Canada will meet NATO’s military spending guideline by early next year and diversify defense spending away from the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday, asserting that Washington no longer plays a predominant role on the world stage.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has declared that after decades of haphazard promises, Canada will hit the NATO defence spending target of 2 per cent of national GDP in this fiscal year, reinforcing the country’s role in international defence alliances and helping modernize the Canadian Armed Forces.

The Canadian prime minister framed the spending as a necessary response to a world where the country is more vulnerable to threats — and less protected by Americans.