In 1960 the Republic of Congo teetered near collapse as its first government struggled to cope with civil unrest and mutinous armed forces. When the UN established a peacekeeping operation to deal with the crisis, the Canadian government faced a difficult decision. Should it support the intervention? By offering one of the first detailed accounts of Canadian involvement in a UN peacekeeping mission, Kevin Spooner reveals that Canada’s involvement was not a certainty: the Diefenbaker government had immediate and ongoing reservations about the mission, reservations that challenge cherished notions of Canada’s commitment to the UN and its status as a peacekeeper.

Creating Canada's Peacekeeping Past illuminates how Canada's participation in United Nations' peacekeeping efforts from 1956 to 1997 was used as a symbol of national identity - in Quebec and the rest of the country. Delving into four decades of documentaries, newspaper coverage, textbooks, political rhetoric, and more, Colin McCullough outlines the continuity and change in the production and reception of messages about peacekeeping. Engaging in debates about Canada's international standing, as well as its broader national character, this book is an ingeniously conceived addition to the history of the changing Canadian identity.

Canada and Missions for Peace: Lessons from Nicaragua, Cambodia and Somalia

Peacekeeping. Despite efforts to relegate it to the past, what was once a central pillar in Canada’s national identity has been making a comeback in recent years. Creating Canada’s Peacekeeping Past illuminates how participation in the United Nations’ peacekeeping efforts from 1956 to 1997 became central to national self-identification in both English and French Canada. Delving into four decades’ worth of political rhetoric, newspaper coverage, textbooks, and more, Colin McCullough outlines continuity and change in the production and reception of messages about peacekeeping. He demonstrates that those who produced messages about peacekeeping often overlooked the particularities of individual missions, preferring to link their cultural products to political discourses about national identity. Engaging in debates about Canada’s international standing, as well as its broader national character, this book is a welcome addition to the history of Canada’s changing national identity.

In 1957, Lester Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize for creating the United Nations Emergency Force during the Suez crisis. The award launched Canada's enthusiasm and reputation for peacekeeping. Pearson's Peacekeepers explores the reality behind the rhetoric by offering a detailed account of the UNEF's decade-long effort to keep peace along the Egyptian-Israeli border. While the operation was a tremendous achievement, the UNEF also encountered formidable challenges and problems. This nuanced account of Canada's participation in the UNEF challenges perceived notions of Canadian identity and history and will help Canadians to accurately evaluate international peacekeeping efforts today.

More than 50 years after Canada played an instrumental role in its inception, peacekeeping has once again returned to the center of the national foreign policy debate. Having participated in every peacekeeping operation set up during the Cold War and lived through the fundamental changes the activity has undergone in the 1990s, Ottawa is currently struggling to define a viable approach to peacekeeping for the 21st century. As a timely contribution to this effort, the study reveals the overt and subtle ways in which Canada's commitment to peacekeeping has contributed to the promotion of vital national interests in the past and might continue to do so in the future.