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Fen Osler Hampson and Stephen M. Saideman, eds. Canada Among Nations 2015: Elusive Pursuits: Lessons from Canada’s Interventions Abroad Centre for International Governance Innovation

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
DOI10.1177/0020702017694154
Published date01 March 2017
Date01 March 2017
AuthorAaron Ettinger
Subject MatterBook Reviews
SG-IJXJ-72-01-BR 142..154 146
International Journal 72(1)
Fen Osler Hampson and Stephen M. Saideman, eds.
Canada Among Nations 2015: Elusive Pursuits: Lessons from Canada’s Interventions Abroad
Centre for International Governance Innovation: Waterloo, 2015; 308pp. $32.00 (paperback)
ISBN–10: 978–1–928096–11–5,
Reviewed by: Aaron Ettinger, University of Waterloo
It is uncommon for an academic book review to begin with the cover art but the
29th volume of Canada Among Nations is worthy of mention. Gracing the front is
the image of a special operations soldier with parachute in full bloom, slightly
above a treeline, with a snow-capped mountain in the distance. Exactly what
the paratrooper will encounter on the ground is not clear. It is a clever visual
representation of the challenge of intervention and the purpose of this volume.
Elusive Pursuits serves as a comparative evaluation of Canadian interventions in
the post-Cold War era, a period that saw Canada in (or above) Afghanistan,
Bosnia, East Timor, Haiti, Kosovo, Libya, Somalia, and at present, Iraq–Syria.
Elusive Pursuits is intended to provide lessons learned for that paratrooper and the
policymakers that will send him drifting to the ground the next time, wherever and
whenever that may be.
The volume is inspired by the formal end of the Afghanistan mission in 2014,
which looms large in the Canadian consciousness. Or, to be more precise, what
looms large is the deadly 2006–2011 period of counter-insurgency in Kandahar.
This informs the scope of ‘‘intervention’’ laid out in the editors’ introduction,
which def‌ines it narrowly as ‘‘the use of force to af‌fect the domestic dynamics of
another country, with the broad aim of contributing to international peace and
security’’ (3). It is for the best, however, that the contributors do not strictly adhere
to this def‌inition. After all, Canada’s experience with ‘‘intervention’’ is much
broader than the introduction lets on. Thus, Elusive Pursuit’s principal strength
is the broad perspective it takes on...

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