Tag Archives: Canadian foreign policy

Copeland on Canada's turn away from internationalism

Former Canadian diplomat Daryl Copeland laments the Canadian government’s retreat from an internationalist foreign policy (Daryl Copeland, “A retreat from the world stage,” Ottawa Citizen, 5 December 2011): From the late 1940s through to early in this century, Canada enjoyed a reputation as a determined, capable and effective internationalist. Regardless of which party formed the […]

Talks collapse in Bahrain

Bahrain, a Persian Gulf nation that has been the site of pro-democracy protests over recent months, is entering a new, uncertain phase after the collapse of talks between the main Shiite opposition party and the ruling Sunni elite (Associated Press, “Shiite Party in Bahrain Leaves Talks With Rulers,” New York Times, 17 July 2011). Al […]

Canada makes the wrong move at Conference on Disarmament

Cesar Jaramillo, program officer at Project Ploughshares, argues against the recent decision to boycott the UN Conference on Disarmament (Cesar Jaramillo, “Canada’s disarmament conference boycott is ill-advised,” Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 14 July 2011): Canada’s newly elected Conservative majority government seems to be wasting no time in taking a tough stance on foreign policy, but Canada’s decision […]

Principled PM to sell more LAVs to dictators?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper treated Canadians to a self-righteous description of his government’s “principled” foreign policy stance at the recent Conservative Party convention (Steven Chase, “Canadian foreign policy needs to be more independent: Harper,” Globe and Mail, 10 June 2011; see also Elizabeth Thompson, “‘We still have more to do …’: Harper vows to woo […]

New foreign policy website launched

Collaboration among civil society actors has been a key ingredient in numerous foreign policy achievements in Canada, including the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines and the coalition against missile defence. A new online community has recently been launched in Canada to connect individuals and civil society organizations interested in international affairs and foreign policy. verkko.ca is […]

Liberals release election platform

The Liberal Party released its latest “Red Book”, its election platform document, on April 3rd (Your Family. Your Future. Your Canada, Liberal Party of Canada, 2011). The foreign and security policy elements of the document for the most part reaffirm the positions the Liberals took in the international policy document they released last June, Canada […]