Trudeau calls out great powers for opting out of rules-based order, urges middle powers to unite

Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called out "great powers," naming the United States, China, Russia and India, saying they had decided they can "opt in or opt out of pieces of the rules based order." Canada has sought to recalibrate its diplomatic relationships amid the geopolitical shifts triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade and foreign policies, with Prime Minister Mark Carney declaring a "rupture" in the American-led world order, calling on middle powers to band together and chart their own course. "The question of what do the rest of us do if we don't have them on board, driving a renewed world-based order is, I think, at the heart of the conversations people are having now," Trudeau said. Trudeau also reiterated Ottawa's call for world leaders to unite and form what he termed as "microlateralism" where a smaller group of countries identify shared interests. His comments come against the backdrop of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran that follows the U.S. operation in January that captured Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, with Washington seizing control of the country's oil industry. "I think the parties involved all want to see a path through this [Iran war]. I don't think they're yet at the place where they can share a path through this. I think, unfortunately, this instability is going to last a while yet," Trudeau said. Carney had issued a statement at the start of the war that appeared largely supportive of U.S. military action in Iran, before adding more nuances to that stance in March, saying that Canada's backing came "with regret," calling the current conflict another example of the failure of the international order. In a widely-watched speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Carney urged middle powers to forge new alliances and build collective resilience against coercion by larger powers. "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu," he said. Canada has faced mounting pressure to reassess its economic and security dependence on Washington, as the Trump administration pushes an increasingly transactional approach to trade and foreign policy.