This book offers the first comprehensive analysis of Canadian foreign policy under the government of Justin Trudeau, with a concentration on the areas of climate change, trade, Indigenous rights, arms sales, refugees, military affairs, and relationships with the United States and China. At the book’s core is Trudeau’s biggest and most unexpected challenge: the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Drawing on recognized experts from across Canada, this latest edition of the respected Canada Among Nations series will be essential reading for students of international relations and Canadian foreign policy and for a wider readership interested in Canada’s age of Trudeau. See other books in the Canada Among Nations series here: https://carleton.ca/npsia/canada-among-nations/

In October 2015, Canadians elected a prime minister who promised to rehabilitate Canada's reputation globally. Justin Trudeau, "the free world's best hope" according to Rolling Stone Magazine, cultivated his image as a staunch advocate for a generous, liberal international order: maintaining peace, helping migrants and refugees, seeking dialogue and enhancing relations with other countries, and reengagement with the UN. Foreign affairs expert Jocelyn Coulon had a front row seat as a key Liberal party advisor during the election and early days of the Trudeau government. Coulon describes the ambitious policy proposals of candidate Trudeau. He analyses some key actions of Trudeau the prime minister. What he sees is more of the same approach that came from the ten years of Harper government. Coulon focuses on the Trudeau campaign to win a UN Security Council seat in 2020 — a campaign he sees as doomed to failure. He describes how an election commitment to re-engage Canadian forces in peacekeeping yielded a carefully-developed plan to send troops to Africa — which Trudeau and his closest advisors killed at the last minute. In other areas, like relations with China, the United States and Russia, looking good in the media triumphs over careful policy making to advance Canadian interests. Readers interested in Justin Trudeau's approach to international affairs will find this a timely, engaging, and revealing book.

Pierre Trudeau and most of his contemporaries at home and abroad are now dead. This book offers reflections on Canadian foreign, trade, and defence policies from interviews conducted more than three decades ago with key policy makers, diplomats, and military officers in the Trudeau government and of that era. The interviews are informative and revealingly frank. There is much on the enormous difficulties in dealing with the United States, Europe, NATO, the Soviet Union, and Communist China in an era dominated by the Cold War. There are also personal insights into Trudeau himself – a man of great “esprit,” who initially seemed destined to change Canadian policy in a dramatic fashion. Over time, however, this was not to be, and his government policies reverted towards the norm. A unique resource, Trudeau’s World adds immeasurably to our understanding of the Trudeau era. It also has much to tell us about Canada and the world from 1968 to 1984.

“Canada’s back” announced the victorious Liberal Party in October 2015. After almost ten years of Conservative Party rule, the Harper era in Canadian foreign policy was over, suggesting a return to the priorities of gentler, more cooperative Liberal governments. But was the Harper era really so different? And if so, why? This comprehensive analysis of Canada’s foreign policy during the Harper years addresses these very questions. The chapters, written by leading scholars and analysts of Canadian politics, provide an excellent overview of foreign policy in a number of different policy areas. They also offer differing interpretations as to whether the transition from a minority to majority government in 2011 shaped the way that the Harper Conservatives conceived of, developed, and implemented international policy. The analysis is gripping and the findings surprising, particularly the contention that the government’s shift to majority status was far less important to foreign policy under Harper than it had been under previous governments. The reasons why reveal important insights into the Harper decade of foreign policy.

MacGuigan (1931-98) served as Secretary of State for External Affairs and in other positions in the last Trudeau government in the 1980s. Lackenbauer (military and strategic studies, U. of Calgary) introduces his views on Canadian foreign policy-making, relations with the US and other nations, Cold War tensions, and why few national and international crises found resolution during this period. Includes photos of McGuigan with local and world leaders. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

After his Liberal Party’s surprise victory in the 2015 federal Canadian election, Justin Trudeau declared that "Canada was back" on the world stage. This comprehensive volume highlights issues in the relationship between articulated visions of Canada as a global actor, nation branding and domestic politics, noting the dangers of the politicization of the branding of Canada. It also provides the political context for thinking about ‘Brand Canada’ in the Trudeau era. The authors explore the Trudeau government’s embrace of political branding and how it plays out in key areas central to the brand, including: Canada’s relations with Indigenous peoples; social media and digital diplomacy; and the importance of the Arctic region for Canada’s brand, even though it is often ignored by politicians and policymakers. The book asks whether the Trudeau government has lived up to its claim that Canada is back, and highlights the challenges that emerge when governments provide optimistic visions for meaningful transformation, but then do not end up leading meaningful change. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of political science, particularly those with a focus on Canada. It was originally published as a special issue of Canadian Foreign Policy Journal.

"Justin Trudeau presents himself as 'progressive' on foreign affairs and to have brought Canada 'back' after the disastrous Stephen Harper Conservative government.House of Mirrors -- Justin Trudeau's Foreign Policy demonstrates the opposite is true. In his latest book Yves Engler outlines how Trudeau's government has expanded the military while ignoring international efforts to restrict nuclear weapons proliferation. In the Western Hemisphere the Liberals have launched an unprecedented, multi-pronged, effort to overthrow Venezuela's government while siding with an assortment of reactionary governments. They continued to enable Israeli violence against Palestinians,cozied up to repressive Middle East monarchies and emboldened far-right militarists in Ukraine. Flouting their climate commitments, the Trudeau government also failed to follow through on its promise to rein in Canada's controversial international mining sector. The Liberals have tried to sell their pro corporate/empire policies with progressive slogans. As they violated international law and spurned efforts to overcome pressing global issues, the Liberals crowed about the 'international rules-based order'. Notwithstanding the rhetoric, the House of Mirrors shows that Trudeau largely continued Harper's foreign policy."