Browse "International Affairs"

For many Canadians, particularly baby boomers and Generation X, the eight-game hockey series between Team Canada and the national team of the Soviet Union in September 1972 provided the greatest moment in Canada’s sporting history. Most expected that Canada would handily defeat the Soviet Union, but this confidence quickly disappeared when Canada lost the first game. The series was tied heading into the final game in Moscow, which ended in dramatic fashion, with Paul Henderson scoring in the final seconds to give Canada the victory. The series became as much a Cold War political battle of democracy versus communism and freedom versus oppression as it was about hockey. The series had a lasting impact on hockey in Canada and abroad.

Annexation Association, founded 1849 to promote Canada-US political union. In October and December it published 2 versions of the "Annexation Manifesto.

Arctic sovereignty is a key part of Canada’s history and future. The country has 162,000 km of Arctic coastline. Forty per cent of Canada’s landmass is in its three northern territories. Sovereignty over the area has become a national priority for Canadian governments in the 21st century. There has been growing international interest in the Arctic due to resource development, climate change, control of the Northwest Passage and access to transportation routes. As Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in 2008, “The geopolitical importance of the Arctic and Canada’s interests in it have never been greater.”

During the 1880s, while Americans hunted seals on the Pribilof Islands, which the US had acquired from Russia in 1867, Canadians conducted sealing in the open waters. In 1886 US government revenue cutters, claiming to protect "American property," began seizing Canadian sealing vessels.

The CIM-10B Bomarc was the world’s first long-range, nuclear capable, ground-to-air anti-aircraft missile. Two squadrons of the missile were purchased and deployed by the Canadian government in 1958. This was part of Canada’s role during the Cold War to defend North America against an attack from the Soviet Union. Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s refusal to equip the missiles with nuclear warheads led to a souring of Canada’s relationship with the United States, especially once the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the issue to the fore. The issue split Diefenbaker’s Cabinet and contributed to his party losing the 1963 election.

The political boundaries that are of concern to Canada today are the international boundaries primarily with the US and Greenland and, because they are of more than local importance, the boundaries of the provinces and territories. The evolution of both types involved 2 distinct stages. After political decisions were made on the allocation of territory, such territories were delimited and the boundaries described in state documents. Then, usually some time later, the boundaries were surveyed and marked on the ground (the process of demarcation).

"The Americans are our best friends whether we like it or not." This statement, uttered in the House of Commons by  Robert Thompson, the leader of the Social Credit Party early in the 1960s, perhaps best captures the essence of Canada's complex relationship with its nearest neighbour.

IT'S A TRUE believer's kind of tale. The day after Canada officially ratified the Kyoto Protocol on CLIMATE CHANGE in December 2002, David Anderson was in New York City to deposit the freshly signed paper with the Treaty Section of the United Nations.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on February 28, 2005

Canada House, a distinctive symbol of Canadian interests in Britain, located in London's bustling Trafalgar Square.

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on September 23, 2002. Partner content is not updated. IT WAS BY MOST ACCOUNTS an uncomfortable meeting when Jean CHRÉTIEN sat down with George W. Bush for 45 minutes in Detroit's Cobo Hall last week.

The decolonization of the European empires after WWII produced many "new nations" and revealed how little economic and social development the colonial system had permitted its wards. The problem of the "Third World" and its "underdevelopment" was thus placed firmly on the global agenda.

The Automotive Products Trade Agreement of 1965, better known as the Canada-US Auto Pact, led to the integration of the Canadian and US auto industries in a shared North American market. While it brought great benefits to Canada, it was eventually found to be contrary to international trade rules and was cancelled in 2001. By then it had accomplished its biggest goal — an integrated North American industry with a much stronger Canadian presence.

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on 8 March 1999. Partner content is not updated. "The two leaders, who appeared relaxed with one another and frequently made eye contact, also agreed to work together on the mad cow issue.

The two sides are standing, in a more or less orderly fashion, behind the metal barricades. A supporter of Israel steps up on the railing and slowly waves his arm, middle finger extended, back and forth in the air. "Long live Palestine!" a young man shouts in response.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on May 27, 2002

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on July 18, 2005. Partner content is not updated. IT ISN'T OFTEN that Lloyd AXWORTHY, Canada's former foreign minister and lion of the political left, has an idea that could appeal to American neo-conservatives and evangelical Christians.