Canada at a crossroads in twenty-first-century global affairs: or, an independent Canadian foreign policy for what?

ABSTRACT

In their policy commentary, Professors Dr Adam Chapnick and Dr Jeremy Wildeman consider Canada’s foreign policy and Canadian sovereignty amid the myriad fault lines appearing in international relations due to significant change to the global distribution of power. As the unipolar moment of United States hegemony appears to give way to an increasingly multipolar world order, and amid change to both the demographic composition of Canada and how Canadians view the world around them, each makes a case for what is the best foreign policy strategy for Canada going forward. Dr Wildeman argues for a new approach where Canada continues to maintain strong and good relations with the United States, but where it acts more independently in search of its own interests while seeking to engage more broadly with other states, notably in a Global South that millions more Canadians now identify with personally. Dr Chapnick, meanwhile, argues for a renewed emphasis on Canada’s close, reliable, and familiar alliance with the United States, especially because of the new uncertainties in the global system. Both argue that their prescribed policy suggestions may best represent Canada, and reinforce its sovereignty and interests, in a period where each could be at risk.

KEYWORDS:

• Canada
• foreign policy
• multipolar world
• international relations
• United States

Acknowledgements

Adam Chapnick thanks Kim Richard Nossal and the editors for their feedback, and Professor Wildeman for his engagement in this conversation. Jeremy Wildeman thanks Professor Chapnick for his engagement in this debate, Professor Nossal for his feedback in the process, and the editors for their feedback, too.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 For a longer explanation of the history of the independence debate, see Chapnick (2008).

2 On Martin, see Donaghy (2015).

3 I learned of this research at a conference on Chrétien’s legacy, held at the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History in 2022.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jeremy Wildeman

Jeremy Wildeman is a Fellow at the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa, and an Adjunct Professor at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa.

Adam Chapnick

Adam Chapnick is a Professor of Defence Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC). He is located in Toronto, where he also serves as the Deputy Director of Education at the Canadian Forces College.