Book Review - Dreamland

How do you see Canada's place in the world?

For many Canadians, Canada is a beacon to the world, a "kinder, gentler" version of the great American image of the "shining city on the hill". Canada, these people believe, has a lot to show the world about how to live in multicultural, non-judgmental harmony. Internationally, Canada is a nation that uses moral persuasion --or "soft power", to use Lloyd Axworthy's phrase -- to influence change. Unlike our neighbour to the south, Canada is committed to making multinational institutions such as the United Nations work the way they were intended to.

At the risk of offending my countrymen, I have always thought that this "vision of Canada" is immature and more suitable for a romantic teenager than for adults. I think Canada is more than just a collection of social programs such as public health care and, perhaps, universal daycare. I think Canada is more than just a collection of the world's ethnicities that transform this nation into a community of communities. I think Canada has failed to pull its weight in international affairs and, especially, when protecting its sovereignty. "Soft power" is a great exercise in public relations when you are pitching policy to idealistic adolescents, but in the real world it is an admission that you don't possess the means to project "hard power".

People who share my views tend to be thought of as closet Americans. Now, however, I have come across a book that makes the argument that "realists" -- as my fellow travellers and I label ourselves -- have grounds to be considered the true nationalists. Author Roy Rempel argues in Dreamland - How Canada's Pretend Foreign Policy Has Undermined Sovereignty that the "middle power" of common Canadian mythology is in serious danger of becoming a de facto protectorate of the United States because it refuses to take a realistic approach to international affairs.

In Rempel's view, Canada is no longer internationally significant in part because we have let our armed forces decay and in part because we have allowed ourselves to dissipate our resources in foreign affairs initiatives that are aimed more at the domestic electorate than in advancing -- and protecting -- Canada's national interests. In fact, it is not too extreme to summarize Rempel's arguments as saying that Canadian governments, regardless of which party is in power, tend not to even recognize that Canada has national interests. (The discussion of values and interests would be entertaining were it not so depressing.)

Perhaps the most important thesis in Dreamland, however, is that Canadian governments have done Canadians a gross disservice by their failure to concentrate on creating appropriate relations to the empire to the south - the United States of America. The Canada-US relationship is without a doubt the single most important relationship in terms of our national interest, yet Canadian "leaders" such as Jean Chretien have had no hesitation to go out of their way to damage the relationship. While bearding the American lion plays well to certain domestic audiences, it is a foolhardy and even self-destructive strategy to follow with the nation that comprises 75% of your international trade.

Rempel examines other aspects of Canadian foreign policy in detail, including how the Canadian military lacks the means for strategic power projection and the willy-nilly nature of Canadian foreign aid expenditures. He also presents an interesting examination of how three other middle powers with limited resources and relatively small populations -- Australia, New Zealand, and Norway -- have approached similar challenges.

Dreamland is unlikely to appear on Jack Layton's recommended reading list. (Nor, for that matter, are its arguments likely to be accepted by Stephan Dion.) It should, however, be on the reading list of any Canadian who is concerned about the future of this great country and its place in an increasingly complicated world.

Dreamland - How Canada's Pretend Foreign Policy Has Undermined Sovereignty
Roy Rempel
School of Policy Studies Queen's University, 2006
ISBN: 1-55339-119-5