Conflicting Visions: Canada and India in the Cold War World, 1946–76, by Ryan M. Touhey
| Published date | 01 September 2017 |
| Date | 01 September 2017 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702017723561 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
International Journal
2017, Vol. 72(3) 424–439
!The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0020702017723561
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Book Reviews
Ryan M. Touhey
Conflicting Visions: Canada and India in the Cold War World, 1946–76
Vancouver: UBC Press, 2015. 304pp. $95.00 (cloth)
ISBN: 978-0-7748-2901-4
Reviewed by: Anita Singh (anita.rathore@gmail.com), Centre for the Study of Security and
Development, Dalhousie University
Ryan Touhey, in his aptly titled book, Conflicting Visions: Canada and India in the
Cold War World, 1946–76, covers thirty defining years in the Canada–India rela-
tionship. His research deftly combines well-known events in the bilateral history
with the personal reflections of some of its most proficient members. The narrative
is reminiscent of a classic story arc featuring two star-crossed lovers who, despite
their best intentions, are beset by a series of mistaken expectations and miscom-
munications, and are ultimately separated—in this case, by India’s nuclear test in
May 1974.
Since India’s independence in 1947, the bilateral relationship between Canada
and India has been considered a natural alliance: a ‘‘special relationship’’ based on
‘‘shared values of democracy, pluralism, tolerance, human rights and rule of law.’’
1
Ignoring decades of animosity and miscommunication, academic observers, polit-
icians, and media continue to invoke these commonalities to make a case for
re-engagement. Touhey observes: ‘‘neither common interests on international
issues nor strictly bilateral items set India apart as a country for special relationship
with Canada’’ (240). At its centre, the Canada–India relationship is one of unreal-
ized expectations built on an assumption of parallel core values.
This book does an excellent job of highlighting the complexities of this bilateral
relationship, and is a must-read for all observers of Canadian foreign policy.
Touhey masterfully invokes a levels-of-analysis approach to show how personal
affinity between Canadian and Indian leaders, national interests, and international
alliances and security issues uncovered now-obvious tensions underlying the ‘‘spe-
cial relationship.’’
2
He shows how the (un)timely intersection of these foreign
policy inputs—at the individual, national and structural level—can introduce
murky unknowns into even the most earnest bilateral engagements. In this way,
1. ‘‘Archived – Canada-India Joint Statement,’’ Government of Canada, 2015, http://news.gc.ca/web/
article-en.do?nid¼964969 (accessed 13 November 2016).
2. Escott Reid, Envoy to Nehru (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1981).
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