In the snow-capped Swiss town of Davos, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday delivered a speech that cut through the polite veneer of global forums. Urging leaders to abandon the \u201crules-based order\u201d as mere theater, he invoked Vaclav Havel\u2019s essay \u201cThe Power of the Powerless\u201d to critique performative gestures like shopkeepers in Soviet-era Czechoslovakia who displayed unity slogans without conviction.<\/p>\n
Carney\u2019s message was stark: we are not in a smooth transition to a better world but amid a profound rupture, where economic integration has morphed into a tool of rivalry through tariffs and disrupted supply chains. For middle powers like Canada \u2014 and, by extension, nations across the Arab world \u2014 he said this demands \u201cvalue-based realism,\u201d a blend of principled action and pragmatic adaptation.<\/p>\n
Carney\u2019s words resonate deeply in our region, as great-power competitions echo from the Arctic to the Arabian Gulf. As the world shifts toward multipolarity, outdated Western models of aid and influence give way to self-reliant progress. Yet, amid this flux, fear often dominates the discourse, breeding disastrous outcomes.<\/p>\n
The terminology leaders used to frame our global predicament, be it \u201ctransition,\u201d \u201ccrisis\u201d or \u201crivalry,\u201d reveals the tangled legacy of industrialization, colonialism and now artificial intelligence\u2019s grip on labor markets. Global warming, exacerbated by unchecked technology-driven consumption, underscores the urgency. Commercial law, once a unifier, now navigates this practical multipolarity, where AI and manufacturing promise innovation but demand equitable policies.<\/p>\n
“Carney\u2019s Davos address was no abstract lament. He outlined a Canadian strategy that middle powers everywhere could adapt”<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
Dr. Turki Faisal Al-Rasheed<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
This article explores these tensions through the lens of 20th-century German philosopher Carl Schmitt, whose ideas on power dynamics challenge us to confront reality without illusions. Drawing on Carney\u2019s realism and Schmitt\u2019s stark friend-enemy distinction, we examine how Arab nations can move beyond division to address true threats: poverty, inequality and injustice.<\/p>\n
While Schmitt\u2019s framework illuminates the raw edges of politics, it must not fuel fragmentation. Instead, it calls for redirecting energy toward sustainable development\u2019s four pillars \u2014 economic growth, social justice, environmental stewardship and human capital \u2014 to build resilient societies.<\/p>\n
Carney\u2019s Davos address was no abstract lament. He outlined a Canadian strategy that middle powers everywhere could adapt: tax incentives to spur $1 trillion in investments across energy, AI and critical minerals; a doubling of defense spending; and fresh partnerships with the EU, China and Qatar. On Ukraine, Canada pushes coalitions for principled support; in the Arctic, it champions Greenland\u2019s autonomy against coercive pressures; and in trade, it forges blocs that prioritize shared resilience over isolationist fortresses.<\/p>\n
Nostalgia for a unipolar past is no strategy, Carney warned. Integration, once a bridge, now weaponizes dependencies \u2014 think US tariffs on allies or China\u2019s supply-chain leverage. Middle powers must name this reality, act with consistency and diversify alliances to stand firm. For Arab states, squeezed between US-China frictions and regional flashpoints, this means leveraging resources like oil and renewables not for confrontation but for mutual gain. Qatar\u2019s gas diplomacy or Saudi Arabia\u2019s Vision 2030 investments in AI exemplify this shift, turning vulnerabilities into strengths.<\/p>\n
Yet, as Antonio Gramsci observed, crises are not endpoints but \u201cmorbid symptoms\u201d where old structures crumble, birthing new possibilities. In this interregnum, fear-mongering \u2014 labeling every setback an \u201cexternal plot\u201d \u2014 only deepens divides. Collective awareness and political will are essential to steer toward prosperity. Prioritizing human needs over security obsessions, we can redistribute wealth equitably, ensuring no one is left behind in the rush for innovation.<\/p>\n
Schmitt\u2019s enduring influence lies in stripping politics to its core: the distinction between friend and enemy. In his 1932 masterpiece \u201cThe Concept of the Political,\u201d Schmitt argued that every domain has its opposition \u2014 morality pits good against evil, economics profit against loss \u2014 but politics alone hinges on existential stakes. The enemy is not a mere rival or disliked neighbor but a public foe, another threatening a group\u2019s survival, potentially through lethal conflict.<\/p>\n
This is not about morality; the enemy may even share values, yet their presence endangers one\u2019s way of life. A border skirmish, for instance, transforms neighbors into adversaries: one sees defense, the other invasion. Leadership, Schmitt contended, demands sovereign decisions unbound by law or ethics, echoing the views of Thomas Hobbes and Niccolo Machiavelli on humanity\u2019s volatile nature. Politics becomes the art of managing chaos: by naming the enemy, leaders forge unity, channeling passion into resolve. War, in this view, is politics intensified \u2014 a trial of collective will.<\/p>\n
Schmitt forged these ideas in Weimar Germany\u2019s turmoil, later tainted by his Nazi ties. Yet, abstracted from that shadow, his theory cuts through liberal optimism. He lambasted liberalism for \u201cdepoliticizing\u201d society, recasting enemies as market competitors or forum debaters. Wars become \u201chumanitarian\u201d operations, rivals become trading partners. This neutralizes threats but saps vitality, assuming trade and talk can tame primal instincts. Schmitt tied this to theology: politics mirrors sacred battles of the faithful against infidels, demanding reckoning with human frailty \u2014 like original sin \u2014 before renewal.<\/p>\n
In our hyperconnected era, Schmitt\u2019s warning rings true. Social media amplifies rifts, while liberal inclusivity risks blinding us to real dangers. Digital echo chambers turn debates into tribal wars, eroding the shared ground needed for progress.<\/p>\n
Contemporary thinkers like French strategist Pierre Conesa extend Schmitt\u2019s ideas, showing how enmities are manufactured for control. In \u201cManufacturing the Enemy,\u201d Conesa outlines six enemy types, each a strategic fiction with stark parallels in the Arab world.<\/p>\n
First, the neighboring enemy thrives on proximity: Iran\u2019s shadow over Iraq and Saudi-Yemeni border frictions mirror India and Pakistan\u2019s Kashmir grudge. Second, the global enemy pits superpowers \u2014 US-Russia over Ukraine spills into our energy routes, much like Cold War proxies.<\/p>\n
The intimate enemy wounds deepest in civil wars: Syria\u2019s sectarian fractures since 2011 evoke Rwanda\u2019s horrors, where kin become killers. The barbarian enemy revives colonial tropes \u2014 Western media once painted Algerian fighters as savages; today, Arab Spring protesters face similar smears as \u201cchaos agents.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then comes the hidden enemy, fueled by conspiracies: accusations of Zionist or Western meddling in Arab uprisings deflect from homegrown woes. Finally, the media enemy weaponizes narratives \u2014 Daesh videos demonize the West; state outlets brand critics \u201cforeign puppets.\u201d<\/p>\n
These archetypes politicize life but pervert Schmitt\u2019s intent. Enmity rallies crowds, justifies crackdowns and shifts blame from leaders to phantoms. In resource-rich Arab states, economic dips trigger \u201cinfiltration\u201d cries, masking corruption or inequality.<\/p>\n
“In this interregnum, fear-mongering \u2014 labeling every setback an \u2018external plot\u2019 \u2014 only deepens divides”<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
Dr. Turki Faisal Al-Rasheed<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Herein lies the peril: fabricated enemies distract from real ones embedded in daily struggles. Authoritarians summon foes to inflate patriotism, authorize repression and bury failures like graft. Post-Arab Spring, dissidents were \u201cfifth columnists,\u201d protests were \u201cadversary plots.\u201d This evades the UN Sustainable Development Goals, our clearest diagnostic.<\/p>\n
Consider Goal 1 (No Poverty): More than 100 million Arabs live below the poverty line, as per World Bank data. Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) falters in Yemen and Sudan, where one in five faces famine. Goal 3 (Health) exposed COVID-19 gaps, with maternal mortality double the global average in spots. Goal 4 (Education) sees 20 percent female illiteracy, stifling innovation. Goal 5 (Gender Equality) battles inheritance biases and job barriers. Goal 8 (Decent Work) grapples with 25 percent youth unemployment in North Africa, spurring migration. Goal 16 (Peace and Institutions) suffers from corruption, eroding trust.<\/p>\n
These are not fate but choices prioritizing arms over schools, elites over equity. Schmitt\u2019s realism demands naming them: poverty as the ultimate existential threat, inequality as the hidden saboteur. By fixating on externals, we postpone Gramsci\u2019s transformation, where crises yield justice.<\/p>\n
Schmitt\u2019s paradigm pierces illusions, but in the Arab world \u2014 scarred by colonialism, hooked on resources and mired in intrigues \u2014 it risks entrenching chaos, from Libya\u2019s militias to Lebanon\u2019s sects. The antidote? Redirect enmity inward: declare systemic neglect our collective foe. Invest in SDGs as statecraft \u2014 fund education for youth empowerment, green tech for climate resilience, fair economies for shared prosperity.<\/p>\n
Environmental pressures and AI upheavals demand this pivot. AI and manufacturing can innovate, but only if policies honor diverse needs, ditching Western aid traps for self-driven growth. Leaders must embody Carney\u2019s value-based realism: pragmatic deals with foes-turned-partners, like EU pacts or Chinese infrastructure, while upholding justice.<\/p>\n
As Gramsci urged, let\u2019s seize this interregnum for renewal. Collective will builds sustainable pillars, reducing inequalities and humanizing progress. In unity over division, the Arab world transcends fragmentation. Let politics build, not break, declaring poverty the enemy we slay together. This forges something bigger, juster: a horizon of flourishment for all.<\/p>\n