Adam Chapnick's Newsletter - September 2021
Thanks for subscribing to this newsletter. I hope to use it to update you on what I’ve been thinking and speaking about, where I’m speaking next, and people and issues that have caught my attention.
In the Media
Back in July, I spoke to a reporter from the Hill Times about the prospects of another Canadian campaign for a seat on the United Nations Security Council. More recently, I was delighted when one of my blog posts, about Canadian government’s initial response to the Taliban’s take-over of Afghanistan, was highlighted by Politico.
Blog
Speaking of blogging, in addition to the post on Afghanistan, I wrote about the challenges of trying to spread members of the federal public service out across the country; my support for an international corruption court; the Canadian International Council's recent deliberative democracy exercise about the future of Canadian foreign policy; whether Canada's engagement in Afghanistan was worthwhile; and my disappointment in Jagmeet Singh's request that the governor not grant the prime minister a snap election (even though I really didn't want a snap election either). I'm working on a post about how foreign policy is being treated in the current election, but I need a bit more time to clarify my thinking.
Publications
In August, the Dorchester Review released an essay of mine. They called it “The ‘Canada is Back’ Humbug." It's a bit of a cheeky title, for a paper that's a bit cheeky itself.
Public Speaking
In June, the great folks at HMCS Bytown offered me the chance to speak to them about the United Nations. Over the last three months, I also lectured about Canada-US relations to the Probus Club of Toronto; to the Probus Club of South Simcoe; and one as part of an online lecture series hosted by the McClelland Financial Group.
Upcoming Talks
Although I'll be teaching a lot over the fall, I am scheduled to speak to members of the Georgian Triangle Lifelong Learning Institute about Canada-US relations in early October. If you belong to a group looking for a speaker, please contact me through my website.
What I’m Reading
It is rare that I recommend "academic" articles to the types of people who might read this newsletter, but every so often, something catches my attention that deserves greater public attention. Queen's University's Will Kymlicka is, for all intents and purposes, the dean of Canadian multiculturalism. His scholarship is recognized worldwide. He has also graciously visited the Canadian Forces College at my request a number of times, and much of what I say when I lecture on multiculturalism is based on his research. Will has a new article out in the American Review of Canadian Studies called "The Precarious Resilience of Multiculturalism in Canada." It's an extraordinary summary of his thinking, and a provocative piece at that. I'm not sure whether it is behind a paywall, but if it is, and you're interested in reading it, please let me know and I'll see what I can do.
Other Thoughts
The textbook that I'm working on is still stuck in the 1990s. Thanks to some helpful feedback from Professors Don Barry and Raymond Blake, I've all but finished writing up the case on the Turbot War and am now onto Kosovo. As I continue to read about this period of Canada's foreign policy history, I'm beginning to reconsider an argument that Norman Hillmer and I made about 20 years ago. In an essay we called "The Axworthy Revolution," we suggested that Minister Lloyd Axworthy's approach to foreign policy was a radical break from Canada's postwar foreign policy traditions. I still agree with our conclusion, but I think that there might have been a broader "revolutionary" trend in Canadian foreign policy underway during the period that we might not have fully captured. We certainly acknowledged that there were hints of Axworthyism at the end of the Mulroney era, but Brian Tobin's overtly confrontational attitude during the Turbot War suggests to me that there was something in the air among other Liberals as well. We'll see what my co-author, Asa McKercher, thinks when he writes the contextual introduction to our chapter.