APAD: if you are not at the table, you are on the menu

if you are not at the table, you are on the menu

That blunt proverb is a stark reminder of how power works: if you aren’t part of the decision-making process, you will likely be the one sacrificed to serve the interests of those who are. 
It highlights the risks of being passive or unrepresented in any high-stakes environment:

Vulnerability: Without a voice, your needs and interests are easily overlooked or treated as expendable.
Lack of Control: You end up reacting to policies and plans that were made without your input, often to your detriment.
Zero-Sum Mentality: In diplomacy and business, it suggests a world where the strong "devour" the weak who fail to defend their own goals.

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The phrase was used by Canadian PM Mark Carney's speech 'The old order is not coming back',on  Tuesday, Davos, Switzerland.

... ...

"Canadians know that our old, comfortable assumption that our geography and alliance memberships automatically conferred prosperity and security is no longer valid," Carney said.

... ... relying on institutions like the World Trade Organization, the United Nations and Conference of the Parties (COP) for climate talks — has been "diminished"

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"This is not naive multilateralism. Nor is it relying on diminished institutions. It is building the coalitions that work, issue by issue, with partners who share enough common ground to act together. Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu," 

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We actively take on the world as it is, not wait around for a world we wish to be.  

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*************End of Carney's excerpt ********************

Farewell, WTO; Farewell,even UN.