Much ado about very little: Canada’s national interests in history and practice
| Author | Adam Chapnick |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00207020221143279 |
| Published date | 01 September 2022 |
| Date | 01 September 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Lesson of History |
Lesson of History
International Journal
2022, Vol. 77(3) 515–528
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/00207020221143279
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Much ado about very little:
Canada’s national interests in
history and practice
Adam Chapnick
Canadian Forces College, Toronto, ON, Canada
Abstract
Ever since Canada failed to be elected to the United Nations Security Council as a non-
permanent member in June 2020, there have been calls for Ottawa to realign Canadian
foreign policy with the national interest. It is hardly the first time that such a plea has
been made: critics advocated similarly in the 1870s, the 1930s, the 1960s, and the
2000s. Yet, in each case, they recommended a different policy solution. Having re-
viewed these episodes, this essay concludes that the real debate in Canadian for eign
policy has never been about the national interest, per se. To borrow from the language
of strategy, Ottawa’s critics have merely privileged different “ways”of achieving the
same “ends,”while everyone yearns for the “means”to do more.
Keywords
National interests, interests and values, Canadian foreign policy, diplomacy, foreign
policy reviews
Ever since Canada failed to be elected to the United Nations Security Council as a non-
permanent member in June 2020, there have been calls for Ottawa to realign Canadian
Corresponding author:
Adam Chapnick, Canadian Forces College, Defence Studies, 215 Yonge Boulevard, Toronto, ON M5M
3H9, Canada.
Email: chapnick@cfc.dnd.ca
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