Canada And Africa In The New Millennium

Canada’s engagement with post-independence Africa presents a puzzle. Although Canada is recognized for its activism where Africa is concerned, critics have long noted the contradictions that underlie Canadian involvement. Focusing on the period following 2000, and by juxtaposing Jean Chrétien’s G8 activism with the Harper government’s retreat from continental engagement, David R. Black’s Canada and Africa in the New Millennium illustrates a history of consistent inconsistency in Canada’s relationship with Africa. Black combines three interpretive frames to account for this record: the tradition of “good international citizenship”; Canada’s role as a benign face of Western hegemonic interests in Africa; and Africa’s role as the basis for a longstanding narrative concerning Canada’s ethical mission in the world. To examine Africa’s place in Canada’s foreign policy—and Canada’s place in Africa—Black focuses on G8 diplomacy, foreign aid, security assistance through peace operations and training, and the increasingly controversial impact of Canadian extractive companies. Offering an integrated account of Canada’s role in sub-Saharan Africa, Black provides a way of understanding the nature and resilience of recent shifts in Canadian policy. He underscores how Africa—though marginal to Canadian interests as traditionally conceived—has served as an important marker of Canada’s international role.

A wave of optimism has swept the African continent in the past decade. The pace and extent of social change in recent years, when measured in life expectancy, child and infant mortality rates, literacy, numeracy and the completion of higher education, is quite remarkable. The urban middle class is emerging and expanding in many African countries, while political democracy is developing and strengthening. These positive changes are generating economic growth and attracting foreign investment across the continent, especially in the resource sector. But Africa is still viewed by many as the “dark continent” dealing with serious problems — civil wars, ethnic division, corruption, HIV/AIDS, poverty, food security and the disastrous effects of climate change — and these issues may well impede the upward trajectory of Africa. Canada-Africa Relations: Looking Back, Looking Ahead — the 27th volume of the influential Canada Among Nations series — analyzes the ebb and flow of Canada’s engagement with Sub-Saharan Africa through different lenses over the past few decades and also looks to the future, highlighting the opportunities and the difficulties that exist for Canada and Sub-Saharan Africa. It is clear that a new Africa is emerging, and Canada must be prepared to change the nature of its relationship with the continent.

Yves Engler continues his groundbreaking analyses of past and present Canadian foreign policy. The author of The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy, and other works that challenge the myth of Canadian benevolence, documents Canadian involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, the "scramble for Africa" and European colonialism. The book reveals Ottawa's opposition to anticolonial struggles, its support for apartheid South Africa and Idi Amin's coup, and its role in ousting independence leaders Patrice Lumumba and Kwame Nkrumah. Based on an exhaustive look at the public record as well as on-the-ground research, Canada in Africa shows how the federal government pressed African countries to follow neoliberal economic prescriptions and sheds light on Canada's part in the violence that has engulfed Somalia, Rwanda and the Congo, as well as how Canada's indifference to climate change means a death sentence to ever-growing numbers of Africans.

With reference to global governance initiatives aimed at promoting ethical business practices, this volume offers a timely examination of Canada-Africa relations and natural resource governance.

This popular textbook offers a thorough and accessible approach to Canadian Studies through comparative analyses of Canada and the United States, their histories, geographies, political systems, economies, and cultures. Students and professors alike acknowledge it as an ideal tool for understanding the close relationship between the two countries, their shared experiences, and their differing views on a range of issues. Fully revised and updated, the second edition of Canadian Studies in the New Millennium includes new chapters on Demography and Immigration Policy, the Environment, and Civil Society and Social Policy, all written by leading scholars and educators in the field. At a time in which there is a growing mutual dependence between the US and Canada for security, trade, and investment, Canadian Studies in the New Millennium will continue to be a valuable resource for students, educators, and practitioners on both sides of the border.

This book argues that Canada and its international policies are at a crossroads as US hegemony is increasingly challenged and a new international order is emerging. The contributors look at how Canada has been adjusting to this new environment and resetting priorities to meet its international policy objectives in a number of different fields: from the alignment of domestic politics along new foreign policies, to reshaping its international identity in a post-Anglo order, its relationship with international organizations such as the UN and NATO, place among middle powers, management of peace operations and defense, role in G7 and G20, climate change and Arctic policy, development, and relations with the Global South. Embracing multilateralism has been and will continue to be key to Canada’s repositioning and its ability to maintain its position in this new world order. This book takes a comprehensive look at Canada’s role in the world and the various political and policy variables that will impact Canada’s foreign policy decisions into the future. Chapter 22 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

In examining the nuts and bolts of former prime minister Stephen Harper’s foreign policy universe between 2006 and 2015, Harper’s World turns to key foreign policy experts to break down and evaluate Harper’s international policies – from relations with China to his engagement with Canada’s Arctic region. In explaining both the what and the why of Harper’s foreign policy record, this book argues that the policy decisions of Harper’s Conservative government were primarily shaped and motivated by domestic, regional, and, most importantly, electoral calculations. Bringing together Canada’s leading foreign policy specialists, Harper’s World identifies the push and pull factors of Harper’s approach to various Canadian foreign policy issues. This collection offers original analyses, factual evidence, case studies, and supporting documentation to shed light on Harper’s foreign policy orientation during his almost ten years in power.

"The idea of multilateralism is not something that can be forced on states, nor does it come naturally to them." —Tom Keating Seeking Order in Anarchy offers insights into both the theoretical foundations and the real-world outcomes of multilateralism in world affairs. Recognizing that Tom Keating's theories, though rooted in Canadian foreign policy, have a broader application in international relations, Robert W. Murray has assembled an array of theoretical interpretations of multilateralism, as well as case studies examining its practical effects. Drawing from the insights of fourteen noted scholars and featuring an essay from Tom Keating himself, this volume examines the conditions that encourage states to adopt multilateral strategies, and the consequences of doing so in the context of increasingly complex global politics. Seeking Order in Anarchy is an important book for scholars, graduate students, policy makers, and anyone interested in how multilateralism functions in today's world. Contributors: Francis Kofi Abiew, Edward Ansah Akuffo, Greg J. Anderson, David R. Black, Duane Bratt, Antonio Franceschet, Paul Gecelovsky, David J. Hornsby, Tom Keating, Christopher J. Kukucha, John McCoy, Robert W. Murray, Shaun Narine, Kim Richard Nossal, Matthew S. Weinert