Each January, the Swiss town of Davos sets the stage for the world leaders to exchange ideas on the pressing issues shaping the international order. The scenes each year always showcase the paradox; private jets flying the millionaires to talk about global issues such as poverty, climate change etc. This year, however turned out to be different as the discussions at World Economic Forum (WEF) moved beyond the prevailing climate inconsistencies to address a more fundamental geopolitical narrative.<\/p>\n
The standout moment of Davos occurred when current Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, admitted the truth that rules-based order was just a story. It was a rare moment as one of the leader of West explicitly deconstructed the myth on which many western nations foreign policy had been built upon.<\/p>\n
“For decades, countries like Canada prospered under what we called the rules-based international order,” Carney<\/span><\/a> stated. He added<\/span><\/span><\/a> ” We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false that the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient, that trade rules were enforced asymmetrically”. He acknowledged<\/span><\/span><\/a> that this narrative had value, bolstered by America’s hegemony that facilitated particular global goods. Nonetheless, it was a narrative nurtured with varied and sophisticated vigour.<\/p>\n For India and Global South as whole, Carney\u2019s admission wasn\u2019t an astonishing disclosure rather it was a long expected acknowledgement. Time and again India\u2019s External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar has been calling out West\u2019s hypocrisy in major international forums. He has persistently maintained that the West\u2019s \u2018rules\u2019 were often a malleable tool, applied erratically based on individuals involved.<\/p>\n In a forthright comment from 2022, Jaishankar precisely emphasized<\/span><\/span><\/a> the imbalance: “Europe has to let go of the assumption that its dilemmas are global dilemmas, while the world\u2019s challenges do not pertain to Europe.” Just prior to the World Economic Forum, Jaishankar recently undertook a six-day tour<\/span><\/span><\/a> to France and Luxembourg, where he adeptly exposed the West’s duplicity concerning the reactions of certain nations to Operation Sindoor, during which India targeted terror launchpads and military installations in Pakistan in May 2025.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the duplicity<\/span><\/span><\/a> of the West that India has been vocally addressing is blatantly apparent when examining India’s energy collaborations with Russia. While imposing sanctions on India and threatening punitive actions, Western countries persist in purchasing Russian oil and petroleum products. This blatant hypocrisy reveals the West’s inherent double standards. The Western powers are hesitant to relinquish the advantages of trading with Russia, yet they insist that others conform to NATO’s objective of restraining Russia, regardless of the consequences, especially when non-NATO countries are burdened with the repercussions, whether they agree or not.<\/p>\n For further reading : Difference Between International Order and World Order<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The deeper meaning of Carney\u2019s acknowledgment can be discerned not in its emphasis of Western hypocrisy, but in what it exposes about the functioning of global order and systems, which steers through narrative consent rather than impartial justice. His speech in a way revealed that power in geopolitics, as in society, is sustained by strategic narrative. Interestingly, quoting former Czech President Havel, Carney articulated the idea that the resilience of the global order depends on the society\u2019s shared “willingness<\/span><\/span><\/a> to live within a lie\u2019\u2019. This notion of narrative dominance has also been advocated by prominent thinker Joseph Nye, he argued that international affairs has become matter of \u2018whose story wins\u2019.<\/p>\n By analyzing Carney\u2019s speech, one can discern that strategic narratives are fundamental in shaping and expressing political identities, perspectives as well as ways in which global order is imaged and construed. These narratives<\/span><\/span><\/a> goes beyond expressions of material interests, they shape an actor\u2019s self-conception and set expectations about an actor\u2019s role in the world and how it should be recognized. They serve to achieve political objectives and influence the behaviors of others towards particular outcomes.<\/p>\nThe Hypocrisy India called out<\/h3>\n
The Power of Narrative<\/h3>\n
India\u2019s Narrative Leadership<\/h3>\n