Middle powers are trending.
Since Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned the world’s middle powers at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January to get “at the table” or else end up “on the menu,” a movement has gathered momentum—built on the optimism that the way through today’s geopolitical uncertainty runs through the middle.
This vision rests on a flawed premise. The middle powers argument assumes the nation-state is still the primary actor in great-power competition. This is not the case.
