Review: In the National Interest

Abstract

IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST Canadian Foreign Policy and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, 1909-2009 Greg Donaghy and Michael K. Carroll, eds. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2011. 264PP, $34.95 (paper)Books on Canadian foreign relations history cari t avoid the touchstone figure of Lester B. Pearson. But where many books assail or endorse Pearsonian idealism, In the National Interest makes no bones about it: Pearson was a realist. The point comes through, for instance, in Heather Metcalfe's fascinating essay on Canadian national identity and the Department of External Affairs (now Foreign Affairs and International Trade, or DFAIT). I carfthelp feeling, she quotes Pearson as writing during the fervent welcome given to King George VI as he toured Canada in 1939, all the outburst of Royal and Imperial sentiment which the tour has evoked ... will make it even more difficult for this country to understand the unsentimentally nationalist basis of Canada's external (63-4). Pearson's was hardheaded realism couched in the Canadian national interest. With a few changes, the lament over the pernicious effect of sentimental public opinion on foreign policymaking could have come from George Kennaris classic American Diplomacy or the more recent works of Henry Kissinger. If only public opinion would keep silent and leave foreign policy to the experts, Pearson implied, the tough calls about putting Canada's interests first could be made more easily.This conception of the national interest stands squarely at the centre of this twelve-essay collection. Unlike many edited collections, this one has coherence and a clear argument: Canadian foreign policy has by and large aimed at promoting what were seen as Canada's national interests by political leaders and department officials. There was no golden age of idealistic mediation in Canadian foreign policy, indeed, the golden age giants were cautious pragmatists working to advance Canada's interests incrementally, judicially, and - by and large - effectively.The volume stems from a conference linked to the 100th anniversary of DFAIT It is part of a welcome development in the writing of Canadian international history, spearheaded by DFAIT historian Greg Donaghy, in which historians and political scientists come together to offer chapters in solidly-edited collections. In the National Interest showcases established and new voices in the field, symbolized by the editorial partnership of Donaghy and Michael Carroll. Although space does not permit a discussion of each essay, all are provocative and well worth a read.Several themes run through the book. DFAIT as carrier of the national interest is one. Norman Hillmer examines the Department of External Affairs' first mandarin, O.D. Skelton, and Galen Perras discusses Skeltoris unsentimental anti-imperialism and the role of the department in moving Canada into the embrace of a continental destiny. Heather Metcalfe demonstrates the limits of efforts by foreign policy intellectuals, some of them linked to the department, to mould public opinion. Whitney Lackenbauer and Peter Kikkert note that the department' s prudent and practical on Arctic sovereignty avoided a confrontation with the United States and argue that this course won long-term benefits in defending Canadian sovereignty. Adam Chapnick shows Canadian diplomats working effectively but quietly to advance Canadian interests in the United Nations - itself an organization whose strength was seen as important to the Canadian interest for many years. Tammy Nemeth points out the importance of diplomats in preparing American counterparts for Canadian policies they would not like. Even when relations were chilly, as under the Chretien government, diplomats kept working relations ticking along, as Stephen Randall describes. Officials might have been most effective on soft topics, as outlined by Elizabeth Riddell-Dixon in her essay on the Beijing conference on women. …