P O S T- C O L D WA R W O R L D

CANADA & CONFLICT

FOREIGN POLICY FOR THE FUTURE?

Question #1: What should Canada spend its money on in terms of military use & foreign policy?

• Peacekeeping• Military Action• Natural Disaster Work• Arctic Sovereignty• Following USA• Doing its own thing as a autonomous middle power

REVIEW

• At the end of the Cold war, only 1 superpower remained• USA

• The United States was able to dictate what next ‘era’ of foreign policy would be for UN and NATO• George Bush Sr.

FIRST TARGET…

• Declared ‘new world order’ – essentially meant more military involvement by UN• In some cases this

was successful – many complicated scenarios though…

• What do you know about Saddam Hussein?

GULF WAR - #1 – 1991• Incredibly brutal

dictator• Invaded Kuwait – used

chemical weapons on his own citizens• George Bush & UN

stepped in immediately• War is over within

weeks• Sanctions placed on

Iraq – Hussein still in power

P E AC E K E E P E R T O P E AC E ’ M A K E R ’

MAJOR IMPLICATIONS FOR CANADA

YUGOSLAVIAN CIVIL WAR – 1991-2001

• Breakup of country after death of Tito• Major fighting along

ethnic lines (Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, etc.• 1994/1998 – massive

NATO bombing campaign to stop attempted genocide by Milosevic• Massive evacuations

of people to Canada

LESSON = WARS ARE CONTROVERSIAL

• Many believe that NATO bombing campaign did little to convince Milosevic to step down – only killed thousands of civilians• Main reason that Milosevic agreed to step down

was because Russia changed sides and backed the West – Milosevic lost his ally• CRITIQUE – massive evacuations took place very

quickly in region of Yugoslavia to help citizens escape as political refugees – this response was not to be seen in other areas of the world like Rwanda….

LESSON: WAR IS UGLY, AND BRUTAL..

• Sometimes people snap and do terrible, terrible things…

• Somalia was experiencing civil war and starvation. • 1991 UN Operation ‘Restore Hope’ • Big fail, and saw devastating, disgusting acts by

Canadian peacekeepers• Even worse – the Canadian military tried to cover it up. • Scandal caused massive uproar – reassess the

guidelines for peacekeepers

Warning: next slide…

NEXT LESSON: PEACEKEEPING IS

COMPLICATED

RWANDA: BELGIAN COLONIALISM

• Belgian colonists took over the nation of Rwanda in the 19th century

• As outsiders, they needed allies within the country to help run the government

• They created 2 artificial groups of people – ‘tribes’ – the Hutus and the Tutsis

• These nations did not exist prior to the Belgians

• Passbooks were given out – these ‘cultural differences’ were used as justification for the genocide

1 MILLION DEAD IN 3 MONTHS

CRITIQUE

• Romeo Dallaire – Canadian peacekeeper in charge of mission – begged for help and support• Global community – US, UK, UN in general –

looked away, refused to take action• After quick response to Yugoslavia (Europe), Iraq

(Oil in middle east) many people believed that this demonstrated the racism that existed towards African nations and conflicts• Roots of many African conflicts are results of european

colonialism

W H AT D I D C A N A DA D O ?

WAR IN IRAQ WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

NEW ERA ~ WAR ON TERROR

• Began after September 11, 2001 terrorist attack• Aggressive policy

towards Middle East and Islamic nations in particular• Critique is that this

‘war on terror’ has in fact created a more unsafe world as a result of US aggression

WHY DID 9/11 HAPPEN?

• Super popular search on the internet… • You will get everything from conspiracy theories to

some actual facts• Al Qaeda had organized previous attacks on US

targets prior to the attacks in New York/Pentagon• Definitely a mutual dislike of ‘ideologies’ and ways

of thinking• Closing of US military base in Saudi Arabia – 2003 –

one of the main things Osama Bin Laden discussed publicly – right next to Mecca, considered holy place

• 15 of 17 hijackers were Saudi citizens

YES TO ONE, NO TO ANOTHER• IRAQ – Geoge Bush claimed there was Weapons of Mass

Destruction (nuclear weapons)• These turned out to be false reports – gov’t knew that they didn’t exist,

wanted to justify attacks• War was incredibly long, extremely high number of American casualties –

almost as unpopular here as Vietnam• Canadians did not get involved – Chretien did not believe reports, worried

about effects of war• Saddam Hussein was executed at end of war – many Iraqis were extremely

happy to see him gone.

• AFGHANISTAN – search for Osama Bin Laden + overthrow Taliban – old warlords put in place as gov’t• long, endless conflict as well – Karzai has not helped women’s rights

progress… • Taliban essentially still holds power over many regions of Afghanistan

today

SO WHAT SHOULD CANADA DO?

• How closely do we want to follow the United States’ foreign policy? • Do we believe in War on Terror, War on Drugs, etc.

• Are we still truly a peacekeeping nation?• PEACEKEEEPING VS. PEACE’MAKING’• AFGHANISTAN EXAMPLE OF ‘PEACEMAKING’ – IN MANY WAYS

HAS BEEN A FAILURE – OR AT LEAST, NOT ENOUGH OF A SUCCESS

• President KARZAI – PASSING LAW DISALLOWING RELATIVES TO TESTIFY IN CASES OF RAPE, SEXUAL ABUSE, ETC.

ARE WE ACTUALLY PEACEKEEPING?

• We currently have 60 peacekeepers serving world wide – 100,000 non-Canadians are active globally

• We currently rank 57th in the world in terms of nations with peacekeeping contributions• Used to make up 10% of all peacekeepers globally

• Refused every new peackeeping mission since 2003• 25,000 soldiers and 15,000 reservists – what would

you like them to be doing?• Purchase of helicoptors vs. fighter jets… • More Canadian money was spent in last 10 years

fighting in Afghanistan than 6 decades of peacekeeping in over 40 countries

RESPOND TO ONE OF THE FOLLOWING… SO.. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

1. How closely do we want to follow the United States’ foreign policy?

2. Are we still truly a peacekeeping nation?3. Can you ‘make’ peace with force?