Canada First, Not Canada Alone - A History of Canadian Foreign Policy

The definitive history of Canadian foreign policy since the 1930s, Canada First, Not Canada Alone examines how successive prime ministers have promoted Canada's national interests in a world that has grown increasingly complex and interconnected. Case studies focused on environmental reform, Indigenous peoples, trade, hostage diplomacy, and wartime strategy illustrate the breadth of issues that shape Canada's global realm. Drawing from extensive primary and secondary research, Adam Chapnick and Asa McKercher offer a fresh take on how Canada positions itself in the world.

List of contents

• Acknowledgments


• Introduction


• Chapter 1: Ideas and Antecedents


• Chapter 2: William Lyon Mackenzie King and the Evolution of Canada's Global Posture, 1935-1948


• Case Studies: The Voyage of the MS St Louis, 1939


• The Hyde Park Declaration, 1941


• The Debate over Article 2 of the North Atlantic Treaty, 1947-1949


• Granting the Great Powers a Veto in the United Nations Organization, 1945


• Chapter 3: Louis St. Laurent and the Expansion of the Canadian Foreign Policy Realm, 1948-1957


• Case Studies: The Launch of the Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic Development in


• South and Southeast Asia, 1950-1951


• The Establishment of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, 1953-1957


• The Suez Crisis and the Hungarian Revolution, 1956


• Attending the 10th Inter-American Conference of the Organization of American States (OAS) as


• an Observer, 1952-1954


• Chapter 4: John Diefenbaker and the Politics of Foreign Policy Decision-making, 1957-1963


• Case Studies: The Establishment of the North American Air Defence Command (NORAD), 1957-1958


• South Africa's Withdrawal from the Commonwealth, 1960-1961


• Negotiations to Acquire Nuclear Weapons, 1957-1963


• Responding to the White House's Decision to Move American NORAD forces to


• Defence Condition (DEFCON) 3 without Consulting Ottawa during the Cuban Missile Crisis,


• 1962


• Chapter 5: Lester B. Pearson and the Domestic Implications of Canadian Foreign Policy, 1963-1968


• Case Studies: The Promulgation of the Gérin-Lajoie Doctrine, 1965


• Prime Minister Lester Pearson's Speech at Temple University, 1965


• Managing the Impact of Split-run Magazines in Canada, 1964-1965


• Chapter 6: Pierre Elliott Trudeau and the Re-imagination of "Canada First," 1968-1984


• Case Studies: Reconsidering Canada's Military Role in NATO, 1968-1969


• The Voyages of the SS Manhattan through the Northwest Passage, 1968-1970


• Joe Clark's Proposal to Move the Canadian Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,


• 1979-1980


• The National Energy Program, 1980-1984


• Recognizing the People's Republic of China (PRC), 1968-1970


• Chapter 7: Brian Mulroney and the Transformation of Canadian International Affairs, 1984-1993


• Case Studies: Responding to Famine in Ethiopia, 1984-1986


• The Origins of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement, 1983-1989


• Negotiating the Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement, 1991


• Responding to Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait, 1990-1991


• Chapter 8: Jean Chrétien, Frugality, and Boldness, 1993-2001


• Case Studies: The Turbot War, 1994-1995


• The International Campaign to Ban Anti-personnel Landmines, 1994-1997


• NATO's Military Intervention in Kosovo, 1998-1999


• Conflict Diamonds in Angola and UN Security Council Sanctions Reform, 1999-2000


• Chapter 9: Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin, and the Aftermath of 9/11, 2000-2006


• Case Studies: The Kyoto Protocol, 1997-2002


• Canada's Response to the American Decision to Invade Iraq, 2002-2003


• Deploying to Kandahar Province, 2003-2005


• Participating in the United States Ballistic Missile Defense Program, 2003-2006


• Chapter 10: Stephen Harper's Conservative Values on the World Stage, 2006-2015


• Case Studies: Affirming Support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous


• Peoples (UNDRIP), 2007-2010


• The Muskoka Initiative on Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, 2009-2010


• Canada's Response to the Euromaidan, 2013-2015


• Creating the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development, 2013


• Chapter 11: Justin Trudeau and an Increasingly Dangerous World, 2015-


• Case Studies: Selling Light Armoured Vehicles to Saudi Arabia, 2015-2019


• Renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, 2017-2018


• China's Arbitrary Imprisonment of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, 2018-2021


• Responding to a Dramatic Increase in Irregular Migration, 2017-2020


• Conclusion: Canada First in the Future


• Notes


• Index

About the author

Adam Chapnick is Professor of Defence Studies at the Canadian Forces College and the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC). He is the award-winning author of Canada on the United Nations Security Council: A Small Power on a Large Stage, among other titles, and a former editor of International Journal.

Asa McKercher is Steven K. Hudson Research Chair in Canada-US Relations and Associate Professor at St. Francis Xavier University. He is the author of include Canada and the World since 1867 (Bloomsbury, 2019) and Camelot and Canada: Canadian-American Relations in the Kennedy Era (OUP, 2016). He is the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal.

Summary

Three recent Canadian prime ministers, Paul Martin, Stephen Harper, and Justin Trudeau made the same claim shortly after forming a government: “Canada is Back.” Martin promised to reinvest in world affairs. Harper was focused on the military. Trudeau meant more involvement at the UN. Each leader made foreign policy a part of their political brand because they recognized that in today's world, domestic and international politics are interconnected. Canada can no longer take care of its own interests if it ignores the world around it.

This book traces the history of Canadian foreign policy from a time when positioning Canada First meant shunning international obligations to today. It highlights key decisions taken and not taken in Ottawa that have shaped Canadians' safety, security, and prosperity over the last one hundred years. Case studies focused on environmental reform, Indigenous peoples, trade, hostage diplomacy, and wartime strategy illustrate the breadth of issues that shape contemporary Canada's global realm.

Together, these cases reveal a country that has benefited from diplomatic prudence and compromise even as its citizens have yearned for their elected officials to be world leaders. This book argues that, like any country, Canada must look out for its own interests first, but in the modern world it can't do so effectively without cooperating with other states and non-state actors.

Written by two of Canada's leading foreign policy analysts, Canada First, Not Canada Alone is the definitive history of Canadian foreign policy since the 1930s.

Product details

• Authors: Adam Chapnick, Adam (Professor of Defence Studies Chapnick, Asa Mckercher, Asa (Assistant Professor of History Mckercher, McKercher Asa
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 06.07.2024
• EAN: 9780197653715
• ISBN: 978-0-19-765371-5
• No. of pages: 360
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Comparative and international political science; Canada, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Geopolitics, Geopolitics, POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / Canadian