In his foreword to the 2005 international policy statement, Prime Minister Paul Martin states unequivocally, [mjake no mistake: we are in the midst of a major rebalancing of global power. New nations are rising as military and economic forces. Many established powers are striving to maintain their influence through regional integration and new alliances. In a world of traditional and emerging giants, independent countries like Canada-countries with small populations-risk being swept aside, their influence diminished, their ability to compete hampered.' There is undoubtedly a sobering logic in the prime minister's statement. Canada does need partners and political frameworks within which to multiply its influence in the world. And yet, for at least a decade, Canada has been to all intents and purposes focused on itself and its own internal political and economic balance. During that time, it seems to have resigned itself to a minor sub-American role. Canada's many other relationships are either taken for granted or seem to be considered to be of mere historical interest Consequently, for a country with such a rich internationalist tradition, Canada has become strangely isolated. When it comes to international engagement, Canada talks the talk but does not really walk the walk.As a European, it is strange to see how little a role Europe, particularly the Union, plays in Canadian thinking. This article seeks not so much to analyze the reasons for this but to offer Canadians a blunt warning: in your scramble to position yourselves in the future, do not forget the continuing power of those who made your past. The focus of this piece, therefore, whilst unashamedly on security and Canada's role therein, has implications for all of Canada's external engagements.The effective absence of Europe from Canada's international policy statement is particularly strange when one considers that the EU contains four of the world's leading G8 economies. Moreover, in Britain and France, Europe possesses the world's second and third most effective military powers and remains the centre of gravity in NATO affairs. Indeed, the US is a member of NATO but not really part of it. The role that Canada has played in the defence of Europe and the role Europe has played in shaping Canada is clear, as is the very European nature of Canada's security presence and, of course, the fact that Canada shares its head of state with Europe's most dynamic power, Great Britain. Canada may indeed look south for much of its prosperity and security. It may also increasingly look west for its new prosperity. However, much of Canada's prosperity, security, and identity remains tied to Europe.One thing that has been striking about Canada's security and defence policy over the past 10 to 15 years is how, as allies and partners have strived to first create new centres of power and then considered sources of legitimacy, Canada has chosen the obverse route. It has debated sources of legitimacy, primarily the United Nations, before considering the scope and nature of Canadian power required to render credibility unto legitimacy.THE CANADIANIZATION OF EUROPE?Superficially, it is easy for Canadians to dismiss Europe and much if its doings. The scramble over the EU constitution, the lack of economic reform in France and Germany, the splits that seem to emerge all too easily whenever a major foreign policy issue confronts Europe, can lead North American commentators in particular to write the old continent off as locked in an eternal squabble. Squabbling, in the eyes of North Americans, would seem to have replaced eternal warfare as the main pastime. Indeed, much of the North American media seem almost to revel in treating Europe's travails as petty and parochial. Equally, with state conflict moving inexorably towards east Asia, it would also be easy to dismiss Europe as a strategic backwater. As Europe increasingly looks like a region of the world where stability, prosperity, and security seem assured, one might be tempted to forecast the steady Canadianization of the Old Continent, a world in which Europe's existence is undisturbed by events beyond its fluid borders. …