers fighting for a hold on middle powers.
Such has already been made clear by the “strategic partnership” Canada signed with China, a deal that immediately got up the nose of the US.
Elsewhere, the rhetoric toward China has also softened, with Keir Starmer receiving a warm welcome from Xi Jinping during a momentous state visit aimed at opening up rich economic avenues. The UK leader advocated “a more sophisticated relationship” – an admission that China’s various transgressions can no longer stand in the way of business.
The question now is whether other European nations will follow suit. With Brussels already ceding ground on other trade deals, why not indulge in a little more mercantilism to reduce dependency on our capricious US partner?
It’s a tempting proposition that already has support from some EU leaders. But notwithstanding the red-carpet reception Western leaders have enjoyed in Beijing, there’s no escaping that Europeans go as supplicants, their hypocrisy laid bare by China’s unabated appetite for Russian crude oil, Uyghur detention camps, and support for North Korea – whose mercenaries are intensifying Ukraine’s pain. Meanwhile, the plight of Tibet, once a cause célèbre for Europe’s political elite, has been all but forgotten.
After all the upheaval of the last month, few will remember the optimism that Europe’s leaders felt obliged to express at the start of the year. “Europe is not at the mercy of great powers,” was the NYE message from Friedrich Merz. If only that were true.
See the original of this opinion piece for Euractiv by its Opinion Editor, Orlando Whitehead, here.