Canada, grand strategy and the Asia-Pacific: Past lessons, future directions

Foreign policy beliefs and support for Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party

“…When aligning itself on questions of military intervention, Canada often has become involved after taking cues from Britain and the United States, something that many of those on the political left in Canada find uncomfortable (Massie 2009, McDonough 2012. Cooperation and responsiveness to United States/United Kingdom interests places Canada in the middle of a "North Atlantic Triangle".…”

Canada-China Relations in the Age of Great Power Competition: An Assessment of Canadian Foreign Policy Decision Making and Strategic Outlook

“…Advocates of the balancing approach such as Gilley (2011), McDonough (2012), and Holland (2021 point to the absence of structural or normative incentives to bandwagon with China in the current hegemonic flux as primary argument for balancing against it. Gilley (2011) acknowledges that Canada's strategic options are intrinsically linked to how China will approach the international status quo.…”

“…Similarly, Holland (2021) believes that adopting a U.S.-centric Free and Open Indo Pacific (FOIP) vision to the region would reaffirm Canada's standing as a middle power committed to the Liberal International Order and its normative ideals and strengthen its relationship with the U.S. and other Western allies. Looking at Canada's historic strategic role in the Asia-Pacific, McDonough (2012) suggests that Canada will, in fact, most likely defer to the U.S. for its strategic leaning given that the deterioration of Canada's relationship with China is seen as less impactful than a deterioration of its long-standing relationship with Washington (Holland, 2021;McDonough, 2012).…”