Poland's Gold Hoarding and the Davos "Iron Curtain Speech": The Final Chapter of the Old World Order

The current global landscape is undergoing profound turbulence. Poland's significant increase in gold reserves, alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's "Iron Curtain" speech at the Davos Forum, together outline a clear trajectory of the collapse of the old world order and the brewing of a new structure. The former responds to uncertainty through tangible safe-haven actions, while the latter exposes hypocritical rules through ideological declarations. These two aspects mutually corroborate, revealing the reality of a fundamental rupture occurring in the global order.

1. Poland's Large-Scale Increase in Gold Holdings: Anchoring Security with the Ultimate Safe Haven

Shareholding Increase Plan and Core Impact

The Polish central bank has officially approved a significant plan—to purchase up to 150 tons of gold. This move will directly boost Poland's total gold holdings to 700 tons, not only achieving a leap in reserve scale but also surpassing the gold reserve level of the European Central Bank. In terms of asset proportion, 700 tons of gold will account for 30% of Poland's total reserve assets, becoming the core stabilizing anchor for the nation's financial security.

Rapid growth momentum.

Poland's pace of increasing gold holdings can be described as rapid, showing an accelerated deployment trend. In 2024, gold reserves accounted for only 16.86% of its foreign exchange reserves, but just one year later in 2025, this proportion soared to 28.2%, nearly doubling. Up to now, the Polish central bank shows no signs of stopping gold purchases, continuously strengthening the core position of gold in its reserve system.

The logic of risk aversion driven by historical destiny.

Poland's obsession with gold is rooted in its history of enduring numerous hardships. The country has faced partition and destruction multiple times, deeply experiencing the acute pain brought by global turmoil. This sense of historical destiny drives it to rely on gold, the ultimate safe-haven asset, as a source of security.

In the 18th century, Poland experienced three partitions, disappearing from the world map for 123 years and falling into a prolonged state of national subjugation. After regaining independence following World War I, Poland was invaded by Germany in a blitzkrieg on September 1, 1939, leading to its fall once again—an event that marked the beginning of World War II. The recurring pain of dismemberment made Poland acutely aware that in a turbulent international landscape, only gold could provide security transcending geopolitical struggles. This is the core motivation behind its continuous accumulation of gold reserves.

II. The Davos "Iron Curtain Speech": Declaring the Death of the Old Order

The Historical Positioning and Core Declaration of the Speech.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the Davos Forum has been widely regarded by global public opinion as a new Iron Curtain speech declaring the end of the old world order. Its significance is comparable to Winston Churchill's classic Iron Curtain speech in 1946—the latter marked the beginning of the Cold War, calling for the United States and Britain to join forces against Soviet expansion. In contrast, Carney's speech directly addressed the essence of the long-proclaimed Western order, announcing the conclusion of an old era.

Karni articulated a core viewpoint in his speech: It is time for companies and nations to take down their signs. The old order will not return. This declaration sparked thunderous applause from the audience and precisely highlighted the reality that the old order is unsustainable—the original world order has fractured, a whitewashed beautiful story has officially ended, and the globe will enter an unrestrained and brutal phase of geopolitical competition among major powers.

Core Metaphors and Critique of the West

To expose the hypocrisy of the old order, Carney cited a story from Czech writer Václav Havel's "The Power of the Powerless": a shopkeeper displays a specific slogan in his window every day, not out of belief, but merely to comply with regulations and gain practical benefits. Using this as a metaphor, Carney sharply criticized the state of survival of Western middle powers like Canada over the past few decades—much like the shopkeeper in the story, they place a sign of a rules-based international order in their window, join institutions they do not trust, and proclaim principles they do not truly believe in, all essentially to enjoy the illusory benefits woven by the hegemonic system.

"Delisting Criteria" and the Critique of Double Standards

Regarding how to break this hypocritical dilemma, Carney proposed clear delisting criteria: apply the same standards to both allies and adversaries. He pointed out that if middle powers selectively voice their opinions on international affairs and adopt differential judgments on similar behaviors, they are essentially clinging to self-deceptive labels and cannot truly adapt to the new international landscape. This critique directly addresses the widespread issue of double standards in current international relations, hitting the core pain point of the Western order.

III. Commonality Between the Two Events: The End of the Old Order and the Beginning of a New Game

The Echo of Two "Iron Curtain Speeches" Across Eras.

Carney's speech, though separated by decades from Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, shares distinct commonalities, both serving as iconic declarations that marked turning points in their respective eras. Both centered on proclaiming the end of an old era: Churchill declared the conclusion of post-World War II cooperation, ushering in the Cold War confrontation; Carney, meanwhile, declared the death of the old rules-based order, signaling the global entry into a new phase of unrestrained great-power competition.

Meanwhile, both speeches contained calls for solidarity and self-preservation: Churchill called for the United States and Britain to join forces against Soviet expansion, while Carney urged medium-sized nations to band together to jointly resist economic coercion by major powers. Additionally, both issued warnings to small and medium-sized nations—when the old order collapses and great-power rivalry intensifies, if they continue to deceive themselves and submit passively, they will ultimately end up being carved up, coerced, and sacrificed in the games of major powers.

The reality of Europe's shifting attitudes is being confirmed.

The collapse of the old order is directly reflected in the shifting attitudes across Europe. The previously shelved China-EU investment agreement, along with recent policy adjustments in several European countries, stems from a sobering realization of their changing position within the hegemonic system. When faced with hegemonic bullying and damage to their own interests, Europe has begun to discard the hypocritical rules of the past and confront the reality of great-power competition. This policy shift is essentially a passive adaptation to the failure of the old order and a reluctant compromise in the face of the new landscape shaped by major power rivalries.

Conclusion: The old order has fallen, with self-preservation and strategic maneuvering emerging as the new central themes.

Poland's gold hoarding and Carney's Iron Curtain speech, though expressed in different forms, point to the same core conclusion: the old world order is completely dead. Poland's physical hedging based on gold reserves is an instinctive choice for small and medium-sized countries seeking security in a turbulent landscape; Carney's speech tears open the hypocritical veil of the Western order, revealing the truth that the survival model of relying on hegemony is no longer sustainable.

In the future, the world will enter a new phase of intensified great-power rivalry and rule reconstruction. For small and medium-sized countries, clearly recognizing reality and strengthening their own security defenses will become the core issue of survival. For major powers, how to establish new interaction models in a landscape free from the constraints of the old order will determine global stability and direction in the future. The final chapter of the old order has been written, and the prologue of the new structure is quietly unfolding through geopolitical games and strategic layouts.