Editors' Introduction
| Published date | 01 September 2018 |
| Date | 01 September 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702018795317 |
| Subject Matter | Editors' Introduction |
Editors’ Introduction
With the Trump administration busily dismantling the foundations of US
global leadership, a space has been opened up for second-tier powers to assert
themselves—within their own regional neighbourhoods and around the world.
China seems to be seizing this opportunity, through its ambitious military spend-
ing, aggressive diplomacy, and strategic investments abroad. Once again, Canada
finds itself in a familiar dilemma, worrying about losing its close and comfortable
relationship with the US, enticed by opportunities in rapidly-growing markets in
other regions, but uncertain about what impact it can have on its own, and worried
about some of the potential complications of closer ties with erstwhile new
partners.
This issue of International Journal features six articles on China, with particular
attention to its potential political and economic impacts on Canada. Four of these
essays were submitted as a collection organized by Jeremy Paltiel: Paltiel’s own
overview article, which argues that Canada must adapt to the new international
order, by renewing its commitment to multilateral internationalism; Kim Richard
Nossal’s explanation for Canada’s ambivalence about China, in the context of its
ongoing, deep-rooted fixation on the North Atlantic world; Nick Bisley’s account of
the polarization of Australia’s debates about how to respond to China’s rise; and
Gregory Chin’s analysis of Canadian government responses to controversial
Chinese investments in Canada. These are followed by Charles-Louis Labrecque
and Scott Harrison’s overview of the role played by non-central governments (i.e.,
provinces and territories) in Canada’s diplomatic relations with Asia-Pacific coun-
tries. And finally, we have a broader discussion, by Stephen Smith, of the conceptual
underpinnings of China’s ‘‘new assertiveness’’ under Xi Jinping.
This issue also features two short Policy Briefs: one on China and one on
Trump’s foreign policy priorities. Songying Fang, Xiaojun Li, and Fanglu Sun
trace the evolution of China’s thinking about United Nations peacekeeping oper-
ations. Then Aaron Ettinger analyses the Trump administration’s 2017 National
Security Strategy, arguing that it is worth reading as a snapshot of the underlying
tensions between the traditional priorities of the foreign service and the president’s
‘‘America First’’ nationalism.
Brendan Kelly has once again brought together a fine collection of book
reviews, including: Eugene Lang’s review of Jean-Christophe Boucher and Kim
Richard Nossal’s The Politics of War: Canada’s Afghanistan Mission 2001–14
(UBC Press, 2017); Jennifer Tunnicliffe’s review of Andrew Thompson’s On the
Side of the Angels: Canada and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
International Journal
2018, Vol. 73(3) 341–342
!The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0020702018795317
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