Un selfie avec Justin Trudeau: Regard critique sur la diplomatie du premier ministre Québec Amérique by Jocelyn Coulon
| Published date | 01 December 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702018811594 |
| Author | Justin Massie |
| Date | 01 December 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Book Reviews
Jocelyn Coulon
Un selfie avec Justin Trudeau: Regard critique sur la diplomatie du premier ministre
Que
´bec Ame
´rique, 2018. 256 pp. $21.95 (cloth)
ISBN: 9782764436028
Reviewed by: Justin Massie (massie.justin@uqam.ca), Universite
´du Que
´bec a
`Montre
´al,
Montreal, Canada
It is sadly rare in Canada that former political advisors to ministers and prime
ministers write down their experiences of being in the foreign policy decision-
making apparatus. Among the notable exceptions is Jocelyn Coulon’s Un seflie
avec Justin Trudeau. Former political advisor to foreign minister Ste
´phane Dion,
Coulon was responsible for files dealing with multilateralism, Africa, and peace
operations. For this reason, the work of Coulon is more than welcome: it offers a
view from within, contributing to a better understanding of what is otherwise very
opaque–namely, the power struggles surrounding the crafting of Canada’s foreign
policy.
Coulon offers more than just salacious revelations behind the daily headlines.
His book identifies the intellectual foundations and considerations that shaped
Justin Trudeau’s foreign policy in his first year in power. For example, Coulon
claims that Trudeau largely pursued the same foreign policy as his predecessor,
Stephen Harper, who is widely criticized––including by Coulon himself––for
having diverted Canada from its traditional commitment to multilateralism and
international law and from its role as honest broker. Coulon contends that ‘‘no
international initiative bears the stamp of Prime Minister Trudeau’’ (11).
1
Like
Harper, Trudeau is described as coming to power without any international experi-
ence or clear foreign policy beliefs. Moreover, Coulon accuses Trudeau of being
undecided and befuddled on several issues, of giving in to pressure groups, polls
and the media, and of participating in the ‘‘ethnicization’’ of Canadian foreign
policy (187). Many diplomats, according to Coulon, believe that Trudeau ‘‘subor-
dinates foreign policy to domestic politics,’’ which goes against Canada’s national
interests (192).
The most devastating criticism in the book is undoubtedly Coulon’s revelation
that Trudeau refused to meet with his foreign minister during his fourteen-month
mandate––and this, despite repeated requests from the minister to do so. From this
International Journal
2018, Vol. 73(4) 623–637
!The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0020702018811594
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1. All quotations are my own translation.
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