This book is a history of Canada's role in the world as well as the impact of world events on Canada. Starting from the country's quasi-independence from Britain in 1867, its analysis moves through events in Canadian and global history to the present day. Looking at Canada's international relations from the perspective of elite actors and normal people alike, this study draws on original research and the latest work on Canadian international and transnational history to examine Canadians' ...

Three recent Canadian prime ministers, Paul Martin, Stephen Harper, and Justin Trudeau made the same claim shortly after forming a government: “Canada is Back.” Martin promised to reinvest in world affairs. Harper was focused on the military. Trudeau meant more involvement at the UN. Each leader made foreign policy a part of their political brand because they recognized that in today's world, domestic and international politics are interconnected. Canada can no longer take care of its own ...

A Samaritan State Revisited brings together a refreshing group of emerging and leading scholars to reflect on the history of Canada's overseas development aid. Addressing the broad ideological and institutional origins of Canada's official development assistance in the 1950s and specific themes in its evolution and professionalization after 1960, this collection is the first to explore Canada's history with foreign aid with this level of interrogative detail.Extending from...

Building a Special Relationship offers thoughtful insight into Canadian and American foreign relations during the 1950s, when Canada and the United States found new diplomatic footing as allies in the shadow of the Cold War. This book shows how the Eisenhower years were crucial in forming the bilateral relationship that currently exists between Canada and the United States. Under President Eisenhower and Prime Ministers St. Laurent and Diefenbaker, policy makers on both sides of t...

In 1941, influential US publishing magnate Henry Luce declared the world was in the midst of the first great American century, believing his nation held the power and vision to lead and transform the world. What did a newly outward-looking and hegemonic United States mean for its northern neighbour? North of America is a sharp-eyed volume providing a unique look at postwar Canada, bringing to the fore the opinions and perceptions of a broad range of Canadians – from consumers to d...

Entangled Terrains and Identities in Cuba: Memories of Guantánamo explores the challenges and conflicts of life in the transnational spaces between Cuba and the United States by examining the lived experiences of Alberto Jones, a first-generation black Cuban who worked at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay. Asa McKercher and Catherine Krull take readers on a journey through Jones’s life as he crossed the entangled political, racial, cultural, and economic boundaries, both in Cuba and li...

Although fifty years have passed since Lester Pearson stepped down as prime minister, he still influences debates about Canada’s role in the world. Known as “Mike” to his friends, he has been credited with charting a “Pearsonian” course in which Canada took on a global role as a helpful fixer seeking to mediate disputes and promote international cooperation.Mike’s World explores the myths surrounding Pearsonianism to explain why he remains such a touchstone for understandi...

In 1958 Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts proclaimed at the University of New Brunswick that "Canada and the United States have carefully maintained the good fences that help make them good neighbours." He could not have foreseen that his presidency would be marked not just by some of the tensest moments of the Cold War but also by the most contentious moments in the Canadian-American relationship. Indeed, the 1963 Canadian federal election was marked by charges that the US governme...

When the field of Canadian history underwent major shifts in the 1990s, international history became marginalized and the focus turned away from foreign affairs. Over the past decade, however, the study of Canada and the world has been revitalized.Undiplomatic History charts these changes, bringing together leading and emerging historians of Canadian international and transnational relations to take stock of recent developments and to outline the course of future research....

When the field of Canadian history underwent major shifts in the 1990s, international history became marginalized and the focus turned away from foreign affairs. Over the past decade, however, the study of Canada and the world has been revitalized.Undiplomatic History charts these changes, bringing together leading and emerging historians of Canadian international and transnational relations to take stock of recent developments and to outline the course of future research....

For how much longer can Canada expect to get a free ride?With 9/11 and the international “war on terrorism,” the time has come to ask some hard questions. Should we continue to starve our military, reduce our humanitarian assistance, dilute our diplomacy, and absent ourselves from global intelligence-gathering? Can we expect to sit at the global table by virtue of our economic power without pursuing a foreign policy worthy of our history, geography, and diversity?C...

"His life changed that of his nation."John English illuminates the years of Lester Pearson's greatest eminence, and vividly explores his life and times. His period as prime minister was to prove one of the most decisive in our history, and his policies helped shape Canada’s foremost international statesman. The Lester Pearson who emerges from the account of these momentous years—from the Korean War, through the tumultuous sixties to his death in 1972—is a complex, paradoxical figur...