Mark Carney discussed closer cooperation between Canada and Europe to enhance mutual resilience and sovereignty during a speech at the European Parliament, disregarding U.S. President Donald Trump's dismissive reaction. Carney emphasized areas like energy, critical minerals, research, and financial services for potential collaboration rather than seeking full EU membership. The article highlights growing global trends of countries moving away from American leadership due to uncertainty under Trump's presidency, with examples including shifts in the Middle East and Asia.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Trust U.S. President Donald Trump to prove Mark Carney’s point even before Carney made it.
asserted
Carney → trust → it
The prime minister hadn’t yet laid out his vision of greater co-operation with Europe to the European Parliament and Trump was already out trashing the idea as “laughable” and threatening yet more tariffs if he didn’t like the outcome.
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he → lay → outcome
A year ago I expect that would have been viewed with alarm.
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that → expect → alarm
Can they be avoided?
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they → avoid → ?
More tariffs, you say?
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you → say → ?
However tiresome, Trump’s contempt does underline the wisdom of Canada and Europe moving closer.
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Canada → underline → wisdom
The point of the exercise from the Canadian point of view, as the prime minister said, is to make this country more resilient “so that no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law.”
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one → say → law
For Europe, it’s essentially the same.
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it → ’ → Europe
A lot of people are twisting themselves out of shape over the words used by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in inviting closer co-operation with Canada: “associate member.”
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lot → twist → Canada
We shouldn’t get hung up on that.
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We → hang → that
The obstacles to EU membership of any sort are so big and so obvious that it’s pretty much a non-starter.
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it → ’ → sort
What’s much more likely is some form of what Carney laid out on Thursday in Strasbourg: “deep co-operation” with Europe in everything from energy and critical minerals to frontier research and financial services.
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Carney → ’ → research
If things develop that way, it shouldn’t be seen as a failure because it falls short of Von der Leyen’s giddy enthusiasm for a friends-with-benefits relationship with Carney and Canada.
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it → develop → Carney
The verdict will depend entirely on the concrete results that come from a closer alliance in the areas Carney mentioned.
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Carney → depend → areas
Canadians naturally want to know what all this means for them, but let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture of which Carney-in-Strasbourg is just one smallish piece.
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Carney → want → Strasbourg
Zoom out and what do you see?
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you → zoom → what
Countries around the world taking their distance from the United States, making new alliances where they can, reducing their dependence on a superpower that is unreliable at best, hostile at worst.
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that → take → superpower
But look to the Middle East, where the United States has been the unquestioned hegemon for more than half a century.
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States → look → century
Under Trump it’s now shown it can’t win a war with a third-tier power like Iran and can’t even protect small countries (like Bahrain) that sheltered under its security umbrella.
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that → show → umbrella
The result: regional powers are hedging their bets.
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powers → hedge → bets
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have signed their own security pact.
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Arabia → sign → pact
In Asia, Trump has put a question mark over the 75-year American alliance with South Korea.
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Trump → put → Korea
Taiwan isn’t sure he would defend it against China.
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he → defend → China
American dominance is also in question on the economic front, despite Trump’s boast about having the “greatest economy actually ever.”
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dominance → have → economy
Financial markets are spooked by the U.S. government’s $40-trillion debt.
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markets → spook → debt
Nervous investors are pushing yields on U.S. Treasury bonds over 5 per cent, the highest level in two decades.
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investors → push → decades
Some are worried the dominance of the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency is eroding.
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dominance → worry → currency
Others fear Trump’s use of financial sanctions for political ends makes it riskier to tie themselves into a financial system completely reliant on the dollar.
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it → fear → dollar
A few countries are moving gold reserves out of the U.S.
Distance from America
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countries → move → America
The bottom line, according to an analysis in the New York Times this week, is that “the world economy is increasingly looking for ways to distance itself from America.
uncertain
economy → accord → America
Others go further.
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Others → go → ?
They’re proclaiming nothing short of the end of the “American age,” the period of almost a century when the United States dominated the so-called “free world” — and after the end of the Cold War the entire world.
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States → proclaim → War
No power in history has sustained such dominance forever.
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power → sustain → dominance
The American age was bound to come to an end at some point.
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age → bind → point
What’s striking is that it’s the Americans — specifically Trump — who have accelerated that process.
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who → ’ → process
In light of all this, the mutual embrace between Carney and Europe seems just part of a wider story.
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embrace → seem → story
It’s the story of a superpower that still has remarkable strength but is in the process of throwing away its advantages, its leader making threats that fewer people take seriously.
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people → ’ → that
No wonder Canada and Europe are holding hands.
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Canada → hold → hands
The only surprise is that it took so long.
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it → take → ?
The Aporia
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