I believe that Canada’s move towards soft power is absolutely positive one. As a rationalist, I believe soft power should be adopted by all countries as their primary philosophies for maintain and sustaining its power amongst other countries in the world. Being a hard power can have its benefits but it is also can be perceived by the rest of the world as the role of international “bullies,” such as United States and their interference in world affairs. As Canada has adopted the role of “peacekeepers” in the world have really benefited the relationships it has created amongst the world stage. Canada had never expressed a real interest or even has the capacity to become a hard power since it lacks the funding, military build up, population, and economy (per capital) to become a superpower or a hard power to sustain the balance of power required to maintain or even to become a superpower. Canada has always been perceived as more of a middle power to a soft power due to its international policies, which has drastically reduced its chances of any conflicts such as war, terrorist attacks, or even attempts by hard powers to occupy it, since Canada has become a respected and well-loved nation among the world. Further, Canada has been able to focus more of its intention internally with its scarce resources, while maintaining strong sound relationships amongst the world, to building and maintain its GDP and standard of living up for its people. The dedication that Canadians have to the world peace can be demonstrated by over 40 peace keeping missions that Canada has been a part of from the Afghanistan mission, Rwanda mission, Bosnia mission, Suez Crisis, and etc., where Canada has provided vital humanitarian aid, supervision of elections... ... middle of paper ... ...multinational communities and societies, which really is a challenge for Canada to work together and be able to resolve its internal issues like the Aboriginal Rights, Interest Groups, Quebec Separatists Groups, and the recession before trying to be key player in international affairs. Canada realistically is not able to become a hard power even if its government ambitiously wants it to be since the population of Canada is not able to support it. I believe rather Canada has the best of both worlds of being a hard power and a soft power with its international policies since it has positioned itself as a soft power and have a hard power, such as US across the border that is willing to do all the dirty work in international politics in bettering North America. Canada does not need to play the aggressive role in international politics since US is already doing it for us.
Canadians strongly believe that peacekeeping is about trying to protect people from extreme harm, a way of providing hope in situations that seem hopeless, and a good method of bringing peace and justice to war-torn countries or failed states. Canadians backing soldiers in their peacekeeping role has been so strong for such a long time that it has generated into their national identity. “Canadians cling to the mythology, born of the 1956 Suez Crisis, that we are a nation of peacekeepers, interposing between belligerent forces bent on war but, even though Canadian government officials and media of the 1990s called the operations in Bosnia and Somalia “peacekeeping missions,” they were something very different from Cold War-era peacekeeping.” Accordingly, over the past several decades, Canadian peacekeeping operations involving their military forces has shifted from a Pearson perspective based on humanitarian intervention to peacekeeping missions entailing massive violence. Therefore, my research paper will focus on how peacekeeping in the Canadian context has changed over the past several decades owing to the Canadian use of its military (internationally) force for extreme violence during peacekeeping missions. I wish to discuss this topic extensively within my research paper by focusing on vivid examples from UN Peacekeeping missions.
... nation. In addition to, supporting their allies, this shows how Canada is committed to maintain good alliances with their allies. They also joined a peacekeeping military defense with United States in order to gain trust from United States and become a peacekeeping military defense Canada is recognized today.
Canada’s eligibility to participate on the world stage and its move towards independence was proven after the accomplishments at the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Foremost, Canada’s first opportunity to partake on the world stage came soon after the end of World War I, during the Paris Peace Conference. The accomplishments of the Canadian Army in the Battle of Vimy Ridge helped to earn Canada a spot in the Paris Peace Conference, after long arguments made on behalf of Canada by Prime Minister Robert Broden . The Prime Minister argued that Canada’s wartime record had earned Canada a seat separate from Britain. Canada was granted the seat despite the disapproval of the American President, Woodrow Wilson’s as they contributed greatly to the Allied forces especially in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The approval of Canada’s seat is important to both the significance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the eligibility to participate on the world stage because it was one of the first steps Canada took towards its independence from Great Britain. Additionally, Canada became more social with other countries separate from Britain after the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Canada involved itself more in trading after the battle and the war, and had a flourishing...
Canada was influential in the development of NATO; it had been a member of NATO since it was founded in 1949. The purpose of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was to unify the western allies and strengthen the military as a reaction to a possible threat from the Soviet Union and its allies. In 1949 many countries signed a contract to be part of the organization including: Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, Iceland, Luxembourg, United States, Canada, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Portugal.² Canada gained benefits from being part of NATO such as the ability to have a say in alliance policy, and now Canada would be able to “deal with the US on a multilateral context.” ¹ NATO also provided safety for Canada from the potential aggression of the Soviet Union. Canada’s armed forces were the most engaged, and active responsive armed forces within NATO. Canada’s priority in NATO was to ensure that all allies remain modern and are able to face the threats during the time period.
To draw a conclusion it is inevitable to highlight the significance change not only to Canada´s self-understanding, but also in the world´s appearance that the Statute of Westminster caused. It was the last of the Imperial Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain applicable to all dominions and therefore it marks the end of the great, superordinate British Empire which was one of the major forces throughout many centuries in history. Even though the Commonwealth technically remains, new autonomous countries were finally able to be more than just an extension of the the mother-country. Thus, many of them became remarkable powers with an own identity and own intentions on the world stage themselves, such as the country we live in, Canada.
In today’s rapidly growing global society, foreign relations with other countries are imperative to a nation’s prosperity and world-wide harmony. Especially with China, the fastest growing country in the world, it is important for Canada to establish relations that can benefit both countries. The foundation of these Sino-Canadian relations was created by Norman Bethune’s involvement in the Second Sino-Japanese War. China was not always such a flourishing and prosperous society. In 1937, during this war, Japan invaded China with imperialist objectives.
...in reasons that most political violence occurs, and how to resolves these conflicts of political violence. After the research was completed, it is very apparent that Canada has had a very positive impact on Afghanistan. There are not many countries who would continue to stay in the country after completing their time in battle. Although Canada was involved in the war against Afghanistan, the country itself still found it mandatory for troops to continue to serve in Afghanistan as peace makers. Canada is known for peace and freedom and this exemplifies just that. Canada is putting forth time, effort, and money, to improve the living conditions of those in Afghanistan and helping them build a sustainable, peaceful life that they can carry out for years to come. Every country will have its own corruption; the answer is to begin from the basics. Peace and security.
The United States is Canada's largest trading partner and is the largest market for Canadian goods. The Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (1989) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (1994) have both been crucial to increasing market opportunities for Canadian exporters in the U.S.
Which in turn, created a whole new set of problems or rather anxieties for Canada due to the fact that now, “[The United States] are now the primary market and source of investment for Canadian commerce” (Bow, p. 346). Now instead of the essence of the threat being a physical invasion of the United States, Anti-Americanism in this time period derived from a threat of economic and cultural assimilation. Canada throughout this time period continues to find ways in order to separate themselves from their Western counter-parts. This was especially evident during the 1960s where, “the social and political turbulence… provoked a new wave of liberal anti-Americanism in Canada, focusing on a supposedly endemic pattern of racial conflict, urban violence, cultural polarization and political corruption” (Bow, p. 346). Due to those issues in the United States the sentiment has been more social among its people and it shows with different implementations of policies that Canada has placed or tried to place in order to separate themselves and as a country make themselves look better than the “super powered” United States by comparison. As a result, Canada became to be “proponents of universal health care, national welfare and pension programs and post war social programs…” (Bow, p. 347). The sentiment would evolved further due to the issues regarding the Vietnam war, which not only created a perception that, “America is by nature inclined to an aggressive self destructive foreign policy” (Bow, p. 348), but also is the “first Cold war crisis in which Canada chose to stand apart from the United States, and this affected not only Canadian diplomats’ capacity to influence U.S. decisions, but also Canadian public perceptions of what the war said about American values and priorities” (Bow, p. 348). During the Vietnam war the U.S were mostly criticized for acting
Canada is known by outsiders to be a very peaceful country. But if you ask any Canadian, they will tell you that is unfortunately not the case. There is a large ongoing conflict between Canadians. The conflict is between the French and the English, or more specifically between Quebec and the rest of Canada. As a result of this conflict, along with some wrongdoing and propaganda.
The cold war had great impacts on the bound and tension between Canada and the United States. The Cold War had divided the whole world in to two sides between the Communism side and the United States. Due to the geographic location of Canada sitting beside US, and Canada had already traded some of its sovereignty in a series of political and military pacts with the U.S, therefore Canada took the United States’ side. Canada took the US’s side as a reaction to the international tensions during the post-w...
In the book entitled Canada, NATO and The Bomb: The Western Alliance in Crisis by Tom Keating and Larry Pratt the main issue discussed was Canada’s position in Europe, North America and their view on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It went into specific issues dealing with political tension within Canada and tension outside Canada with other countries. It went through the years of different political parties and how they dealt with the matters of NATO.
Canada refused to participate in the Suez canal crisis, “this action was a symbolic gesture that showed both England and the World that Canada was now a fully autonomous nation in total control of its foreign policy” (http://mrmillerss11.blogspot.ca/2010/02/feb-24-canadas-autonomy-timeline.html) . To stop any violence that would soon abrupt Lester. B.Pearson came up with the idea of “peacekeeping”. He stated “We are now emerging into an age when different civilizations will have to learn to live side by side in peaceful interchange, learning from each other, studying each other’s history and ideals, art and culture, mutually enriching each other’s lives. »
Canada’s parliamentary system is designed to preclude the formation of absolute power. Critics and followers of Canadian politics argue that the Prime Minister of Canada stands alone from the rest of the government. The powers vested in the prime minister, along with the persistent media attention given to the position, reinforce the Prime Minister of Canada’s superior role both in the House of Commons and in the public. The result has led to concerns regarding the power of the prime minister. Hugh Mellon argues that the prime minister of Canada is indeed too powerful. Mellon refers to the prime minister’s control over Canada a prime-ministerial government, where the prime minister encounters few constraints on the usage of his powers. Contrary to Mellon’s view, Paul Barker disagrees with the idea of a prime-ministerial government in Canada. Both perspectives bring up solid points, but the idea of a prime-ministerial government leading to too much power in the hands of the prime minister is an exaggeration. Canada is a country that is too large and complex to be dominated by a single individual. The reality is, the Prime Minister of Canada has limitations from several venues. The Canadian Prime Minister is restricted internally by his other ministers, externally by the other levels of government, the media and globalization.
Canada has played a vital role in international relations for the majority of its 144 year history since the signing of Confederation in 1867. Canada first participated in World War I, then World War II in 1939-1945. Following World War II, Canada was also involved in the Korean War. Canada has been primarily a peacekeeping nation. There are many questions people ask when a high income country goes to help a lower income nation such as Afghanistan.