Francosphère: L'importance de la France dans la culture stratégique du Canada, by Justin Massie

Abstract

Justin Massie Francosphere: L'importance de la dans la strategique du Canada Montreal, QC: Presses de l'Universite du Quebec, 2013, 310 pp., $39.00 (paperback) ISBN 978-2-76053605-0As John Kirton has said: For the past century, when Canada has gone to war, it has always done so alongside and for France (3). Has there been a distinct French in contemporary Canadian foreign and security policy? And if so, where does it come from? How has it manifested itself? These are the intriguing questions raised by this book. has indeed been Canada's ally throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, and both countries have made similar political choices on many occasions, either within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or at the United Nations (UN). Building on the metaphor of a triangle comprising Canada, the United States, and Britain, the three pillars of the so-called anglosphere, Justin Massie suggests the existence of a transatlantic quadrilatere, or Francosphere, that includes in the group of Canada's closest allies. The book's thesis is that the renewed importance of in Canada's strategic culture has its source in the transformation of Canada's from a mostly British country into a and transatlantic state during the first part of the 20th century. In the author's words, normative and geostrategic rapprochement between the two countries occurred in the wake of France's defeat at the hands of Germany in June 1940 on the basis of foreign policy principles first enunciated by Wilfrid Laurier in the late 19th century and applied by Mackenzie King in the 1940s (7).More specifically, Massie argues that three conditions had to be met for to become a significant factor in Canadian foreign policy. First, the former dominion had to gain its independence from Britain; second, a form of bicultural identity including the francophone and the anglophone components of Canadian had to emerge; and, third, an ideological rapprochement between Quebec and had to take place (120). This book seeks to demonstrate that these three conditions were met during the Second World War and its immediate aftermath.Needless to say, Francosphere is the work of a political scientist more than that of a historian. It should also be stressed that the theoretical framework Massie favours is constructivism, a world view in which ideas trump structures. In the author's view, Canada's cultural identity, as expressed through its multiple and evolving strategic cultures, explains France's growing role in Ottawa's foreign and security policy. Realism and its avatars are mentioned here mainly for their weaknesses as explanatory tools, and no attempt is made to bridge the gap between two of the great paradigms of international relations theory. This is a legitimate position, but the prospective reader should be warned. This is not a user-friendly book for the uninitiated. If you are not at ease with notions like intersubjectivity, strategic culture, internal and external identities, post- and anti-foundationalism, and if academic jargon makes you cringe, be prepared. The first two chapters introducing the research question and presenting the theoretical framework have to be carefully navigated if one wishes to reach the core of the book without losing the thread of the argument. The poor editorial work does not help in this regard.The empirical demonstration of Massie's thesis is presented in three chapters that examine Franco-Canadian relations from the 18th to the mid-20th century. …