[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by FlamesFanInOilCountry

I think Canada's foreign policy is often affiliated with this notion of a "helpful fixer." We like to think that we are closely affiliated with an organization like the UN, which has been proven time and time again through our peace keeping missions. We put more solace in our identity as a strong economic country that thinks we are less partisan than we actually are, we think that we can be that "impartial" country that can help in peace keep missions and foreign aid (The perfect example of this was our role in the Suez, which effectively pissed of the British). The problem to me, is that we don't take a strong role in what is the best from Canada, we're more concerned with how we are perceived by the rest of the world.

I think that the affiliation to the UN actually does nothing for us internationally anymore. Ignatieff was quoted as saying its time for the military to wear the Blue Berets again. I couldn't disagree more strongly. The day and age of peace keeping is dead, peacekeeping only works if both sides want peace. For the most part we're now seeing insurgancies instead of fights over national borders, and instead of the romantically envisioned idea of lightly armed troops standing in between two warring sides who at some level want to stop, we need to realize that insurgancies need to be basically rooted out. In order to do that you need to be able to provide peace enforcement with enough mobility and firepower, and the will to use it if your asked to provide it. The UN is too conflicted and weak of an organization with little to no understanding of the military application of peace. If Canada is going to provide it, its either going to be through defense treaty partners or at the direct request of a foreign government.

The UN model doesn't work because it doesn't cater to global needs, its become subverted and corrupted by voting blocks and doesn't care about the greater good, its falling into the same kind of pit that destroyed the league of nations.

Originally Posted by FlamesFanInOilCountry

I think the only reason that we went to Afghanistan was that our largest trading partner and the country we share a mutual defense treaty with was attacked. If it was anyone else, we would not have gone. The helpful fixer role is not benefitting Canada, which was clearly exposed in our security seat debacle of last month, which was further worsened by how Canada acted.

Inititally nobody wanted us in Afghanistan, we had to go hat in hand to the American's because the U.S. was convinced and rightfully so, that our military had been driven too far into the turf by federal government mismanagement to do much more then be a nuicance there. But we also got into Afghanistan because Chretien panicked and had to do something to appease the American's after he refused to help in Iraq. We got into a war because of optics.

The fact is, as much as we talk about helpful fixer, and soft diplomacy, I think that those roles are dead, we've seen especially recently that other countries believe that national interests supercede international duty. Canada needs to become more selfish, and not sell itself short. We need to start using our own economic levers, if other nations want our help. We need to take the opinion that in the case of these other nations like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan and China, that they need our resourcess more then we need their goods, and we should be negotiating from a position of some strength.

Originally Posted by FlamesFanInOilCountry

By no means am I anti-American, but I don't like how arrogant the American government is. They realize that they are in the drivers seat, and as a result they try to take us the the cleaners every chance they get, examples being their treatment of certain aspects of the NAFTA, or their handling of the mad cow outbreaks. You could even go back as far as Diefenbaker and Kennedy. The United States has a population that is 10x the size of ours and a substantially larger military, but our economies are equally dependent of each other. I feel that Canada should take a more assertive stand in securing it's economy and military, especially in the north, and stop trying to be the 'helpful fixer.' This ideology would work if the rest of the world did indeed actually perceive us as it, but they don't. In contemporary times we are perceived as a poster child first world nation, that is the 'little brother of the United States.'

We first and foremost will always be fast friends with the Americans. We also need to realize that we are economically intertwinded now. But Canada has always been treated like the annoying little brother because we allow ourselves to be perceived that way, not as a partner, but as a tag along. Rebuilding our military and showing the American's that we can take care of ourselves is a really positive first step. Aquiting ourselves well in a Afghanistan was a really positive step. Hopefully it will also allow us to eventually be seen world wide as our own country instead of a satellite state to the American's. We need to seperate our foreigh policy goals from the Americans as well. We need to show that we're not in lockstep with their goals and results.

We also need to start generating more favorable business terms internationally so that we're not locked in a death spiral with the U.S. economy.

We need to be more like the Swiss, in that way.

Originally Posted by FlamesFanInOilCountry

It's time to stop trying to separate ourselves from the United States, while we let them step on us, as this just makes us look impotent. It's time to stop committing ourselves to extensive peacekeeping and foreign aid operations. I think that we are not being recognized as a world leader, so we should probably stop trying to be one in this certain areas. Our own country is suffering. Our own homeless rates have been increasing for years now, economic rates between rich in poor are continuing to be marganalized between rich and poor.

Hopefully that wasn't too much of a rant... I just felt this could be a good discussion!

Thoughts?

I agree with that to a point, but we do need to show the world that we're our own country. I believe that we need to use foreign aid as a lever to effect change. And your right, no more worthless peacekeeping. Thank Pearson, then put all the blue berets in a museum.