The conundrum of Canadian–American relations
| Author | Francine McKenzie |
| Date | 01 March 2014 |
| Published date | 01 March 2014 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702013518494 |
| Subject Matter | Review Essay |
International Journal
2014, Vol. 69(1) 110–117
!The Author(s) 2014
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DOI: 10.1177/0020702013518494
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Review Essay
The conundrum of
Canadian–American
relations
Francine McKenzie
Department of History, Western University, London, ON,
Canada
Abstract
Forty years ago, political scientist Denis Stairs published The Diplomacy of Constraint,an
account of Canadian involvement in the Korean War. Stairs explored the attempts of
Canadian politicians, diplomats, and bureaucrats to constrain US intervention in Korea
and, more generally, to influence the conduct of its foreign policy in the pressurized
context of the early Cold War. Since then, historians and political scientists have
continued to publish accounts of Canadian involvement in the Korean War and
books on Canada–US relations in general. Why, then, should someone read The
Diplomacy of Constraint today when there are more recent analyses? This review essay
attempts to explain the longevity and usefulness of Stairs’ study. What have scholars
learned from Stairs’ interpretation and approach? Has he influenced subsequent aca-
demic analyses? Can his study be considered a model of interdisciplinary scholarship?
Finally, is new scholarship intrinsically better than old?
Keywords
Canada–US relations, Canadian foreign policy, Canada and the Korean War, diplomacy
of constraint
When Denis Stairs published his monograph, The Diplomacy of Constraint:
Canada, the Korean War, and the United States, in 1974, he was examining a con-
flict that had erupted some twenty years earlier, in the early years of the Cold War.
1
His main aim was to explore the Canada–US relationship at a time of heightened
anti-American sentiment in Canada. Since government records were not yet access-
ible, he relied on interviews and newspaper accounts. Forty years later, there is a
Corresponding author:
Francine McKenzie, Department of History, University of Western Ontario, Lawson Hall, Room 2201,
London, ON N6A 5B8, Canada.
Email: fmckenzi@uwo.ca
1. Denis Stairs, The Diplomacy of Constraint: Canada, the Korean War, and the United States (Toronto
and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1974).
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