Canada, a Nation Ahead of it’s Time?

The question regarding “Does Canada have an independent foreign policy?” must first be deconstructed before it can be answered. Firstly, the nation of ‘Canada’ must be defined. Canada is the north most nation of North America, formerly a colony of both Britain and France contributing to multilingual culture, with a wide array of environmental landscapes, on either side of the nation are the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The country is comprised of 10 provinces and 3 territories and has a population of approximately 31,499,560 (Statistics Canada). Secondly the word ‘Independent’ must be defined, Webster’s 10th Collegiate Dictionary defines it as: Not governed by a foreign power; self-governing. This definition must be expanded to say that independent includes a free will of the government to conduct foreign affairs as they feel is in the best interests of the people who reside in the country. Finally and most importantly ‘Foreign policy must be defined. Webster's 10th Collegiate Dictionary defines 'foreign policy' as "the policy of a sovereign state in its interaction with other sovereign states." Sovereign means having a

The first case study which will be examined is that of the relationship between Canada and Cuba. In the early 1960’s the American government attempted to change the newly formed government of Cuba by launching an invasion which took place at the Bay of Pigs. The invasion was a complete disaster and embarrassment to the United States who had planed the attack which was to be led by Cuban exiles under the command of the Central Intelligence Agency. Following this disaster the Soviet Union gained Cuban permission to place intermediate range nuclear missiles in Cuba, when discovered by the United States an embargo was placed on the small island forbidding trade and aid. This embargo however did not disrupt Canadian and Cuban relations much to the dismay of the United States. (Grayson, 1995) Canada and Mexico were the only two countries in the western hemisphere who have had uninterrupted relations with Cuba since 1945. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Cuba and Canada have had very good political and economic relations since Canada officially recognized Cuba as a trade partner in 1941 this has even seen Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau vacationing in Cuba. Despite the American embargo Canada and Cuba have been engaging in ever growing trade relations in 2002 the total was 752 million dollars worth of trade occurred between the two nations. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) The relationship that Canada has with Cuba has flourished despite United States pressure to stop it.

The constructivist theory is opposed by some who believe that it is inefficient because of its strong emphasis on ideas and its inability to measure their impact. Constructivist theories can also self destruct in that they are middle of the road in the political spectrum lacking particularly strong ideals. The fact that Canada has an independent foreign policy as was demonstrated by using the constructivist theory to show that Canada has a strong commitment to peace and International organizations leaves Canada undecided as to any strong foreign policy stance. The fact that Canada very rarely takes a firm stance on international issues leaves it very open to criticism and can create shaky trade relations at times. The most recent example is Canada’s decision not to be involved in the Iraq conflict this has drawn harsh criticism from the United States and could negatively affect the relationship between Canada’s biggest trade partner. In order to provide damage control on this issue the Canadian government has taken an approach by which they condemn the oppressive Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein however, they also don’t support military action to remove him without United Nations approval. If Canada had of been a more liberal or realist nation this would put an end to the sitting on the fence o

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