Amidst the economic and other mischief that President Trump is fomenting, much of the world persists in civilized behaviour. We, for example, have restored respectful relations with China, creating a “strategic partnership” no less.

On a bigger stage, the European Union and India recently negotiated a trade agreement expected to double EU exports to that country. The largest India has ever signed, it creates a market of two billion people. The signatories have, justifiably, referred to it as “the mother of all deals.” 

EU President Ursula von der Leyen echoed Mark Carney’s sentiments with her comment that the deal is “a strong message that co-operation is the best answer to global challenges.”

Of course Carney’s advice about co-operating to deal with global challenges was aimed at middle powers whereas India and the EU should be considered great powers. They are, after all, the world’s second and fourth largest economies, both boast the big power badge—nuclear weapons—and India has the world’s largest population. They are legitimately members of the hegemon club.

They behave, however, more like middle powers in that they have not exhibited the toxic behaviour that Carney warned of. Great powers,” he said, “have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.” They do not threaten the multilateral institutions on which middle powers have relied. They are, in other words, more one of us than one of them.

Even China, threats to annex Taiwan and claims of hegemony over the South China sea notwithstanding, shows a willingness to work within multilateral institutions. Even as the U.S. drops out of the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement, China remains an active member. As do India and the EU.

Prime Minister Carney’s criticism of the great powers in his Davos speech was inspired primarily by the newly rapacious America. This is understandable, It is the great power with which Canada is intimately involved and overnight it has gone over to the dark side. It is the source of Carney’s “rupture.”

Once the guarantor of an imperfect but functional global order, and more than any other nation the creator of it, its sudden betrayal certainly seems as Carney said, “the end of a pleasant fiction and the beginning of a harsh reality.”

But perhaps the “pleasant fiction” isn’t quite at an end and the reality isn’t so harsh. As important as the U.S. was, and no country was more important, it wasn’t essential. There are 193 other countries and they are moving on without America.

Already this year one very important multilateral agreement has come into effect: The Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity. This agreement will cover marine protected areas, the transfer of marine technology, and the fair sharing of benefits from marine resources.

Last year saw a Pandemic Agreement adopted by the World Health Organization, “marking a historic moment for global public health.” The agreement will “strengthen global collaboration in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.”

Later this year will see the the 31st UN Climate Change Conference. The conference is “mainly focused on making sure the promises made in the Paris Agreement are carried out.” It will include mitigating pollution, preparing for climate change effects, and funding.

The work continues. The “rupture” isn’t fatal. So as America joins Russia in threatening its neighbours and retreats into isolation, international co-operation and rule-making carry on.

“From the fracture,” the prime minister said, “we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just.” He assigned this task to the middle powers and it appears they are getting the job done, with at least some of the great powers lending a hand. They aren’t taking the signs out of their windows just yet.