Outline of a Civil Foreign Policy

Peace and Arms Control

In the eyes of many Canadians, two of the most important features of Canada's role in the world have been the persistent support for United Nations peacekeeping and a continued pressure to advance measures of international arms control. During the international crisis arising from the

Suez canal closure in 1956, Lester Pearson and his skillful diplomats played a decisive role in preparing and promoting the establishment of a United Nations peacekeeping force, for which Pearson was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. UN peacekeeping has since become one of the few truly multilateral endeavours to cope with eruptions of physical violence which threaten to endanger regional and world peace. But, to be honest, it is not a very successful instrument. This is evident when one considers the UN's incapability over the last decade to contain local and civil wars which later escalated into humanitarian catastrophes. UN peacekeeping did not succeed in either Somalia, Bosnia, or Rwanda. Unfortunately, there are no institutional alternative for peacekeeping within the international community. In order to stop the victimization of large numbers of people, peacekeeping and other peace-support operations are the only interventions available to 'de-escalate' local or regional violence. These are primarily humanitarian efforts and, in order to be credible, these operations must be backed by the international community and must be carried out by a multitude of states. They are the quintessential multilateral military missions. Canada has participated in the great majority of peacekeeping actions, and has devoted a considerable part of its military capacities in assisting the United Nations' ability to dispose of rapid reactions capabilities during threats to international security. As of October 1997, 104 Canadian Peacekeepers have died in the service of their country and for the ideal of keeping peace in the world. Canada has also participated in special missions to monitor cease-fires and international conflicts, separate from formal U.N. Peacekeeping missions. One example would be Canada's participation in the International Commission for Supervision and Control: Cambodia and Vietnam, from 1954 to 1973.

Canada has also been involved in attempts to curb the arms race during the East-West conflict and to establish effective international arms control regimes. Canadian diplomats were busy interlocutors in the The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) process since the early 1970s. The CSCE was, among other things, a confidence-building mechanism between the East and West, and thus, was extremely important in seeking the end of this conflict within peaceful limits. The latest event in this history was Canada's achievement in helping create an international agreement (the Ottawa Convention) to ban anti-personnel land mines.