Publisher's Synopsis
Few would argue with the observation that Canadian foreign policy has from the beginning been closely linked with the British Empire and, since the Second World War, with the United States. And now, the Free Trade Agreement has merged Canada even more closely with the United States than ever before. Nevertheless, as this book states, an enduring feature of Canadian foreign policy during the past five decades has been an unwavering commitment to international organizations as a means of exercising a degree of influence in world affairs beyond mere acquiescence with US foreign policy.;The goal has been international recognition of Canada's status as a middle power; a status granting a certain amount of recognition but not so much as to attract either the concern of the great powers or the necessity of burdensome international responsibilities.;From the founding of the United Nations in the 1940s and before, to contemporary efforts to establish a new security organization in Europe, successive Canadian governments have given high priority to the formation and maintenance of multilateral associations of sovereign states. Canada has been highly successful at being represented in a wide variety of multilateral economic, political and security organizations and it is connected to virtually all regions of the globe through an extensive array of memberships.;"Canada and World Order" surveys the context of Canadian foreign policy since the Second World War and examines both the origins and practice of Canada's practice of multilateralism. In the current period Canada seems, in part, to be shifting its long-term commitment to multilateralism through closer association with the United States. Yet with the immense changes taking place, particularly, for example, in Europe in which old international organizations are being reformed and new ones are being created, Canada's long experience with multilateralism places it in an excellent position to make important contributions to the transformation. In the process, Canada's old goal of achieving a degree of independence as a middle power through a policy of multilateralism can be strengthened.
