00:00We shouldn't allow the rise of hard power to blind us to the fact that the power of legitimacy, integrity, and rules will remain strong, if we choose to wield them together.
00:12What does it mean for middle powers to live the truth?
00:16First, it means naming reality.
00:19Stop invoking rules-based international order as though it still functions as advertised.
00:24Call it what it is, a system of intensifying great power rivalry where the most powerful pursue their interests using economic integration as coercion.
00:35It means acting consistently, applying the same standards to allies and rivals.
00:39When middle powers criticize economic intimidation from one direction but stay silent when it comes from another, we are keeping the sign in the window.
00:49It means building what we claim to believe in.
00:52Rather than waiting for the old order to be restored, it means creating institutions and agreements that function as described.
