Articles by author: Brock University

• Trump’s Greenland threats could spur seismic economic, political shifts: Brock experts

  Friday, January 23, 2026 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY — January 23, 2026 — R0008

  Discussion about the United States’s intentions for Greenland ramped up this week as leaders gathered for the annual World Economic Forum, prompting some to speak openly about implications for international order.

  Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered what Brock University Associate Professor of Political Science Stefan Dolgert considers one of the “most consequential speeches given by a Canadian leader in decades.”

  Dolgert says Carney’s reference to “The Power of the Powerless,” an essay by anti-communist dissident Vaclav Havel that points to ways ordinary people could resist Soviet totalitarianism during the Cold War, draws a striking parallel to America’s current threats against its fellow NATO member.

  “It’s amazing to hear a Canadian leader say the role of the U.S. in the world today is the equivalent of Soviet totalitarianism, the very thing Canadians oriented themselves against by joining NATO and by being part of the American sphere of influence in the latter half of the 20th century,” he says.

  For Dolgert, the specific lesson Carney pulls from Havel about refusing to “carry out everyday rituals” that empower the ruling party suggests an important shift for Canada, especially in response to recent U.S. actions in South America and threats of aggression in Greenland.

  Although Trump appeared to take military action in Greenland off the table on Wednesday, Jan. 21, the situation is far from resolved.

  “Carney is saying we will no longer go along with the lie that says the American leadership of the rules-based international order is serving the interests of peace and justice and democracy worldwide,” he says. “We can’t look away any longer because now the mask is off. It’s naked aggression.”

  In the face of a looming threat to NATO’s stability, Dolgert says Carney was able to acknowledge the economic challenges associated with withdrawing from dependence on the U.S. while still calling upon other “middle powers” to work together.

  “He argued that we have to go a different way now, even if the world will be poorer because of it,” he says. “The clear implication is that we middle powers need to make our own security guarantees with each other rather than relying on the U.S.”

  Associate Professor of Political Science Paul Hamilton sees Trump’s demands for Greenland as “part of his ambition to build a historical legacy, very much in keeping with his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, his desire to annex Canada and his willingness to deploy troops in Latin America.”

  But Hamilton says the political and economic costs of these demands could be incredibly high. If the European parliament does not ratify its trade deal with the U.S., which was negotiated in July, for instance, levies of more than $100 billion on U.S. goods entering Europe are set to kick in on Feb. 7.

  “Any move to annex Greenland would likely mean the end of NATO as we have known it,” Hamilton says. “But it would also mean American goods headed to Europe would be subject to a set of tariffs already agreed upon by the EU.”

  The levies were proposed in response to earlier tariff threats from the U.S. but suspended during trade negotiations and were likely to be removed once parliament approved the deal. In light of recent threats to Greenland and Denmark, however, Hamilton says the levies are now back in play.

  Another tool the EU might deploy is the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), a collection of measures that can be taken against a nation attempting to control a member nation through economic sanctions. Though it has existed since 2023, the ACI has never been used.

  While Hamilton predicts that a solution to the levies will likely be reached before the deadline, he also says the EU and other allies are “hastening efforts to find reliable security and trade partners” in the wake of the Greenland threats.

  “The EU’s trade agreement with the Mercosur states — Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay — last week was a sign of a pivot away from the U.S.,” he says.

  Brock University Associate Professor of Political Science Stefan Dolgert and Associate Professor of Political Science Paul Hamilton are available for media interviews on this topic.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  *Sarah Ackles, Communications Specialist, Brock University [email protected] or 289-241-5483

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  Categories: Media releases

• Why ancient lessons cited by Carney remain relevant to today’s shifting world order

  Thursday, January 22, 2026 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY — January 22, 2026 — R0007

   

  Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made a reference in his charged World Economic Forum speech in Davos, Switzerland, that was not lost on Michael Carter.

  The Brock University Professor of Classics and Archaeology immediately clocked the nod to ancient historian Thucydides’ work — and its relevancy to today.

  Thucydides wrote an account of the Peloponnesian War fought between Athens and Sparta — the two hegemons, or leading powers, of the ancient Greek world — from 431 to 404 BCE. There was a strong contrast between the two cities, with Athens viewed as open, tolerant, wealthy and democratic, and Sparta considered closed and intolerant. 

  The Melian Dialogue passage, referenced by Carney, addresses the theme that “might makes right.” Or, as Thucydides writes: “Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” 

  Carter says the passage refers to the events of 416 BCE, when the Athenians brought their full military might against Melos — a small, defenseless but independent island in the Aegean Sea — demanding its surrender and absorption into the Athenian Empire. Athenians wanted control of Melos, a strategically important location in the war with Sparta, though Melos remained independent.

  “If the Melians refused, the Athenians said they would attack and destroy them,” Carter says.

  Thucydides presents the discussions between Athenian and Melian leaders as a closed-door dialogue, more akin to a dramatic play than usual international relations. 

  “All of the Melian arguments are based on justice, morality, hope and a sense of right and wrong, whereas Athenian responses essentially point out how they think the world really works: big fish eat little fish, and that’s just the way it is.” 

  At the end of the debate, the Melians resisted and were defeated. 

  “The Athenians killed every single man on the island, enslaved all the women and children, and sent Athenian settlers to occupy it,” Carter says. 

  This section of Thucydides’ work is commonly quoted, he says, as it can be interpreted as offering insight into human or state relations. 

  “Thucydides — often thought to be the father of political realism — describes a ‘realist position,’ which posits that states act not out of a sense of justice or morality, but out of self-interest,” he says. 

  However, Carter stresses that many citations of Thucydides’ work often incorrectly position the historian as a proponent — rather than a critic — of the idea that the strong can do what they want and the weak have no choice but to acquiesce. 

  The parallels to today’s global conversations are apparent.  

  “It is hard not to think of smaller countries and territories, like Ukraine or Greenland or Taiwan, caught up in the ambitions of the great powers, the hegemons of today,” he says. “The place of justice and morality — a sense of what is right and wrong — are too often abandoned in these discussions.”

  The Melian passage is significant, he says, as it reveals “how low Athens had sunk” and highlights the hubris of an imperialist foreign policy devoid of empathy. Thucydides is not supporting or encouraging the realist views of Athens. He saw them as evidence for the moral decline of the great city.

  “They had abandoned all the values — justice, morality, a sense of right and wrong, even hope — that once made Athens worth celebrating. It is the tragedy of Athens,” Carter says. “That’s why it was so heartening to hear the Prime Minister speak of the need for ‘values-based realism,’ in place of the old ‘might is right’ aphorism.”  

  He says it is also important to note that the episode at Melos began the actual destruction of Athens. The Athenians launched an attack against Sicily and were ultimately defeated very shortly after Melos’ capture.  

  “Athens eventually lost the war, but in the process, they lost so much more: their democracy and, along with it, anything just and fair that they once stood for.”

  Michael Carter, Brock University Professor of Classics and Archaeology, is available for media interviews on this topic.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  *Sarah Ackles, Communications Specialist, Brock University [email protected] or 289-241-5483

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  Categories: Media releases