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Canada is Not Back
How Justin Trudeau is in over his head on foreign policy
The election in October 2015 of the Justin Trudeau government was widely considered to herald a new approach to foreign affairs for Canada. Trudeau had campaigned as a staunch advocate for a generous, liberal international order: maintaining peace, helping migrants and refugees, seeking dialogue and enhancing relations with other countries, and reengagement with the UN.
Foreign affairs expert Jocelyn Coulon was a key Liberal party advisor during the election and early days of the Trudeau government. He participated in developing the ambitious policy proposals of candidate Trudeau. He then served as an advisor to Trudeau’s first foreign affairs minister, Stephane Dion..
In this book Coulon describes and analyses government policies towards several key foreign policy challenges. Among them — the Trudeau campaign to win a UN Security Council seat in 2020 — a campaign he sees as almost certain to fail. He also deals with the translation of the election commitment to re-engage Canadian forces in peacekeeping, the development of a detailed plan to send troops to Africa — which Trudeau and his closest advisors killed at the last minute. In other areas, for instance relations with China, the United States and Russia, Coulon offers a critical take on the Trudeau government’s approach.
Readers interested in Justin Trudeau’s approach to international affairs will find this a timely, engaging, and revealing book.
Contributors
Jocelyn Coulon
Jocelyn Coulon is a researcher at the Montreal Centre for International Studies at the University of Montreal. He was a foreign affairs advisor for Justin Trudeau in 2014–2015, and was an advisor to foreign minister Stéphane Dion in 2016–2017. He lives in Montreal, Quebec.
