(1975). ‘A self‐evident national duty’: Canadian foreign policy, 1935–1939. The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History: Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 212-233.

‘A self‐evident national duty’: Canadian foreign policy, 1935–1939

/pdf/bibliographie-d-histoire-de-l-amerique-francaise-3m8w0rcefm.pdf

Bibliographie d’histoire de l’Amérique française (publications récentes)

The notion of a bygone lustrous period in the history of Canada's international relations permeates memoirs and biographies of Canadian diplomats, scholarly literature, journalism and popular commentary. This image has become a central icon in a nationalist pantheon, a vital myth about Canada's exceptionalism, its purported international mission and its supposed primordial internationalism. Moreover, the greater past has become the standard by which the lesser present has been judged and found wanting. This paper raises doubts about the validity of this depiction of the past, particularly the characterisation of Canadian motives and achievements in world affairs during and after the Second World War, and poses questions about the purposes to which this misrepresentation of Canada's diplomatic history has been put in more recent times.

Golden Decade(s)? Reappraising Canada's International Relations in the 1940s and 1950s

......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ iv Table of

Human security and Canadian foreign policy: the new face of Canadian internationalism

Diefenbaker, Latin America and Caribbean: The Pursuit of Canadian Autonomy

I have been asked to contribute to this series of essays my reflections on some aspect of Canada's foreign policy with which I was personally connected. This should not be too difficult, for since 1928 I have been associated in one form or another with most of the moves that have been made in this area of Canada's political development. It was in the period when Mr. Mackenzie King and Dr. O. D. Skelton were dominant in the realm of Canadian foreign policy one was dominant in policy, the other in advice which often determined policy that my association with External Affairs began, through my position as one of the three Secretaries in that Department. In the field of policy, and apart from routine and clerical chores, which seemed to take up a lot of time for one who felt so proud at having just qualified as a very important Diplomatic Officer, my role was confined largely to research and analysis. Most of this was to support Mr. King's resolve to avoid any commitments of any kind which would involve Canada in the consequences of British Imperial policy or of French efforts to bring about effective collective security through the League of Nations. The fact that Mr. King, in this attitude of cautious, but resolute, negativism, was inspired by essential considerations of Canadian unity compels a greater respect now than seemed to me to be obvious at the time. I recall my impatiencewhich grew when I was transferred to London in 1935over the cautious attitude of the Government on every international issue where it was not possible to avoid any attitude at all. This mood was accompanied by, and in part caused by, suspicion of "Downing Street", the political and official residents of which would, if we were not very careful, trap innocent Canadians into participation in the discharge of British Imperial responsibilities, with which we should have nothing to do for a variety of reasons.

Forty Years On: Reflections on Our Foreign Policy

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Forty Years On: Reflections on Our Foreign Policy