While Canada Slept: How We Lost Our Place in the World

Jason Gregory Zorbas is a sessional lecturer in the Department of
History at the University of Saskatchewan.

In While Canada Slept, Andrew Cohen, a noted author, journalist, and
professor, attempts to awaken Canadians to the reality of their current
place in international affairs. “How great our fall!” he laments,
“Disarmament. Disinvestment. Disinterest. From the Golden Age to the
Bronze Age, from the Great War to the Afghan War, from Colombo to
Kananaskies, we have lost so much.” Canada, he contends, once enjoyed
great prestige in the world thanks to a strong and capable military, a
dedicated and able foreign service, and a willingness to give both
financial and military aid to other nations of the world.

All this has changed in recent years. Cohen points the finger of blame
squarely at the government and the lack of political will to continue
the funding needed to maintain the armed forces, the foreign service,
and foreign aid. This trifecta has proven too easy a target in these
budget-chopping days and too hard to defend when health care and social
services are also being cut. Considering that Canada’s economy is
strongly dependent on external trade, our inability to project power and
influence abroad leaves us in a precarious position.

There is a solution. The trend must reverse and money must flow back
into the departments of Defence and External Affairs. The foreign
service must once again recruit Canada’s best and brightest to serve
the nation. The government must reopen its wallet to foreign aid with no
strings attached. Canada must once again find its place in the world.

If Cohen’s solution appears too utopian, it is. However, as the war
on terror has demonstrated, his argument that Canada needs to reinvolve
itself in the international arena is a sound one. This highly engaging
book should be read by anyone who is interested in Canadian foreign
affairs.