This week's highlight

History will likely remember this past week. While it is challenging to forecast what will withstand the test of time, I have a dream. I have long held the newly enkindled dream of good speechwriting leading the news cycle. Leading the minds and hearts of the listeners. Leading the attention economy, challenging its ravenous desire for soundbite. And for that, Mark Carney, I not only salute but also thank you.

We are taking the sign out of the window. We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn't mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy, but we believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just. This is the task of the middle powers, the countries that have the most to lose from a world of fortresses and most to gain from genuine cooperation.

The powerful have their power.

But we have something too – the capacity to stop pretending, to name reality, to build our strength at home and to act together.

Good speechwriting transcends the borders of its subject. It is brought to life across layers of daily existence. Nostalgia is not a strategy [...] from the fracture we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just. This is not a task for someone else in a position of power. This is a call to all who are in the midst of lifting themselves up from a fracturing moment. From the teenager who predictably rebels against the established household order to the grieving son of a loved mother. They have something too. We all do. We all have the capacity to build our strength at home and to act together.

Sometimes, we need a reminder.