Intellectual on Watch

Abstract

The editors of the International Journal decided some time ago that they would like to recognize the extraordinary contribution of James Eayrs to the study of Canadian foreign policy and related subjects by devoting a special section of one of their issues to articles on questions related to the substance of his work. I was delighted to have the opportunity to act as guest editor for this purpose, and Daryl Copeland, Daniel Madar, and Kim Richard Nossal enthusiastically agreed to write the articles in question.DECLARING OURSELVESThe wary and the prudent often prefer the authors they read to declare themselves ahead of time lest a possible source of prejudice go undetected. It should be noted at the outset, therefore, that I was a student in Professor Eayrs's graduate seminar on international affairs at the University of Toronto in 1964-65. He then kindly assumed the tiresome task of supervising the writing of my doctoral thesis. Dan Madar took the same course as an MA candidate not long thereafter, in 1966-67, and Eayrs later supervised his doctoral thesis as well. Madar also acted for two years as Eayrs's teaching assistant-a responsibility that meant that he could attend his supervisor's classically erudite lectures to undergraduates.1 Kim Nossal similarly acted as Eayrs's teaching assistant from 1974 to 1976, and while the primary supervisor for Nossal's doctoral dissertation was John Holmes, Eayrs played a very active editorial role as a member of his supervising committee.2Given this history, and given also their subsequent specializations in the academic trade, it is hardly surprising that Madar, Nossal, and Stairs, in addition to being deeply indebted to Eayrs intellectually, personally and professionally, began this project with knowledge of his extensive contributions to the Canadian literature on foreign policy and international affairs.For Daryl Copeland, on the other hand, exposure to Eayrs's work has been a new experience. An award-winning Canadian foreign service officer with overseas assignments in postings as diverse as Thailand, Ethiopia, New Zealand, and Malaysia, he served as national program director of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs and editor of Behind the Headlines while on leave from Ottawa in 1996-99. He has written extensively-and in lively and provocative style-on subjects related to foreign policy, diplomacy, and public management, as well as on more general global issues. Now back in his department, he is currently engaged in a special research and writing assignment on diplomacy, security, and international policy in the globalization age. He and Eayrs have met only once, and briefly, but their interests-particularly those related to the functions of diplomacy and the responsibilities of diplomats-closely overlap. Copeland was therefore especially well positioned to bring a fresh eye, and a presentday perspective, to his reading of Eayrs's reflections on diplomacy and the diplomatic profession.EAYRS AND HIS WORKFor the benefit of the uninitiated, a little information on Eayrs and his work may be helpful. He was born in London, England, in 1926, but he became a Canadian in 1933 following a family move to Canada. After serving in the Royal Canadian Navy during the final phases of World War II, he acquired his BA from the University of Toronto, and subsequently his AM and PhD degrees from Columbia University in New York. While pursuing research in London for his doctoral thesis, he also spent time at the London School of Economics.In 1950, as he himself later reported, he applied to the Department of External Affairs for employment, and was offered-too late for my acceptance-a job as a junior foreign service officer.3 A university career ensued instead. His first academic appointment was as a lecturer at United College in Winnipeg in 1951-52, after which he assumed a comparable position with the department of political economy at the University of Toronto. …