DAVID LEWIS: Carney’s Davos address a masterclass in speaking truth to power

“Cometh the hour, cometh the man”, wrote Victorian philosopher Thomas Carlyle. The optimist in me has occasionally clutched at this idea: that great crises would summon a Moses to lead us from the wilderness, but history suggests otherwise. The figures most often elevated by crisis are warriors or sports heroes — Hannibal crossing the Alps, David confronting Goliath, the heroic marathon runner who does his country proud.

Politicians rarely make the list. Indeed, the so-called “great” political leaders whose names define eras are often those from whom we needed saving. Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela may be among the few in recent history who genuinely led, by example and skill, toward a better world.

In my baby-boomer lifetime the world has rarely been more in need of salvation than now. The most powerful country on earth, led by an unbound narcissist, has in a single year smashed its own democratic guardrails — and those of the world — using threat, blackmail, economic might and military power.

Who would have thought the figure riding in on the white horse would be Mark Carney: a mild-mannered technocrat leading Canada, a country uniquely vulnerable to its neighbour’s economic power and famously teased for the co-operative discipline of its citizens? (How do you save 50,000 Canadians in a burning stadium? You ask, “Please leave the stadium in an orderly fashion”.)

‘Courageous Carney versus Demented Donald’

The contrast between the adversaries could not have been greater. On one side, a glowering New York “real estate developer”, whose smartest move was to be born after his slum-lord father. On the other, a calm, rational figure who has led two central banks through global financial crises. As Paul Krugman framed it: Courageous Carney versus Demented Donald.

In a speech for the ages, Carney’s Davos address was a masterclass in speaking truth to power. Without naming his opponent or country, and before an audience largely unwilling to challenge American power, he laid out his critique and his strategy. Trump’s response, channelling a movie mob boss, was telling: “Canada … I watched your prime minister. The next time you speak, Mark, watch yourself.”

Carney’s central argument is that the rules-based order governing trade and international relations since World War 2 is broken — a reality that must be acknowledged if a new order is to emerge. Crucially, he insists this is “a rupture, not a transition”. The old order cannot be restored. Nostalgia, he warned, “is not a strategy”. Trump may have delivered the final blow, but the foundations of the old order had long been decaying.

In an extraordinary mea culpa, Carney conceded that the old order was always partially false: powerful states exempted themselves, trade rules were enforced asymmetrically, and international law applied unevenly. Economic integration, he argued, has become a weapon — tariffs as leverage, finance as coercion — producing subordination rather than shared prosperity.

Yet Carney does not advocate narrow nationalism. Trade benefits all, provided relations are more equal. His focus is on “middle powers” strengthening their own economies and collaborating to secure fairer gains from integration and solutions to shared problems such as climate change and migration. Middle powers, he argues, must rely “not only on the strength of their values, but the value of their strength”.

The middle powers to which he refers include Canada, Australia, EU states, Japan and South Korea. It is easy to extend this category to middle-income and large developing states. The harder question concerns low-income countries that have borne the greatest costs of the old order with the least power.

Building a new world order will be hard and will require some form of political co-ordination. But Carney, a member of the global elite, has broken the ideological logjam and placed reform firmly on the agenda.

Carney’s practical prescription is diversification: reducing excessive dependence on the US without falling into subordination to another great power. He proposes a “variable geography” of co-operation, with countries participating in initiatives as needed. Canada’s engagement with China, and Trump’s threat of a 100% tariff on Canadian exports, only reinforce Carney’s argument for derisking.

Building a new world order will be hard and will require some form of political co-ordination. But Carney, a member of the global elite, has broken the ideological logjam and placed reform firmly on the agenda. As a middle power, South Africa must engage — starting with rebuilding state capacity and respect for the rule of law.

Talking of which, as Carney was demonstrating leadership on the world stage another accomplished leader “came forth” closer to home, as those who watched the South African Police Service (SAPS) parliamentary hearings will know. Robert McBride did not attend Harvard or run a central bank. But having worked with him on the government’s anti-corruption strategy, I can attest to his exceptional intelligence, extraordinary recall for detail and considerable charisma. As his appearance showed, he does not suffer fools gladly.

Above all, McBride is his own man. In the areas for which he is responsible he takes instructions from no-one. He is an ideal candidate for a senior operational role in our police services. If his apparent “wild streak” troubles you — largely a manifestation of his independence — remember that you do not have to like McBride. Law-abiding South Africans, including those who do not like McBride, might instead accept, as Franklin Roosevelt once said of a troublesome ally: “He may be a son of a bitch, but he’s our son of a bitch.”

What we must acknowledge is that the SAPS needs hard, smart people at its helm, people with a proven commitment to our democracy and to the independence of the criminal justice agencies. Look no further.

• Lewis, a former trade unionist, academic, policymaker, regulator and company board member, was a cofounder and director of Corruption Watch.