Canada broadens ties as Applebaum says US influence wanes
Anne Applebaum says Canada is strengthening relationships with the European Union, India and China amid upheaval in US foreign policy.
Canada is strengthening its economic and political ties with the European Union, India and China as it seeks to reduce its dependence on the United States, according to political writer Anne Applebaum.
Speaking to France 24 International, Applebaum said the shift formed part of a broader transformation in US diplomacy that extended beyond any single administration. She characterised American foreign policy as moving away from leadership of a democratic alliance towards a more transactional, populist and increasingly autocratic approach.
Applebaum said Canada’s government, led by Carney, was taking a more proactive approach to its international relationships. The supplied material does not identify specific agreements, trade figures or policy measures underpinning the change.
She said European governments were confronting a less predictable and increasingly adversarial ally, while governments elsewhere were exploring alternative economic and security partnerships. The aim, in her analysis, was to reduce long-term reliance on Washington as confidence in US reliability declined.
Applebaum also described the shift as producing resistance, with countries diversifying their partnerships and preparing for a world in which the United States no longer occupied an automatically central role. She presented that possibility as the beginning of a changed international order, while acknowledging the interpretation was part of her broader assessment.
