Mark Carney’s blunt declaration that the rules-based international order has ruptured challenges countries like Australia to rethink their alliances and consider new coalitions among middle powers.

When the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, told the World Economic Forum in Davos in January that the world order was ruptured and the rules-based international order had broken down it was very much an ‘Emperor has no clothes’ moment. Just in case anyone missed it, he has been repeating his message ever since – together with his plea that middle-sized powers, such as Australia, must recognise the facts and act accordingly.

It was the same message he delivered again and again during his brief visit to Australia: “Middle powers like Canada, and I would suggest Australia, should recognise that the rupture in the international system represents just that.”

No-one doubted that Carney was correct. What helped elevate him to international stardom was that he was the first national leader to say it out loud, and to suggest what middle-ranking powers such as Canada and Australia needed to be doing in this new era.

As he told the Lowy Institute on Wednesday evening he said: “In a world of great power rivalry, countries such as ours........

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