Canada and Southeast Asia in the new Indo-Pacific era

ABSTRACT

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, announced in 2022, targets a “generational shift” in foreign policy that responds to the growing economic and strategic centrality of the Indo-Pacific. Southeast Asia lies at the heart of that region, making it a critical component of Canada’s foreign policy success or failure in the decade ahead. This article is intended as a primer on the Canada-Southeast Asia relationship, summarizing its complex history, myriad opportunities, and ongoing challenges. It argues that Canada can meet many of its sustainable growth and diversification objectives through effective engagement with Southeast Asia, but Canada must overcome past reputational issues and navigate strategic contradictions in order to harness that potential. Furthermore, the article introduces the research articles and commentaries of this special issue, each of which examine key aspects of the relationship in greater depth.

RÉSUMÉ

La stratégie indopacifique du Canada, annoncée en 2022, vise à opérer un « changement générationnel » dans la politique étrangère pouvant répondre à la centralité économique et stratégique croissante de la région indopacifique. L'Asie du Sud-Est est au cœur de cette région, ce qui en fait une composante critique de la réussite ou de l'échec de la politique étrangère du Canada au cours de la décennie à venir. Cet article se veut une introduction à la relation entre le Canada et l'Asie du Sud-Est, en résumant son histoire complexe, ses innombrables opportunités et ses défis actuels. Il affirme que le Canada peut atteindre bon nombre de ses objectifs de croissance durable et de diversification au moyen d'un engagement efficace avec l'Asie du Sud-Est, mais qu'il doit surmonter les problèmes de réputation du passé et s'y retrouver dans les contradictions stratégiques afin d'exploiter ce potentiel. En outre, cet article présente les articles de recherche et les commentaires de ce numéro spécial, qui examinent chacun des aspects clés de ladite relation de manière plus approfondie.

KEYWORDS:

• Canada
• Southeast Asia
• ASEAN
• Indo-Pacific strategy
• foreign policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Timor Leste falls within the geographic boundaries of the ASEAN region and has been recognized as an ASEAN observer since 2002. Its application to join ASEAN was conditionally approved in 2022. A Roadmap for Timor Leste’s full membership in ASEAN was approved during the May 2023 ASEAN Summit.

2 The Dialogue Partner designation, which ASEAN currently confers to Australia, Canada, China, European Union, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, and United States, entails regular high-level exchanges and dialogue, including through ministerial meetings and summit meetings.

3 Both offices are headed by a Canadian diplomat, a Chargé d’affaires in diplomatic parlance, but neither is a fully fledged embassy. Canada’s Ambassador to Thailand is accredited to Cambodia and Laos, and thus remains the highest-ranking Canadian official responsible for bilateral relations with these two countries.

4 This is the Canada-ASEAN Scholarships and Educational Exchanges for Development (SEED) program that provides opportunities for students from ASEAN member states to conduct short-term study related to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Canadian tertiary institutions.

5 See Evans (2023) and Mustapha (2023) in this special issue for more on the distinctions between the Asia-Pacific and Indo-Pacific frameworks, as the latter is often viewed as more than just a geographic expansion.

6 The designation of Canada as a Pacific Nation, while often forgotten, is not new: as Pierre Trudeau noted during his first election campaign in 1968, “we have tended to overlook the reality that Canada is a Pacific country too” (quoted in Donaghy, 2019, p. 143).

7 Internal and senatorial reviews of Canada’s foreign service are currently underway; they recognize that the strength of Canada’s diplomatic corps is an important element of security. This, like the IPS, is likewise a step in the right direction that will support structural changes over the medium to longer terms.

8 “Pracademic” refers to a practitioner-scholar; there has been considerable work done focusing on the role of pracademics in bridging the gap between academics and policy makers. See Murphy and Fulda (2011).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kai Ostwald

Kai Ostwald is Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy & Global Affairs and the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia, as well as Director of the Institute of Asian Research.

Grégoire-François Legault

Grégoire-François Legault is PhD Candidate in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. He served at the Embassy of Canada to Thailand between 2018 and 2021. The views expressed in this publication are his own; they are not endorsed by and may not represent the views of his current employer.

Dominique Caouette

Dominique Caouette is Professor in the Department of Political Science at Université de Montréal.