Canada and the institute of pacific relations: Lessons from an earlier voyage

Abstract

Woods suggests that valuable lessons can be learned from Canada's involvement in the Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR) which will aid and inform its current Asia‐Pacific relations. Two arguments are made in this paper: that interaction with the IPR has shaped current Canadian attitudes towards regional institutions; and that a form of 1920s track‐two diplomacy is alive today in Canada. Canadian interaction with the IPR is examined through: the impact the Institute had on the leader of the Canadian delegation to the first IPR conference, John Nelson, and his subsequent contributions to Canada's early track two diplomacy; the impact that the Canadian academic/diplomat E. Herbert Norman had on the Institute and Canada's Asia‐Pacific persona; the state‐society relationship within Canada vis‐à‐vis the IPR; and the role of American philanthropy in sustaining Canadian contributions to the Institute. Woods concludes that the belief in track‐two diplomacy is alive and well in Canada; that the utility of a broadened, multifaceted definition of security has been rediscovered and refined; and that the need for cross‐cultural understanding pervades the discussion of the Canadian‐Pacific relationship.