Canada and NATO enlargement

Abstract

Canada's participation in NATO is predicated on the notion of regional cooperative security. This has always been countered, Christopher Anstis argues, by the military/strategic emphasis placed on the organization by the US. He suggests that a reconsideration of the utility of the alliance in supporting Canadian foreign policy objectives is necessary. Anstis provides an historic analysis of Canada's role in the creation of NATO, stressing the importance of both the compelling nature of Canada's vision for the alliance, as well as its persuasive advocates such as Lester Pearson. Canada's emphasis on non‐military roles are central to key developments, beginning with Canada's opposition to the expansion of NATO in the 1950s to include Greece and Turkey on the basis that it would convert the organization into a purely military alliance of anti‐communist states. Anstis suggests, however, that Canada's current (since 1991) support for the inclusion of Eastern European nations assumes a move away from NATO as a military alliance to one of peacekeeping and crisis management. He cautions, however, that NATO is still captive to US strategic interests and this will severely limit the possibilities of transforming its purposes.