At Home and Abroad

The Canada-US Relationship and Canada’s Place in the World

By Patrick Lennox

UBC Press

Canada’s relationship with the United States and its place in the world often occupy two distinct spheres in the minds of policy-makers, scholars, and citizens. In North America, its “special” relationship with the United States is viewed as a partnership between friends, allies, and neighbours. On the international stage, its tolerant, pacifistic political culture translates to a role as global peacekeeper. This dualistic view of Canada’s international relations is deeply flawed.

At Home and Abroad shows that how Canada engages with the world is shaped by how it relates to the United States. Patrick Lennox offers a fresh perspective on Canada-US relations by applying structural theory to six vital events in their shared history, including the Vietnam War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the War on Terror. Canada’s subordinate position in North America, he argues, has resulted in policies in the international arena that contravene the wishes of the United States. The war in Afghanistan is but the most recent instance in a long series of contradictory engagements with US foreign policy.

This sophisticated and balanced look at Canada-US relations and Canadian foreign policy over the past fifty years will appeal to students, scholars, and practitioners of Canadian foreign and defence policy as well as anyone interested in understanding Canada’s place in the world.

RELATED TOPICS: American Politics, Canadian Politics, Foreign Policy, International Politics, International Relations, Political Science

Selected as one of Embassy's Top 20 reads of 2010

At Home and Abroad should be required reading for scholars working and teaching in the field of Canada-United States relations. It provides a balanced and objective study that avoids the political rhetoric of the left (anti-American) and the right (pro-American), both of which distort discussions of Canada-US relations. Because it places the bilateral relationship in the broader context, it also makes a significant contribution to the literature on international relations theory and American foreign policy. Joel J. Sokolsky, Professor of Political Science, Royal Military College of Canada

At Home and Abroad stands to make an important and completely original contribution to the field. Though there is a reluctance of Canadian scholars to embrace structural theory (at least explicitly), this work boldly charts new theoretical terrain. It will appeal to specialists in Canadian foreign and defence policy, their students in upper year undergraduate courses, and members of the attentive public with an interest in international relations. David Haglund, co-editor of International Journal

Patrick Lennox is a fellow of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute and the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at Dalhousie University.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 The Special Relationship and Canada as a Specialized Power

Part 1: Cold War Case Studies

2 The Vietnam War, 1954-73

3 The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1961-62

4 Nuclear Weapons, 1945-2009

Part 2: Post-Cold War Case Studies

5 Missile Defence, 1983-2009

6 The War on Terror, 2001-9

7 Continental Security after 9/11

Conclusion