Canadian foreign policy- Canada as a Middle power

1. Canadian foreign policy- Canada as a Middle power • CRITICAL QUESTIONS: • What does ‘Middle Power’ mean? • What role should our government play in other countries’ affairs? • What is our humanitarian responsibility? • What about Syria & emerging conflicts? • OVERALL: What are the CAUSES and CONSEQUENCES of our foreign policy?

2. From wikipedia- Middle power is a term in the field of international relations that describes states that are not superpowers or great powers, but still have large or moderate influence and international recognition

3. Do we have the ‘muscle’ to be a superpower? Are we Liechtenstein?

4. Let’s look at Canada’s role in international conflict since emerging as a Middle Power. • Complete the Cause and Consequence thinking activity.

5. What are reasons countries go to war? • Political revolution • Gain natural resources • Religious ideology • To annex or protect territory • Racism or xenophobia • For defense reasons • For money or lucrative gain – weapons, industry, etc

6. Lets start by looking at our participation on Afghanistan

7. Afghanistan- a country used to crisis • USSR invades 1979-89, fails and leaves • 1989-92 civil war, Najibullah vs. Mujahideen • 1992- 96 civil war, The Islamic State of Afghanistan vs. the Islamic Party • Taliban gets involved and rules country 1996-2001

8. September 11th, 2001

9. 9-11 in Numbers- the Guardian, 18 August, 2002, Tom Templeton, & Tom Lumley • WTC built- 1970 • People working in WTC / day- 50 000 • People visiting WTC / day- 140 000 • People killed 9/11- 2823 • Temperature of fire in Fahrenheit- 2 300 degrees • Days workers searched rubble- 230 • Number of body parts collected- 19 500 • Bodies discovered- 291 (all dead) • People dead in United 93- 45 • People dead in Pentagon- 125 • Kids Orphaned- 1300 • Babies born without fathers- 17 • Estimated number of New Yorkers suffering from PTSD- 422 000

10. October 7th, 2001- Bush Attacks • “Operation Enduring Freedom” • USA & UK invade • Stated goal- Remove Taliban from power, disband terrorist group Al Qaeda and install democracy • Canada joins efforts in Jan, 2002 • Increases role in 2006 when we redeployed to Kandahar province • 2500-2850 Canadian troops serving in Afghanistan 2011

11. Canada joins USA & NATO- Cost of war • $100 billion/year for the USA • $18 billion/year for Canada ($1500 per household) CBC- 10 Feb 2009 • 1648 American dead (June 2011) • 158 Canadian dead (Aug 2013) • Capt Goddard first female killed in combat since WW2

12. Coalition deaths in Afghanistan by country (up to June 2011) USA: 1,648*UK: 378Canada: 156*France: 74Germany: 56Denmark: 41Italy: 41Spain: 33*Australia: 28Poland: 28Netherlands: 25Romania: 19Norway: 10Georgia: 9Estonia: 8Hungary: 7Sweden: 5Czech Republic: 4New Zealand: 3Latvia: 3Finland: 2Jordan: 2Portugal: 2South Korea: 2Turkey: 2Belgium: 1Lithuania: 1TOTAL: 2,584 Capt Mathew Dawe, Kingston, Ont, .27. LaSalle grad.

14. Canadian public opinion on Afghanistan • At the end of 2001, a poll quoted by the Washington Post showed that 74% of Canadians supported the US-led war in Afghanistan • In 2006, as Canada was expanding its presence in the country, a Strategic Counsel poll conducted for CTV News and The Globe and Mail, 54% opposed the war. In Quebec, as much as 70% opposed the war. • A poll conducted on 1570 Canadians in July 2011 for QMI Agency and Sun Media showed 30% of respondents felt the sacrifice was worthwhile, and 58% did not.

15. What do you think? CRITICAL QUESTIONS: • Should Canada have gone in to Afghanistan? Why? • Was it worth the sacrifice of Canadian lives? • Is it important to have allies? Do we have to support them militarily? • What is going to happen in Afghanistan? Should we care?

16. And now Syria

17. Bashar al-Assad • Became president after his Dad died after 30 years in charge • ‘Arab spring’ spreads to Syria in 2011 • Brutal crackdown on “rebels” = civil war • 100 000 dead, 2 million refugees • Chemical weapons on civilians?

18. CBC News in Review - October 2012“Crisis in Syria” The same street in Syria – 3 years apart.

19. Syria in Crisis

20. UN intervention? • UN security council (15 countries): 5 permanent- USA, Russia, UK, France, China 10 rotating- • 5 permanent members get a veto vote

21. UN intervention? • Russia won’t allow intervention • UN can’t act • Should the US act alone?

22. What is Canada saying? • “Since the start of the Syrian uprising in March of 2011, Canada has worked to support the Syrian people. We have been active in calling on the international community to come together and defend the rights of the Syrian people to determine their own future”. • Canada has also given generously to the various international efforts : -Canada has $316.8 million in humanitarian, development and security assistance in response to the Syria crisis -$158.5 million to address the urgent needs of up to 6.8 million conflict- affected people (including 3.1 million children) -$4.75 million to address threats related to chemical or biological weapons arising from Syria -Canada is providing Jordan with $100 million over the next three years in development and security assistance, including $12.5 M to mitigate the threat posed by Syria's stockpile of weapons of mass destruction Canadian foreign affaris website- http://www.international.gc.ca/international/syria-syrie.aspx (5 Sept 2013) Blah, blah, blah, blah- we’re doing nothing…

23. What do you think? • Is the UN ineffective? • Should the US do something? • What should Canada do? • Should everyone just leave everyone else alone?

24. What about Foreign Aid instead of military intervention? How MUCH DOES CANADA GIVE IN FOREIGN / HUMANITARIAN AID?

25. What are pros and cons of Foreign Aid?

27. READING Macleans Magazine April 2012 – Canada’s Declining Aid What are the causes of our declining aid? What might the consequences be?

28. Total Canadian International Aid 2011-2012

29. LINK:Check out details on Canada's Foreign Aid Humanitarian Aid 2011-2012