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Contributor: Vox
Date: 2003-02-25 20:33:55
As the old saying goes, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". I like your basic intentions but I believe you confuse your prejudices with the critical nature of current issues and the wisdom of being "open" to people.
I agree it is arguably attractive to develop a multipolar international arena (as Chirac and Gaullism favour) but I disagree with the manner in which some people try to achieve this. Like Chirac, some people seem to take any opportunity to grandstand this ideal, regardless of the more important issues at hand. This makes for hideously distorted decisions in the name of distant ideals or some prejudice we hold (e.g. Canadian Anti-Americanism) or some delusion of grandeur we hide behind (e.g. Gaullist France).
Canada does not have to (and should not) support the US on all issues just because it supports the US in coercing Iraq to disarm at the risk of conflict. If we cannot discuss issues with other countries based primarily on the merits of the issues then we should not be surprised if countries treat all of our intentions with great suspicion. It is one thing to express logical differences in national interest but basing foreign policy on broadly rigid principles of dislike for another country is essentially religion, and religion is deadly when mixed with politics and international relations.
There is also very little evidence the US is imperialistic. Its tendency has traditionally been isolationist. While it may only see democratic institutions as replacements for disagreeable regimes no one can say for sure if there are better alternatives or have better expertise (or will) to help struggling countries organize themselves under other viable frameworks. The arguably undesirable fate of Canada one day becoming part of a greater USA has nothing to do with Iraq and should not be tied to decisions regarding it.
Finally, I should mention that a multipolar world order has existed many, many times in history, usually ending in major wars between those countries. I don't have to go into details on Japan, France, Britain, Spain, USSR/Russia, Austria-Hungary, Germany...etc. The US has only participated in major wars reluctantly. So I think history is not really a useful way to pre-judge US intentions by. IMO, it is far more effective to base our foreign policies on understanding how Canada's actions may be viewed by the US and other countries as well as why the current issues mean so much to the US and the EU. When I look at things that way, I can justify the US positions but I cannot justify France and Germany's. It seemed ironic to me that the French PM Raffarin would mock Bush for "plyaing games" because he used the phrase "the games is over (for Saddam)". It seemed to me that Chirac is really the one who is playing games at the moment.
Vox Canadiana
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