Les droits de la personne et la politique étrangère canadienne : le cas de l’Indonésie

Margaret Doxey has argued that there exists a "rhetoric gap" between the lofty pronouncements of Canadian governments on the question of human rights violations by other governments in the international System and the actions of the Canadian government. This paper argues that specific external constraints will hamper any attempt by governments in Ottawa to transform the rhetoric of official statements into direct policy action. This paper examines Indonesian-Canadian relations during the 1970s as a case study, and concludes that economic, strategic and diplomatic imperatives and interests proved more compelling than concerns over the treatment of political prisoners by the government of General Suharto, or concerns over the Indonesian invasion of Timor. The specific case study suggests a more general observation about human rights and Canadian foreign policy : that where trade-offs must be made, economic and diplomatic interests will tend to prevail over concerns about human rights violations

Les sanctions économiques et les petits États : Le cas de la « punition » du Vietnam par le Canada

The purpose of this paper is to examine this assumption — that size and power makes a difference to the definition of the utility of economic sanctions. It examines as a case study the employment of Canadian sanctions against Vietnam. The paper will argue that this case demonstrates that, for a non-great power, the utility of economic sanctions is rarely limited to the usual objectives attributed to, and derived from the experience of, great power s: exercising power against the 'targef' state or signalling one's power to other states in the system. Instead, it will argue that for a middle power like Canada, the use of sanctions becomes inextricably bound to foreign policy-maker s perceptions of the politics of coalition obligations ; and of the imperatives and constraints of bilateral relations with the major power s

Les nouveaux espaces de la politique étrangère canadienne (1984-1993)

La période qui s'étend de septembre 1984 à juin 1993 a été qualifiée par plusieurs de période de transition dans le monde des relations internationales et de la politique étrangère. L'effondrement de l'empire soviétique et la fin de la guerre froide d'une part, et l'arrivée du libre-échange sur le plan continental et au niveau mondial, la transformation du GATT en l'Organisation mondiale du commerce, d'autre part, ne sont que les éléments de fond les plus saillants à partir desquels le Canada a dû ajuster sa politique étrangère. Par contraste, cette période révèle une unité analytique intéressante puisque le pays a alors été dirigé par un même parti politique à la tête duquel se trouvait une même personne. La conjugaison de ces facteurs de constance intérieure et de bouleversements extérieurs offre donc un cadre d'analyse particulièrement intéressant. Cet article présente les éléments nécessaires à la mise en contexte d'une étude plus détaillée de la période et suggère des pistes analytiques afin d'en mieux saisir la portée et les répercussions qu'elle a pu avoir sur la formulation de la politique étrangère canadienne contemporaine."Transitional" is a word often read in the m literature to describe the period that extends from September 1984 to June 1993. The collapse of the Soviet Empire, the end of the Cold War, the continental free trade, and the transformation of the GATT into the World Trade Organization are only some of the most salient elements Canada had to take into consideration when formulating its foreign policy. By contrast, the period reveals a unity in terms of domestic politics : the same party and the same leader were at the helm for the whole term. The conjunction of this domestic consistency and of international upheavals offer a most interesting set of data to be analyzed. This paper presents the necessary elements for a contextual understanding of the period and suggests analytical avenues in order to better understand the influence the period had on the formulation of contemporary Canadian foreign policy

Business as Usual: Canadian Relations with China in the 1940’s

Cet article retrace l'évolution de la politique canadienne vis-à-vis de la Chine nationaliste durant les années précédant 1949 en analysant l'élément principal de cette politique, soit, celui de la fourniture d'armes pendant et après la guerre contre le Japon. L'auteur examine d'abord brièvement les débuts de la mission canadienne à Chungking, puis, le programme canadien d'aide mutuelle établi pendant la guerre, et enfin, les dédales de la politique régissant la vente d'armes après la guerre.Il appert donc que l'établissement d'une véritable représentation diplomatique en Chine ait été assez fortuite puisqu'elle a suivi les demandes faites à cet effet pour le Japon. Nonobstant, de 1943 à 1947, le gouvernement canadien s'est montré un fidèle supporteur du gouvernement de la Chine nationaliste, motivé qu'il était par les avantages économiques qu'il escomptait en retirer éventuellement. Et ce sont d'ailleurs ces mêmes motivations économiques qui ont été à la base des diverses ventes d'armes consenties après la guerre.Au fait, bien qu'il puisse sembler que le support militaire apporté par le Canada à la Chine nationaliste ait pu résulter d'un certain anti-communisme, il n'en est pas ainsi. C'est avant tout, de dire l'auteur, le désir de faire progresser l'économie canadienne qui a présidé à toutes les décisions concernant l'aide à la Chine pendant les années quarante

A brief madness: Australia and the resumption of French nuclear testing

In June 1995, the newly elected president of France, Jacques Chirac, announced that his government was planning to conduct a number of underground nuclear tests at the French testing facilities in Polynesia. The announcement sparked public protest around the Asia-Pacific, but nowhere was the anger at Chirac's decision more vigorous or widespread than in Australia. If anger is a 'brief madness', as Horace suggested, then over the winter of 1995, Australia was gripped by such a brief madness: hundreds of thousands of ordinary Australians, from all parts of the community, expressed their opposition to the testing, engaging in a variety of the protests. This monograph traces that opposition, looking at the ways in which the anti-nuclear movement unfolded. It pays particular attention to the role of the media in shaping those protests. It also seeks to explain this brief but unprecedented spike of national anger. The authors look at the various explanations put forward to account for the outburst of Australian rage, and argue that none of them adequately explains this case. Rather, they conclude that the most potent explanation lies in the nature of the nation doing the testing rather than the testing itself

Robotics and Military Operations

In the wake of two extended wars, Western militaries find themselves looking to the future while confronting amorphous nonstate threats and shrinking defense budgets. The 2015 Kingston Conference on International Security (KCIS) examined how robotics and autonomous systems that enhance soldier effectiveness may offer attractive investment opportunities for developing a more efficient force capable of operating effectively in the future environment. This monograph offers 3 chapters derived from the KCIS and explores the drivers influencing strategic choices associated with these technologies and offers preliminary policy recommendations geared to advance a comprehensive technology investment strategy. In addition, the publication offers insight into the ethical challenges and potential positive moral implications of using robots on the modern battlefield.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1398/thumbnail.jp

2019: A Changing International Order? Implications for the Security Environment

KCIS2019 examined the implications of the changing international order for international security. It studied the hypercompetitive, multipolar environment in which we find ourselves, marked by a persistent struggle for influence and position within a “grey zone” of competition. This edited collection features contributions from academic and military experts who have examined the future of the liberal international order and what is at stake. These evidence-based examinations discuss the challenges to the order, and why it has been so difficult to articulate a compelling narrative to support the continuation of American leadership.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1922/thumbnail.jp

Security governance and the private military industry in Europe and North America

Even before Iraq the growing use of private military contractors has been widely discussed in the academic and public literature. However, the reasons for this proliferation of private military companies and its implications are frequently generalized due to a lack of suitable theoretical approaches for the analysis of private means of violence in contemporary security. As a consequence, this article contends, the analysis of the growth of the private military industry typically conflates two separate developments: the failure of some developing states to provide for their national security and the privatisation of military services in industrialized nations in Europe and North America. This article focuses on the latter and argues that the concept of security governance can be used as a theoretical framework for understanding the distinct development, problems and solutions for the governance of the private military industry in developed countries.The United States Institute of Peace and the German Academic Exchange Service