As Canada joins Eurovision, 12 points go to a new world order

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney drew attention earlier this year for declaring that the current trend in international affairs was “a rupture, not a transition.” Yet if the Trumpian withdrawal of the US from multilateral leadership is indeed a rupture, the reaction is taking the form of many transitions, as countries reassess their positions and partnerships in a geopolitical game of musical chairs. Together, these myriad adjustments are realigning the international ecosystem according to what Prime Minister Carney and Finnish President Alexander Stubb call “variable geometry”. The result, as the pair proclaimed in a recent op-ed, is a new era of ad hoc alliances, which have more to do with where a country stands on each specific issue than with where it sits on a map.  

We saw another small but meaningful shift this month when the European Broadcasting Union (EBU—the network of European public broadcasters) and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC—Canada’s state broadcasting service) announced that Canada would join the EBU, enabling Canada to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027. The move followed a rule change enabling full EBU membership by countries outside of Europe under certain conditions—geometry, or at least geography, made variable.

The world’s greatest—and glitteriest—singing contest has likely never been top of mind when leaders gather at Davos and NATO summits. Nonetheless, the recent announcement is part of a trend with geopolitical significance. The CBC’s move to join the EBU reflects a shift beyond its traditional North American media market, forming new partnerships and forging its own path—just as the Canadian government is doing in international trade, defence procurement, and climate diplomacy. Canada is not alone in accelerating the diversification of its international relations; other recent examples include the European Union’s trade deals with Mercosur and India and its defence agreements with India, Japan, and South Korea (as well as Canada).

The other lesson here is that as the rules-based order is being forced into question, old rules of exclusivity ought to be reconsidered too. As many regions and longstanding groups fracture along polarized lines, traditions of regional selectivity are becoming less important than shared interests and ability to contribute. Where countries see opportunity to cooperate, they will, regardless of geography. The continued expansion of the BRICS is another example of an association created—and indeed named—for specific national purposes adapting to meet demand. Such evolving coalitions of the willing will not agree on everything, even disagreeing on some very important things, but they agree to share common processes, objectives, and identity around a (more or less) specific mandate.

In some cases, the increasingly variable geometry of alliances may come into tension with the objective of consistency in values. Here, too, Eurovision offers an example. Canada’s integration comes as several European countries reconsider their participation, due to the controversial involvement of another non-European state: Israel, which is a member of the EBU. For these countries, it is impossible to separate their values, as expressed through their foreign policy, from their association in the competition. As the web of issue-specific coalitions grows, so too will the challenge of navigating that complexity.

Regardless, Canada will compete in Eurovision next year, and it will be a contender, bringing strong musical talent and a record of success (Céline Dion won under the Swiss flag in 1988, and Canadian artists have finished in the Top 5 four other times). And results and razzle-dazzle aside, Canada’s participation reflects something else: as we begin the second quarter of the 21st century, countries will be united in increasingly diverse configurations by different things, whether that is economics, security, democracy—or even music.