# Middle power diplomacy as nationalism In _The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities_, Mearsheimer argues that nationalism is a much stronger political force than liberal universalism, especially when the two come into conflict. What’s really interesting in the context of Canada is that the two didn’t come into conflict—Carney used liberal universalism _as_ nationalism. In January 2026, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos and declared that the rules-based international order had suffered a rupture rather than a temporary disruption. He urged middle powers to abandon their reliance on the old order and instead cooperate through flexible coalitions to defend their autonomy and shape a new international system, stating “if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.” Importantly, that speech did not just position Canada as the putative leader of the emerging middle-power coalition. Under sustained attack and relentless ridicule from Trump, the middle-power concept became more than a diplomatic doctrine—it became a rallying cry for national pride and defiance. Canada was a proud middle power, and through its commitment to the rule of law, coalition-building, multilateralism, principled diplomacy, and respect for national sovereignty, it could defend the liberal-international international order and promote cooperation in an increasingly divided world. Middle-power diplomacy is, in many respects, the practical incarnation of liberal universalism in international relations. Where liberal universalism holds that international politics should be governed by universal principles, shared norms, international law, and multilateral institutions rather than the arbitrary exercise of power, middle-power diplomacy seeks to put these ideals into practice. With coalition-building, multilateralism, mediation, good international citizenship, and the promotion of a rules-based international order middle powers present themselves as the custodians of a system in which rules constrain power and cooperation replaces coercion. In this sense, middle-power diplomacy gives liberal universalism both an institutional expression and a political constituency.  However, the middle power concept has also always had somewhat of a nationalist spin. Australia “punched above its weight” and was a “diplomatic entrepreneur”, while Canada was a “helpful fixer” and “good global citizen”. Both used it to promote a self-imposed and somewhat supposed identity on the international stage to garner attention, highlight achievements, and most importantly, rally support. Nationalism is the belief that the nation constitutes a distinct political community whose identity, interests, and sovereignty should be preserved and promoted. For many countries, this revolves around a shared ethnicity, language, religion, culture, history and geography. For countries like Australia and Canada—reluctantly independent outposts of empire, there is no shared ethnicity, language, religion, culture, history and geography. There are no narratives of common ancestry, and their respective historical struggles and achievements have been largely repudiated to satisfy modern mores. This means that nationalism has to find expression in other forms. In Australia and Canada, liberal universalism and middle-power diplomacy offer an alternative foundation for national identity, one constructed not around who the nation is, where it came from, or what it has achieved, but around what it stands for—kind of like saying to the world, yeah sure, we’re not proud of our history, but look at how righteous we are now (which of course leads you to carry round some pretty damned hefty hypocrisy weights on your back—but that’s another story). Multiculturalism, tolerance, human rights, international law, multilateralism, and good international citizenship become defining national virtues. Middle-power diplomacy captures these virtues, allowing both countries to promote themselves as uniquely principled, responsible, and constructive members of international society. The paradox is that universalist ideals, ostensibly transcending nationalism, become the very substance of nationalist identity. Rather than escaping nationalism, Australia and Canada just pretty much found a more annoying way of practicing it. Like that academic who tells you they went to Oxford before telling you their name. Inevitably, this leads to a problem. See, middle power diplomacy as political rhetoric to support nationalist ideals doesn’t really do much for “diplomacy” part of the concept.  This means that we have politicians going round talking about middle power diplomacy and promoting the famp;k out of it, when the very basics of what constitutes middle power diplomacy are missing. Ministries of foreign affairs are left underfunded and depleted; academic-government linkages, such as those that contributed to initiatives in the 1990s, no longer exist or are simple tools to fill KPIs or dole out benefits; and funding priorities now focus on national security and defense (despite the best defense for a middle power being diplomacy). On top of all this, the transformation of the middle-power phenomenon from diplomacy to political rhetoric leads to some pretty warped academic efforts. Rather than critically examining the concept, scholars increasingly find legitimize the political mythology surrounding it, dressing national aspirations in the language of IR theory. The result is scholarship that looks less like an explanation of international politics and more like an intellectual justification for national self-importance. It’s all pretty f$ked and I don’t see understanding of the middle power concept progressing until the political, diplomatic, and academic uses are clearly understood to be distinct. The irony is palpable—liberal universalism, and its incarnation in middle-power diplomacy, presents itself as an antidote to nationalism while simultaneously functioning as an expression of it. What is promoted as a means of transcending narrow national interests has become another way of celebrating them. Mearsheimer’s having the last laugh. *** Help a thirsty academic - [Buy Me a Coffee](https://buymeacoffee.com/junotane)! ## Related articles - [[2026-09-27 The 2026 holy middle power month|The 2026 holy middle power month]] - [[2026-10-13 Can middle powers build a new international order?|Can middle powers build a new international order?]] - [[2022-11-27 The middle power’s last hurrah|The middle power’s last hurrah]]