Archive · 22 Jan 2026
Davos 2026: Carney Cites Havel on Global Tensions
At the World Economic Forum in Davos 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney talked about a concept called 'living within a lie.'
This idea was first explained by a Czech dissident named Václav Havel in 1978.
Havel said that people in authoritarian systems often pretend to believe things they don't, just to avoid trouble.
Carney used this idea to talk about how countries like Canada can no longer rely on old ideas about global stability.
He said the world is now more divided and that countries need to be more self-reliant.
Carney also mentioned that former US president Donald Trump's actions, like threatening to use tariffs on allies and wanting to acquire Greenland, have made things more complicated.
He said that countries need to be honest about the world as it is and not just repeat old stories that don't work anymore.
Prime Minister Mark Carney referenced Václav Havel's 1978 concept of 'living within a lie' in his address to the World Economic Forum in Davos 2026.
Carney argued that middle powers can no longer rely on inherited narratives about global stability and must confront a more coercive and fragmented international landscape.
The concept originates in Havel's influential essay 'The Power of the Powerless,' written during the late communist period.
Carney's speech followed renewed threats by former US president Donald Trump to use tariffs and economic pressure against allies, alongside his repeated public statements expressing interest in acquiring Greenland.
Carney described the current moment as a rupture, where the old assumptions no longer protect middle powers, and persisting in the language of a system that no longer functions as promised amounts to a form of strategic self-deception.
- Who
- Mark Carney, Donald Trump, Václav Havel
- What
- Mark Carney's address at the World Economic Forum in Davos 2026, referencing Václav Havel's concept of 'living within a lie'
- When
- January 2026, during the World Economic Forum in Davos
- Where
- Davos, Switzerland, and various European countries
- Why
- To discuss the end of the rules-based international order and the need for middle powers to adapt to a more coercive and fragmented international landscape
- Key Figures
- Mark Carney, Donald Trump, Václav Havel
- Event
- World Economic Forum in Davos 2026
- Main Issue
- Global instability and the end of the rules-based international order
- Concept
- Living within a lie
- Author
- Václav Havel
- Essay
- The Power of the Powerless
- Impacted Nations
- Canada, United States, European countries (including Denmark, Greenland, France, Germany, UK)
- Weakened Organizations
- NATO, World Trade Organization, United Nations
Sources
‘Rules based order was a lie’: Canada’s Mark Carney says old order is not coming back, rebukes US at Davos 2026
'Old World Order Not Coming Back': Canadian PM Mark Carney's Shot at US in Davos
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A rupture… rules-based world order is fading—Canada PM Mark Carney’s full speech at WEF Davos
‘If we’re not at table, we’re on menu’: At Davos, Canada PM Carney urges middle powers to unite, affirms support to Greenland
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Canada opposes US tariffs on Greenland, supports Danish sovereignty
Won't use force to acquire Greenland: Trump at Davos
Trump chides Carney at Davos, says Canada should be ‘grateful’
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‘Living within the lie’: Václav Havel’s 1978 dissident cry that came to Davos 2026
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