Why middle powers seek trade independence

In today's episode, Canada is charting a bold new course on the global stage. Prime Minister Mark Carney is pushing to unite the EU and Indo-Pacific trading bloc into one of the world's largest economic alliances — a strategic pivot away from U.S. dependence. Meanwhile, Ottawa unveils an ambitious defence strategy to triple domestic military manufacturing and boost spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, signaling Canada's biggest military buildup since the Cold War. Plus, we cover Warner Bros. reopening merger talks, Anthropic's Pentagon standoff, and the latest on CUSMA negotiations.