This month in
International Journal

We, the editors-in-chief of International Journal, are excited to introduce Open Canada readers to the September 2024 issue featuring a special policy forum on the implications of amorphous and sometimes mercurial US global leadership for Canada and its allies along with our usual provocative offerings of scholarly essays, policy briefs, and book reviews. 

The papers summarize the analyses offered by practitioner and academic experts at a spring 2024 conference hosted by the Canada Program at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs exploring a world without US stewardship. The forum’s introduction by scholars Pierre Martin and Marie-Joëlle Zahar presents the stakes for Canada of recent tumult in global politics and captures the many diverse and erudite arguments offered by conference contributors. Indeed, contributions that bring to mind Pierre Trudeau’s 1969 speech to the Washington Press Club when he compared Canada-US relations to sleeping with an elephant, stating, “No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.” 

Among the themes in the September issue that most resonated with us was the attention to and diverse treatment of an understanding of reciprocity. For Canada-US relations experts, reciprocity is a perennial theme that exposes Canadians’ preoccupation with national (in)dependence that has belied partisanship. From the National Policy of Sir John A. Macdonald’s Conservatives to the successful ousting of Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s Liberals by the “no truck or trade with the Yankees” Conservatives in 1911 and then to the Liberals’ sell-out rhetoric during the 1988 general election, reciprocity has been old hat in Canadian foreign policy since before Confederation. 

Contemporary explorations of reciprocity, however, demand a revised focus; it is less about Canadians being concerned about their fair share – although surely, we are – but rather Canada’s friends and partners asking what Canada will bring to the table. As Canada’s global representatives – and contributors Kerry Buck, Christina L. Davis, and Patrick Holdich – call for consensus building, supporting respect for established rules, and bolstering shared values, Canada’s allies are reminding us that it’s a potluck, not a party – a quip Thomas Juneau offers in his article.  

Reciprocity suggests a fair exchange – something many loquacious Canadians don’t seem to recognize in Canada’s global relations. David Morrison, deputy minister at Global Affairs Canada, argues that the country’s foreign policy must echo the expectations of Canadians; yet how might such engagement occur when perceptions of polarization are exploited for political gain and dissenting ideas are securitized? Global Affairs Canada’s 2023 discussion paper on the future of diplomacy, part of its 2023-26 “Transformation Implementation Plan,” reflects several contributors’ calls for a foreign policy review – but the plan’s ambitions seem incongruous to the hundreds of millions in cuts to the GAC budget planned over the period, even as Canada’s UN ambassador Bob Rae augurs that contemporary geopolitics will cost us more.  

Reciprocity also demands questions about who benefits from the rules and institutions that have served Canada and certain Canadians so richly in the post-war liberal order. Authors Kathryn Stoner and Yves Tiberghien evaluate how Russia and China force change as they manipulate resentment at home and abroad about who the current system advantages. As Canada navigates changing US leadership and assesses the potential of a second presidential term for Donald Trump – a very dire scenario according to Kim Richard Nossal’s paper – it also must contend with illiberal or quasi-liberal states’ growing political weight as Türkiye coordinates US-Russian prisoner swaps, China mediates between Hamas and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, many African states maintain neutrality in the Ukraine-Russia war, or India exponentially increases its Russian oil imports. As the contributions to the symposium outline, Canada has simply not made sufficient investments in its international policy capacity nor its strategies to communicate its policies to Canadians. 

In addition to the special forum, other articles in the September issue offer interpretations of changing geopolitical dynamics and the futurity of the post-war liberal rules and institutions. Ming Wan analyzes the Canada-US-India relationship following Justin Trudeau’s allegations of Indian culpability for the murder of a Canadian Sikh leader in Surrey, British Columbia by applying the exceptionally mild critiques of China’s abysmal human rights record to argue for an evolving “India exception”. Xiujuan Chen, Ye Han, and Zhiqiang Zhang unfavourably assess the influence of Chinese think tanks compared to those in the US in the context of soft power, recognizing that they don’t exactly have a level playing field when it comes to free and open communication. Digging into the complex multilevel politics and diplomacies of global pandemic responses, Marjolaine Lamontagne explains variation in approaches between Canada and the US to securitizing health care policy. Finally, Jonathan Ping argues that Indo-Pacific states may need to develop regional mercantilist strategies to counter China’s truculence and aggression.

Complementing this scholarship are four reviews of recent literature on power and status in its myriad global forms. Alexander M. Hynd reviews Awkward Powers: Escaping Traditional Great and Middle Power Theory edited by Gabriele Abbondanza and Thomas Stow Wilkins, which features a chapter by International Journal contributor Jonathan Ping. Yerin Chung assesses Mark Goodale’s Reinventing Human Rights, appreciating Goodale’s inclusive and relational approach to human rights. Evaluating the long-form version of Kim Richard Nossal’s article in this issue, International Journal’s Asa McKercher is equally convinced and troubled by Nossal’s analysis and prognostication. Lastly, Jack Cunningham lauds William Inboden’s contribution to understandings of Ronald Reagan’s Cold War strategies presented in a review of The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink. 

Reciprocity refracts in all relationships, illuminating contention and bitterness as much as amity and magnanimity. Even as liberal democracies like Canada scramble to respond to fundamental changes in the systems that have provided stability and prosperity to some, many may embrace changes to structures that have sowed inequities and injustices. Don’t forget who Mick Jagger was talking about when he sang that “I watched with glee while your kings and queens fought for ten decades for the gods they made.” We hope you find the pieces in the September issue as intriguing and absorbing as we have.

[Editor’s note: CIC members enjoy free and full access to all International Journal essays, policy briefs and book reviews by logging on to their CIC Member365 membership account. There, you will find a link to International Journal]