The power of passive resistance

For some years now, we have been coming to the realization that the multilateral institutions we set up at the close of the Second World War, such as the UN, have lost their effectiveness in a world of escalating hard power and great power rivalry. Where we could once count on cooperation and a rules-based international order, much of the world is now at the mercy of the narrow self-interest and bullying of a few great powers. Their power is expressed today through bluster, propaganda, a loss of transparency and predictability, and the constant threat of economic or military conflict. We are left decidedly in a world we no longer recognize and in which we appear subservient.

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, whose 2026 edition took place last month, has become somewhat of a caricature of itself over the past few years. A group of overprivileged, elitist politicians and businessmen pat each other on the back, give a series of boring speeches and put on a somewhat comical display. This year, however, thanks to US President Donald Trump’s threats over Greenland, was different, prompting a reaction in particular from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. He summarized the reality we face in the world today in a clear and succinct 15-minute speech.

The prime minister stated that it need not follow that, in a world where the strong can do what they want, the rest of the world has no choice but to submit. He called upon Czech dissident, and later president, Vaclav Havel’s example of the greengrocer from his 1978 essay “The Power of the Powerless.” A greengrocer who every day puts up a sign reading “Workers of the World Unite” in his shop window to signal his assumed support for the communist regime one day decides to remove the sign. The illusion of support for the regime begins to crack as a result, as everyone else follows suit and discards their assumed public support for their private opposition. The bottom line of Havel’s essay is that “the power of the powerless lies in their unity” and can overcome even the most powerful behemoths.

The power of truth, decency and the unity of ordinary people can overcome even the greatest power

Hassan bin Youssef Yassin

In the 1930s, another man exemplified this model of passive resistance based on universal values: Mohandas Gandhi. Faced with 200 years of British occupation (counting the period of the British Raj and the East India Company), backed with 600,000 British soldiers and hundreds of thousands of British-led Indian police, a simple act of passive resistance, of expressing human dignity, brought the entire empire crumbling down.

Nelson Mandela is another example of the power of the powerless. He brought people together by expressing dignity and decency and the immorality of discrimination, thereby dismantling South Africa’s long-standing system of apartheid and opening a hopeful new chapter for all South Africans. When all hope appears lost, the power of truth, decency and the unity of ordinary people can overcome even the greatest power. Where once there was silence, a whisper turns into the resounding voice of the people, challenging domination and injustice.

Carney admitted that the fiction of a rules-based international order and American hegemony had been a useful one and, as a result, we all gladly placed our signs in the window. Today, however, our eyes are open and we must “actively take on the world as it is, not wait around for a world we wish to be.” Most countries still have good reason to work together and cooperate, building coalitions issue by issue to address major global problems and staying true to our values.

I believe many of us had already been thinking, subconsciously, what Carney expressed so eloquently

Hassan bin Youssef Yassin

Carney concluded: “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.”

I believe many of us had already been thinking, subconsciously, what Carney expressed so eloquently. I concluded my previous article with a quote from American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead and I think it takes on even more meaning here: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” We refuse to be bullied by the simpletons of power and their threats, and I believe that many Americans share our opinion. Israel, which has also based its power on force and arrogance, will not succeed in subduing the dignity of real people either; again, many Israelis hold the same thoughts.

We all know that the real issues sensible people and nations must address most urgently concern the ongoing degradation of our environment and the growing injustices and incitement of hatred around the world. As Havel’s greengrocer, Gandhi, Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. all did, it is up to us to stand up for humanity, for peace and for the mutual benefits that can be achieved for all if we work together, with honesty, integrity and shared human values. The old world order is no more, but that certainly does not mean that we cannot build a new one — even a better one — together.

• Hassan bin Youssef Yassin worked closely with Saudi petroleum ministers Abdullah Tariki and Ahmed Zaki Yamani from 1959 to 1967. He headed the Saudi Information Office in Washington from 1972 to 1981 and served with the Arab League observer delegation to the UN from 1981 to 1983.