Mark Carney meets Saudi Crown Prince in extension of middle-power diplomacy

**Georgina Godwin** (0:00)
This edition of The Globalist was first broadcast on the 10th of July, 2026 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist, in association with UBS.
Hello, this is The Globalist, broadcasting to you live from Midori House in London. I'm Georgina Godwin. On the show ahead...

**Mark Carney** (0:37)
It's important to be heard, it's important to make these connections, and it's important to translate these connections into action and action into full partnerships.

**Georgina Godwin** (0:46)
Mark Carney is in Saudi Arabia, seeking closer economic ties with the kingdom. Can Canada's previous objections to human rights violations be forgotten? Should they be?
The United Nations says the actions of the RSF and Sudan amount to genocide. But what will this official report change on the ground? Will it stop? And can anyone be held accountable? We'll have a rustle through the front pages and examine the rise of Uniqlo's parent company. Then Taiwan's exports have surged by nearly 50%.
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**Sophie Monahan-Coombs** (1:42)
Hi Georgina. I'll be here with an arts and culture rap, including the world's biggest photography festival that kicked off this week.

**Georgina Godwin** (1:49)
That's all ahead here on The Globalist, live from London.
First, a look at what else is happening in the news. Iran and the United States have exchanged fresh attacks, further eroding their ceasefire and bringing oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz almost to a standstill. Vladimir Putin is expected to intensify the war in Ukraine, with sources close to the Kremlin saying he remains determined to capture the whole of the Donbas, despite Donald Trump's push for peace. And Western Europe has recorded its hottest June on record, after extreme temperatures caused thousands of excess deaths and disrupted schools, transport and power supplies. Do stay tuned to Monocle Radio for more on those stories.
Now Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney concludes a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia today. It's the first visit by a Canadian leader to the Kingdom in 26 years, and follows his trip to the NATO summit in Ankara. A previous diplomatic split with Saudi Arabia over human rights appears to be mended, as Carney looks to diversify his country's economic dependence on the US, with Ottawa's second-biggest trading partner in the Gulf region. Well, I'm joined now by Dr Neil Quilliam, who's associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, and by Paul Waldie, Europe correspondent at The Globe and Mail. Gentlemen, thank you both for joining me. Paul, why is Carney making this trip now?

**Paul Waldie** (3:21)
Well, I mean, I think this is all part of Carney's effort to broaden Canada's trade horizons. You know, there's been some criticism that Carney doesn't really have a foreign policy. He has a trade policy. And he pretty much views the world through the lens of how do we move Canada away from its over dependence on the US, because obviously of Trump's tariff wars and that kind of thing. So you know, he's been repairing relations with an awful lot of countries that Canada had some pretty nasty falling out with, and that includes China, India, Turkey and now Saudi Arabia.

**Georgina Godwin** (3:52)
And Paul, what was on the agenda and has it been achieved? The meeting wraps up today.

**Paul Waldie** (3:58)
Well, I mean, it was signing a whole bunch of memorandums of understanding and a whole bunch of agreements on trade and investment in these kinds of things. You know, Canada, Saudi Arabia trade is pretty small. It's only about four billion in total. I think Canada imports about two billion worth of energy and exports about a billion dollars worth of mainly auto parts and things like that. So I think this is looking very much to the future. And I think it's about Carney sending more of a signal that, you know, Canada right now at this point is prepared to do business with pretty much anyone.

**Georgina Godwin** (4:27)
And Neil, if I could bring you in here, what does Saudi Arabia gain from these new agreements?

**Neil Quilliam** (4:32)
I mean, it gets to number one, repair its relationship with Canada, of course, but it is also in its position where it's diversifying its relationships. The US is still its major economic partner and security partner. But given what the Trump administration has done in the region this year, it's certainly looking to sort of diversify out and build new relationships, not just trade, but security relationships too.