Canada Among Nations 2002: A Fading Power

J.L. Granatstein, Distinguished Research Professor of History Emeritus,
York University, served as Director of the Canadian War Museum from 1998
to 2000. He is the author of Who Killed Canadian History? and coauthor
of The Canadian 100: The 100 Most Influ

Since 1984, Carleton University has put together an annual volume on
Canadian foreign policy. Canada Among Nations brings together a dozen or
so experts in different areas of Canadian policy and turns them loose.
The resulting volumes are indispensable both as a record of what
happened and as an indicator of what might come.

The 2002 volume was aptly subtitled A Fading Power in recognition of
the way Canada has lost global influence. (That there was no question
mark suggests that the editors had no doubt about their judgment.)
Budget cutbacks have hurt the Canadian Forces and the Department of
Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the two key players in the
nation’s external policy, and the lack of leadership from the prime
minister and the government was remarkable. In the months after 9/11,
Canada too often seemed to be unable or unwilling to understand the
American mood, and the anti-American sentiment—inside and outside the
Liberal caucus—was allowed to run free. The impact of this on
Canada–U.S. relations was severe—the Bush administration looking for
supporters, not doubters.

This subject is treated ably here, as are the state of the military,
terrorist fundraising in Canada, and a host of additional issues ranging
from the Commonwealth to the Western hemisphere. This volume, like the
series, is generally excellent.