Canada, Grand Strategy, and the Asia-Pacific: Past Lessons, Future Directions By David S.

McDonough This is an Author's Original Manuscript of an article whose final and definitive form, the Version of Record, has been published in the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal 18, 3 (2012) [Copyright Taylor and Francis], available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/11926422.2012.737340#.UZ6aD9L2auI. David S. McDonough is a SSHRC post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Political Science, Balsillie School of International Affairs at the University of Waterloo. He is editor of Canadas National Security in the Post-9/11 World: Strategy, Interests, and Threats (University of Toronto Press, 2012). Balsillie School of International Affairs, 67 Erb Street West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 6C2. Email: dsmcdonough@hotmail.com.

Some observers are willing to admit that Canadian security policies have at times proven strategically astute, even if such comments are rarely extended beyond the 1940-50s (Richter 2002; Maloney 2007). Yet few would label such behavior as grand strategy. As J. L. Granatstein (2011, p. 1) concludes, grand strategy is only found on the side of the big battalions and amongst great powers with sufficient human, industrial, and military resources. However, this view is overstated. Indeed, it places too great an emphasis on a strategy that is grand, as defined in a narrowly material sense, while forgetting that the crux of the term is actually on strategy and the need to match limited means with political ends. For one, David Haglund (2000, p. 7) makes clear that grand strategy is a more urgent imperative for those states that are not bounteously endowed with the material attributes of power. Importantly, grand strategy is no longer ignored in the Canadian context. For example, former defense minister David Pratt (2008, p. 2) was quick to advocate its use as a description of past behaviour and a tool to turn long term interests into long term policy. Indeed, much of his writings carry a forceful message that policy-makers should once again adopt a grand strategy; a prescriptive appeal with a strong lineage in the Canadian foreign policy literature, from R. B. Byers (1986) advocacy of a security policy to Nils rviks (1981) call for a defence against help strategy. But there are exceptions. David Haglund (1997, 2000) has pointed to the role of grand strategy principles exemplified in the concept of cooperative security and the North Atlantic Triangle as reflecting much of Canadas post-war behaviour, even if he acknowledges modesty (1997, p. 481) in this strategy since the late 1960s. The paper also accepts the existence of Canadian grand strategy. Indeed, it is my contention that Canada has not only demonstrated a historic capacity for strategic action, but has indeed pursued a consistent and relatively successful grand strategy. In that respect, it departs from much of the wider literature on Canadian foreign policy, which rarely deigns to look at grand strategy and tends to be quite critical of the countrys strategic direction since the end of the so-called golden age of Canadian foreign policy (Byers 1986; Nossal 1998-99). Even grand strategy, when raised by individuals like Pratt, is often used as a prescriptive or heuristic tool designed to inculcate an element of strategy hitherto missing in the countrys behavior.

In contrast, this account conceives of grand strategy as a description of behavior, which would be designed whether implicitly or explicitly to bridge military and non-military means with political ends (Gray 1999, p. 17). It is much closer in spirit, if not substance, to Haglunds perspective. Simply put, while he situates Canadian grand strategy on a trans-Atlantic basis, this account places it squarely in Canadas special relationship with the United States. Without the capacity to shape the international system, it is largely confined to adapting to and managing strategic relations with its superpower patron. However, despite a strategic tradition largely preoccupied with North America and Europe, Canada has not necessarily ignored events in the Pacific. Officials have twice before applied the same strategic principles in this theatre first as a direct participant in the Korean War and later with a more arms-length approach to Indochina. But there are important limits to any purported Canadian grand strategy in the Pacific. Indeed, Ottawas role in Korea and Indochina reveal both the strategic centrality of the United States and the countrys strong inclination for strategic disengagement from the region. Ultimately, Canada has only a modest capacity to independently engage in the Asia-Pacific. This fact will continue to constrain the application of a grand strategy towards this region for the foreseeable future, irrespective of any policy pronouncements that might emerge from Ottawa.

<A> Canadas Grand Strategy at Home and Abroad Canadas post-war behaviour has always been balanced between our role as a loyal American ally and our inclination towards what can only be termed ambivalence towards the United States, which becomes especially acute on those issues from nuclear weapons to missile defence where our preferences occasionally diverge. It is easy to disparage this balance as being either overly intimate, irrespective of any disagreements that may arise, or far too distant almost regardless of how much cooperation actually exists. However, Canadas position towards the United States rarely embodies either proximity or distance to an absolute degree, instead reflecting an often overlooked element of continuity in Canadian behaviour. On one hand, close cooperation tends to overshadow the low-key effort at distancing necessary to maintain a semblance of sovereignty and independence. On the other hand, arms-length positioning tends to mask cooperative measures designed to allay any possible American ire, thereby ensuring that the Canada-United States security alliance remains unharmed. Yet few accounts have examined this principle or behaviour trait in any great depth.1 Fewer still would accept that such ambiguous or vacillating policy responses has served Canada well, let alone embodies a strategic quality that has matched means with ends. Rather than discounting the wisdom of this balance, it might more appropriate to recognize this strategic principle as the defining characteristic in Canadian grand strategy. After all, it has ensured that Canadas perennial interest in both security and sovereignty were achieved, and trade-offs minimized. For example, Canada has found it beneficial to cooperate with the Americans on a variety of security matters. But even then, officials proved interested in ensuring that Canadian sovereignty and perceived independence abroad were not threatened. Yet occasionally, Canada is confronted with American policy preferences in which cooperation, while perhaps required and even beneficial
1

For an important exception, see Molot (1982).

from a security standpoint, would also detract from such political interests. In those cases, policy-makers tend to adopt a more explicitly distancing policy response, though one also matched with an equal measure of implicit cooperation in order to ensure that security was not compromised.2 Such a narrow conceptualization of Canadas grand strategy also has an additional benefit it provides some much needed specificity to a term often used in an overly broad and conceptually-haphazard manner. Canada has foremost been concerned with straddling the fine line between these two inclinations in what amounts to a goldilocks grand strategy. Elements of this strategy was first hinted at in 1938, when President Franklin Roosevelt promised to defend Canadian territory from predation and Prime Minister Mackenzie King assured that Canada would not allow enemy forces to threaten the United States. This bargain provided the foundation for the Canada-United States security alliance, but also contributed to Canadian concerns over the consequences that could arise from being too close to the Americans. After all, much of the rationale for Kings promise was to reassure our larger ally and ensure that it did not violate Canadian sovereignty a rationale well encapsulated in the term defence against help. However, due to the strategic disparity between both countries, even cooperation with the Americans could put at risk Canadian sovereignty. This point was brought home in the Second World War, when officials discovered the United States had deployed a veritable Army of Occupation on Canadian territory (Grant 1988). Canada entered the post-war period recognizing the need for adequate cooperation with the Americans, while ensuring that such joint endeavours did not endanger Canadian sovereignty. With Washingtons growing concerns over the Soviet threat and attendant interest in Canadian territory, which permitted bomber interceptions further away from populated areas, Canada had little choice other than to cooperate with the Americans on strategic defence. For example, both countries agreed to the joint construction of the Pinetree Line radar extension to Americas own Permanent network. And soon thereafter, Canada permitted the United States Air Force to cross the border in order to push any interceptions further north. Yet it is important not to underestimate the lingering concerns and extreme sensitivity to the potential derogation of Canadian sovereignty generated by Americas wartime presence in the Far North (Sutherland 1966, p. 261). As a result, Ottawa also obtained assurances on Canadian involvement in and control over the Pinetree Line extension and sought to place limits unsuccessful as it turned out on Americas capacity for cross-border interceptions (Jockel 1987). Canadas strong interest to place some limits on cooperation can also be seen with its proposal to form a joint Military Study Group, which according to David Cox (n.d., p. 11) was a quid pro quo for Canadian acquiescence of radar tests on its territory and designed to slow down the pace of these air defense efforts. It can also be seen in Canadas offer to independently fund and construct a Mid-Canada radar line, which led the United States to carry the burden of the costlier Distant Early Warning Line. Indeed, even when NORAD introduced seamless air defense cooperation between both countries in 1957, it was quickly followed by an exchange of
2

In its use of adaptive/incremental policy responses and the minimally-purposeful pursuit of higher-order priorities (security, sovereignty, independence), this process can be seen as cybernetic in origin. For a full exposition on the theoretical framework that underpins this analysis, which represents a combination of cybernetic theory and strategic culture, see McDonough (2011).

diplomatic notes that emphasized a nominal linkage to NATO and at least a promise of consultations. Canada was clearly heavily invested in cooperation at this time, but it is important not to underestimate the need for at least a semblance of distance from our ally, if only to create the illusion of independence necessary to make these bilateral/bi-national efforts political palatable. Importantly, Canadian officials would continue to adhere to this principle when the policy preferences of both countries began to diverge on the issue of ballistic missile defence. In these episodes, Canada showed a strong inclination to refrain from continuing with the cooperative ventures of the preceding two decades, whether due to the nuclear warheads envisioned for AntiBallistic Missile (ABM) systems or the close association between Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and space weaponization. Such initiatives offered a means to strengthen this bilateral partnership, but also represented a potential risk to Canadas sovereignty and even to its interest in an independent role abroad, given the controversy that came with these initiatives. Yet there was also a surprising degree of implicit cooperation calibrated to assuage American security anxiety, which critics of these decisions often overlook. In the former, while refusing to be committed to ABM, Canada was also careful to wait for American assurances that the 1968 NORAD renewal did not automatically entail such participation. Officials also accepted the ABM exclusion clause offered by the United States, while readily assenting to the short-lived assignment of NORADs early warning role to the Safeguard system (Fergusson 2010, p. 45). In the latter, while refusing Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger invitation to be involved in SDI, Canada was also careful to allow private firms to participate in related research projects. More importantly, Canadas refusal also coincided with significant effort by both countries to modernize and upgrade the continents air defence system. For example, Canada signed on to the 1985 North American Air Defence Modernization Agreement, which resulted in a number of upgrades to the existing architecture, while also participating in the Air Defense Initiative that looked at ground- and space-based technologies for future air-breathing threats (Tutwiler, 1989). That being said, officials were equally keen to escape the dangers of a too exclusively continental relationship with our neighbor (Pearson 1973, p. 32) With Soviet intransigence creating an effective stalemate at the United Nations, Canada soon joined with its British and American allies to discuss an alternative arrangement, which resulted in the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949. Yet even here, despite both countries now closely tied to the defence of Europe, officials still sought a small measure of independence in this latest cooperative venture. For instance, Canada was careful to ensure that their respective commitments took place within a multilateral setting that could mitigate the unilateralism of American policy (Buteux 1995, p. 159). And to make the agreement domestically palatable, Canadian negotiators successfully pushed to include a modest economic and social provision in Article 2 of the Treaty. At first, Canada was hopeful that signing the North Atlantic Treaty would actually result in defence savings (Eayrs 1980, p. 191). Yet Canadian resolve, and that of its allies, was quickly stiffened by the Soviet-backed North Korean invasion of South Korea. As a direct result, Canada not only accelerated its air defence efforts at home, but also followed the American lead in expeditionary deployments abroad temporarily in Korea and on a more permanent basis in Western Europe. While assenting to the alliances militarization, Canadian officials were also 4

keen to show its public that such cooperation in no way detracted from its independence. As such, they welcomed a role on the Committee of the North Atlantic Community and the Committee of the Three to study non-military forms of cooperation, while also ensuring that such distancing was modest in scope and did not go beyond American tolerance (Milloy, 2006). Yet the St. Laurent government soon found itself under increasing pressure from its NATO allies and particularly the Americans for an even greater expeditionary commitment that it could ill afford, especially given the concurrent air defence efforts taking place in North America. This did not mean that Canada was quite ready to scale back its commitments, but it surely was keen to at least put in place some important limitations first by effectively freezing the size of its contributions to these forces-in-being, and then by incorporating nuclear warheads as a more cost-effective solution. The fact that the United States was also looking at nuclear weapons to offset the perceived Soviet conventional advantage made such a solution especially palatable (Bercuson 1992). As the 1960s progressed, however, officials were soon eager to relinquish this increasingly controversial nuclear role. But they were also less enamoured by the prospect of even maintaining a Canadian military contribution to Europe, let alone increasing it even if NATOs acceptance of Flexible Response in 1968 seemed to presage a conventional build-up. Such a prospect was anathema to successive Liberal governments eager to refocus on a domestic agenda and avoid higher defence spending, especially during a period of dtente that many expected would result in a peace dividend. Indeed, under the leadership of Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, Canada undertook a gradual military withdrawal from NATOs forces-in-being in Europe a trend that was never fully reversed even by their Conservative successor. While their respective actions have often been decried by critics, it is important to recognize that this retrenchment was gradual in nature, limited in scope, and partially offset by other measures. For instance, while cutting Canadas air contribution by half, Pearson was careful to leave Canadas ground commitment to the Central Front untouched and promised support to NATOs newly created mobile force (English 1990; Maloney 2004). To be sure, Trudeau would go further by cutting and denuclearizing Canadas air and ground commitments to Europe from four to two air squadrons and from 10,000 to 5,000 troops (Maloney 2005). But the prime minister also accepted the formation of a transportable brigade group to reinforce Norway in wartime and by 1975 injected new funds into the capital portion of the defense budget. Even denuclearization took place at a time when NATOs interest in such tactical weapons was in sharp decline. Importantly, both Pearson and Trudeau refrained from following the advice of those officials hoping for an even more dramatic cut from Paul Hellyer and Walter Gordon to Donald MacDonald and Ivan Head. Canadas grand strategy has been directed at the United States and guided by the principle that a balance must be maintained between proximity and distance. Cooperation would proceed largely uninterrupted so long as the countrys sovereignty and perceived independence were not threatened or at least safeguarded by modest efforts at distancing, whether by ensuring that Canadian sovereignty was protected on air defense or by becoming a stalwart advocate of nonmilitary cooperation within NATO. But once these political interests were endangered, officials were quick to adopt a much more arms-length position to our close ally though such distancing 5

was always offset by concurrent effort at cooperation and accommodation to ensure that the security alliance remained intact. The important point is not necessarily the distinction between proximity and distance, but rather Canadas tendency to combine elements of both inclinations in its strategic behaviour, thereby showing a degree of strategic consistency often overlooked by other accounts of Canadian foreign policy. This strategic principle has continued to shape Canadian policy responses to the Americans even into the post-9/11 era. This can be seen in the most recent iteration of missile defence, when Canadas refusal to participate was offset by both the permission to use NORADs early warning and attack assessment role in any such intercept and the substantial increase in defence and border security funding (Barry 2010, p. 36). And it can also be seen in its decision to refuse to participate in the Iraq War, even as it deployed under NATO auspices in Afghanistan and continued with a low-key military role in Iraq.3 Yet this does not mean that Canadas attention never looked out to the Pacific. Indeed, by identifying the major characteristics of Canadian grand strategy in its traditional domain, one can usefully assess whether such a strategic principle is also evident in the countrys strategic behaviour in that often neglected theatre. <A> Canadian Strategic Principles in the Asia-Pacific Even at the onset of the Second World War, Canadian officials could ill afford to ignore events transpiring in the Pacific. Indeed, Canada first undertook a modest military build-up in 1936 largely in response to developments in the Pacific an early example of defence against help, designed to ensure that America did not encroach on British Columbia in a military confrontation with Japan (Perras 1998, pp. 15, 20-21). Yet such concerns proved to be especially short-lived. Indeed, Canadas wartime role in the Pacific was a small and relatively disengaged one limited to the Battle of Hong Kong, a joint operation with the United States to capture an abandoned Aleutian island, and the designation of some air and ground units to help protect the West Coast and Alaska (Morton, 1946). As Stephen Beecroft (1991, p. 44) concludes, Canadas defeat at Hong Kong eradicated anytaste for future participation in the strategic affairs of the region. Canadian political leaders emerged from the Second World War still heavily disinclined to be involved in the Pacific, which Washingtons clear preference for bilateral hub-and-spokes arrangements did very little to quell. However, Canada took a tentative step forward by agreeing to the American request to serve on the UN Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) in 1947, which might have allowed Canada to project the image of a North Pacific power but was primarily motivated by the need to cement the Canada-United States partnership within the United Nations (Price 2004, p. 307). When North Korean intransigence obstructed efforts at peninsula-wide elections, Canada acquiesced to American preferences for using the commission to supervise and help legitimize elections in South Korea. Yet this did not stop officials from subtle effort at distancing such as by making the case that supervising South Korean elections was neither part of UNTCOKs mandate nor conducive to the commissions independence (Stairs 1974). Indeed, the St. Laurent government was quick to extract itself from serving on a new UN commission formed to deal with the contentious issue of political unification.
3

For example, Canada commanded the multinational naval task force that supported the Iraq War and had 30 Canadian military personnel at US Central Command in Qatar, as well as military exchange personnel amongst its allies who were involved directly in Iraq. See Stein and Lang (2007) and Beltrame (2003).

With North Koreas aggression across the 38th parallel, Canada joined the United States in undertaking a sizable military rearmament process, which led to greatly accelerated defense efforts in North America and Western Europe and an unprecedented military engagement in Korea. It would begin modestly enough, with the deployment of three destroyers and a transport squadron. Undoubtedly, Canada had a considerable interest in supporting a police action under the auspices of the United Nations. Much of its diplomatic activity was even directed at ensuring the UN character of the mission, if only in the wording of the resolutions that authorized this intervention. Yet Canadian officials continued to delay in committing ground forces to Korea. To be sure, Canadas military was simply too small for such a military expedition (Prince 19921993, p. 139). Yet there was also a conviction that the main strategic front in the cold war was in Europe, and that Korea comprised a peripheral engagement which must not be allowed to drain Canadas strength from more important theatres (Stairs 1974, p. 76) However, pressure was also surely mounting for Canada to undertake more than a token contribution to Korea. Before long, Ottawa agreed to the formation of a Canadian Army Special Force, which was earmarked for deployment to Korea and designed to not detract from regular force expansion. Clearly, even as it prepared a temporary force for deployment to the Pacific, officials were eager to retain a regular capacity to contribute to the equally pressing (and more important) commitments in North America and Europe. Indeed, on two occasions, Canada contemplated deploying this special force for use in Europe first, when General Douglas MacArthurs planned the successful landing at Inchon, which seemed to presage an end of active combat operations; and second, when Chinas massive intervention fundamentally altered the character of the Korean War (Bercuson 1992). But despite such entreaties, Canada was soon cajoled to deploy this special force renamed the 25th Canadian Infantry Brigade for combat operations in Korea. It might be true that the United Nations provided a critical stimulus for Canadas military involvement in Korea. At the very least, it made Canadian participation more palatable to officials who might have shown some wariness at being too close to the Americans. Yet one should also not discount the fact that Canada faced considerable pressure to commit more substantial (e.g., ground) forces, which was especially evident from its American ally as shown on those occasions when officials had either prevaricated over a ground commitment or sought to deploy such a force elsewhere. While still preferring a strategically disengaged role in the Pacific, Canada found itself deploying air, naval, and eventually ground forces in Korea, and it did so largely at the behest of increasingly adamant American preferences. As Robert Prince (1992-93, p. 136) notes, the initial reaction of officials like Lester Pearson and John Holmes can be described as giving a seal of approval to American action and reassuring our ally of Canadian support rather than warn that ally of Canadian concerns. But Ottawa was not necessarily unqualified in its support of the United States. Indeed, Canada were keen to maximize the authority of the United Nations and thereby help restrain some of the more hard-line elements in the United States, lest our neighbor be tempted to finally rollback communist influence in Asia. Canada might have chosen to delay its recognition of Communist China upon the outbreak of the Korean War, but it had little interest in condoning any American actions in Korea that could precipitate a wider war with China, especially since such a conflict 7

would pose an intolerable danger to the Wests strategically crucial position in Europe and at worst could serve as a prelude to Soviet-United States military conflict. Simply put, Canadian leaders thought that the conflict in Korea should not be allowed to siphon the defensive capabilities of the West away from more vital theatres elsewhere (Stairs 1974, p. 149). As a result, Canada opted to balance its cooperation in the Korean War with a modest dose of distancing, in what Stairs has aptly termed the diplomacy of constraint. For example, given their interest in keeping the Korean War localized, officials often reminded the United States on the need to refrain from linking the Korean conflict with the defense of Formosa. As noted by Timothy Sayle (2007, p. 700), they used their role in bilateral consultations to discourage the Americans from either relying on nuclear threats or escalating any small conflict into a global war. Yet on many issues, Canada was simply not willing to pressure the Americans very hard at all (Prince 1992-93, p. 137). This was exemplified by its decision to acquiesce to the expansion of the conflict north of the 38th parallel, even though this likely helped to ensure Chinas eventual military participation in the war. Canada was not necessarily uninterested in achieving distance in its relations with the Americans whether by initially trying to shirk responsibilities or by leveraging the UN and other mechanisms to restrain their more bellicose behavior. But Ottawa also had little inclination to forego close cooperation with the United States, especially since officials largely shared American fears over communist aggression in Korea and recognized that the fate of the UN as a collective security organization hinged on this police action. In such circumstances, cooperation did not necessarily detract from Canadas interest in achieving an independent role abroad, even if concern about further escalation did prompt some modest effort to constrain our ally. Canadas participation in the Korean War lasted until an armistice was finally signed in 1953. Officials also took part in sessions of the 1954 Geneva Conference that was convened to finalize a peace treaty for Korea, even if it ultimately failed to materialize. Yet the Geneva Conference was not solely limited to the Korean War. Indeed, between those sessions that dealt with the Korean peninsula, other participants had come together to discuss a resolution to Frances colonial war in Indochina. Canada might not have been a participant at these Indochina sessions, but its presence at Geneva did offer an opportunity to be kept abreast of key developments in that other Asian conflict (Lennox 2009; Ross 1984). Officials in Ottawa were well aware of the bloody war between the French Union Forces and the Vietminh. True, Canada did offer some modest support to its NATO ally, such as putting little resistance when military equipment given to French forces in Europe under Mutual Aid was transferred to Indochina (Eayrs 1980, pp. 150-153). Equally, however, it had little inclination to be involved in this colonial war, and indeed saw it as only another drain on NATOs military strength in Europe. For instance, Frances military commitment to Indochina stalled its training of personnel for Europe, while the deployment of twelve divisions to this war significantly detracted from NATOs Medium Term Defense Plan force goals (Duffield 1995, p. 58). . Canada was also quite clear that it had little desire to be engaged in Indochina. This can be seen in 1952, when he stated that that the conflict did not entail a clear-cut breach of the peace, which was used so successfully to justify police action in Korea, as well as when he took issue 8

with John Foster Dulles call for united action in March 1954 (Ross 1984, pp. 42, 49, 59). It was also on display at the 1954 Geneva Conference itself, when Pearson responded to the rumors of a collective security pact for the Pacific by giving an airtight case for non-involvement in the Indochinese fighting (Ross 1984, p. 69). Not surprisingly, the United States did not invite Canada to join the Southeast Asian Collective Defense Treaty (SEATO) announced soon after the Geneva talks. Canada might have observed Frances colonial war with a sense of disquiet. But it soon grew alarmed when President Eisenhower contemplated military intervention and nuclear use to forestall Frances defeat at Dienbienphu. In that sense, Canadas dominant concerns in Indochina clearly paralleled that which so troubled policy-makers during Korea that the conflict could either quickly expand to a war against Communist China or escalate to involve tactical and even strategic nuclear weapons. However, while relying on the United Nations to help justify its decision to enter the Korean War, Canada proved equally adroit in using the UNs minimal role in Indochina to justify its military non-involvement in this one. Canada clearly shared American preferences on the need to resist aggression in Korea, especially given the prospect that the Soviets had used this war to test the Wests resolve. But Ottawa saw Indochina as an anti-colonial struggle that lacked Koreas clear-cut aggression and took place at a time when Communism seemed less monolithic and threatening. One should also not underestimate the recent wartime experience in Korea, which had dangerous escalatory potential that would only be magnified in Indochina. Simply put, while cooperation might have been palatable in Korea, officials were inclined to see a similar role in Indochina as being incompatible not only with Canadian interest but more broadly with its independent role abroad. As a result, Prime Minister St. Laurent was inclined to adopt much greater distancing role in Indochina. With the Geneva Conference producing a temporary end to hostilities in Indochina, Canada was asked to serve on the International Commission for Supervision and Control (ICSC). The ICSC was given responsibility to oversee the implementation of three Cease-Fire Agreements for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, as well as the Final Agreement for a political settlement between North and South Vietnam. Unfortunately, there was little expectation that these agreements would actually be fully implemented, especially since they only served to postpone rather than resolve the conflict (Ross 1984, p. 86). Indeed, South Vietnam was never part of any of these agreements, while the United States refused to sign the Final Agreement. As a result, Canada took up this role on the ICSC with more than a little reluctance. Unlike with UNTCOK, Canada benefited neither from the legitimacy proffered by the United Nations, nor enjoyed much in the way of American support for the ICSC. As Douglas Ross (1982a, p. 59) notes, officials even had legitimate fears of American antagonism towards all governments associated with this alleged act of appeasement. Still, with its intent on playing a more distant arms-length role in Indochina undiminished, Canada took position on the ICSC and its delegates sat alongside those from India and Poland. Canada also agreed to use its position on the ICSC to gather intelligence on the North Vietnamese. However, as noted by Patrick Lennox (2009, p. 21) the agreement to serve as Washingtons intelligence gatherer was to remain unpublicized.

The ICSC did have some success in the initial years of its existence, such as with the disengagement and regroupment of the armed combatants. Soon enough, it faced a major crisis in dealing with North Vietnams violation on the free movement of people, in which the North tried to stem the number of refugees fleeing to South Vietnam. While the Americans might have preferred a strong protest of the Norths violation of the armistice, the Canadian delegation to the ICSC demurred (Ross 1984). They might have had little illusion as to the nature of North Vietnams violations, whether on the free movement of people, the import of arms and material from Communist China, or the human rights violations then underway in the North. But Canada was also worried that a more confrontational approach would only jeopardize the precarious peace in Indochina, at a time when the Americans were already embroiled in a nuclear crisis over Quemoy and Matsu islands in the Formosa Straits (Chang 1998). That being said, Canada was adroit enough to offer some implicit support to the American position, which helped to delay the seemingly inevitable clash between North and South and ensured that both South Vietnam and the United States would be better prepared for such a conflagration. For example, the Canadian delegation consistently turned a blind eye to the Temporary Equipment Recovery Mission, which was ostensibly mandated to transfer out French military equipment but instead often gave refurbished materials back to South Vietnam. Canada also successfully recommended that the ICSC provide Saigon with export credits to offset the destruction of French military equipment, while also permitting the United States to double the Military Assistance Advisory Group (Ross 1984, pp. 224, 230-231). Importantly, such cooperation continued to be overshadowed by Canadas voting record that tended to penalize South Vietnam, to the extent that some observers (Thakur 1980, pp. 133-34) placed an inordinate emphasis on Canadas impartiality on the ICSC and overlooked its cooperative stance with South Vietnams rearmament. By the 1960s, as the Americans escalated their military involvement in Vietnam, Canada continued to show little interest in following Australia into that quagmire. It also had little problem by continuing to point to the UNs non-involvement in order to help justify such inaction. Yet Canadian officials were also keen to offset its non-participation with some effort at cooperation calibrated to assuage its large ally. Both elements were readily apparent in Lester Pearsons Philadelphia Speech in 1965. While often remembered for his suggestion for American restraint and an attendant bombing pause, he also offered verbal support for South Vietnams resistance to aggression and defended American action as an example of peacekeeping and peacemaking (Ross 1984, p. 258). With the savagery of the war unrelenting, Canada turned increasingly to strengthen its effort at distancing from its mediation role between North Vietnam and the United States to the increasingly vocal calls by Pearson, Martin, and others for unconditional bombing pauses. Clearly, Canada had grown sanguine on the American capacity to prosecute this war with only conventional means, even if officials still had some fear that such a conflict could escalate to involve China. Yet Canada still refrained from any drastic action. For example, while Canadian military exports to United States were being used in Vietnam, the Pearson government refused to rethink the defense production sharing arrangements with the Americans, lest there were costs if Canada ever broke decisively with the United States on this issue (Kirton 1974, p. 130)

10

In 1973, when the Americans finally managed to extricate itself from Vietnam with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, Canada then found itself serving at American behest on a new commission the International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS). To be sure, Canada was under no illusion that this agreement actually represented a substantial peace settlement. And the ICCS was even less successful than its predecessor, in so far as the conflict between South Vietnam and the Vietcong showed little sign of abating. However, Canada was not only invited by its superpower ally to serve on this new commission, but also eager to support any measure that could help finally put an end to Americas military intervention. Yet the Canadian delegation would leave the ICCS only several months after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. Given that this agreement was far from a peace settlement, it is doubtful whether Canadas disengagement did much to hasten the eventual collapse of the Accords. Importantly, however, Canadas exit took place soon after the last American ground troop had left Vietnam, thereby accomplishing what some officials had always envisioned; in Mitchell Sharps words, To help the United States extricate itself from Vietnam (Lennox 2009, p. 37). As Douglas Ross (1982b, pp. 33-34) concludes, the loss of South Vietnamwas not per se a concern of any great moment to western governments, including Canadas. Americas capacity to sustain its credibility as a great power guarantor was a real concern. Canada has clearly found it necessary to turn its grand strategy on occasion to the Pacific though much of this effort was directed to ensure that the United States did not overextend itself. As Brian Job (1991, p. 33) explains, this commitment was seen as an extension of a larger Cold War containment strategy centred in Europe. Canada did seek to do so with minimal involvement in the region, but it still played a supportive military role in Korea and an equally important diplomatic role in Indochina. Importantly, this account also shows that some of the debate on Canadas role in both episodes has been overstated. On one hand, Canada did participate in the Korean War at the behest of the Americans, but this does not mean that Denis Stairs is incorrect on either the importance of the United Nations or the Canadian interest in constraining the United States though such distancing efforts should be placed in their proper context. Just the same, while surely interested in ensuring that peace prevailed in Indochina, this does not mean that Canada was not also complicit in American action even if such effort at proximity remained relatively modest in nature.4 With the conclusion to Americas military forays, however, one can detect a notable decline in the Canadian role in Asia-Pacific security affairs. This decline undoubtedly has much to do with Washingtons own disengagement from the region following the Vietnam debacle. But it is equally a result of Sino-American rapprochement, which finally put an end to the possibility of a war between both countries that could escalate to nuclear use and destabilize the wider EastWest balance. Henceforth, Canada would look at Asia-Pacific security with some degree of equanimity. Yet Canadas disengagement took place just as its economic and trade relations in the region were rapidly developing, first with Japan, then with the newly industrialized economies, and most recently with China. In that sense, Canadian behavior seems to violate that well hued realist notion that from economic interests inevitably arise strategic concerns.

References to the debate over Canadas role in Korea and Vietnam are raised by Timothy Sayle (2007) and Patrick Lennox (2009).

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Yet such musings tend to overlook what Haglund (1999, p. 191) calls Americas overwhelming presence in Canadas economy, which greatly reduces the discrepancy between Asia-Pacific and European trade profiles. Just as it is important not to overstate the importance of trade with the Asia-Pacific, one should be wary of exaggerating the potential impact of Chinas rise to Canadas economic future. Despite claims of a strategic partnership in 2005, Canadas trade with China remains small and is indeed declining relative to other advanced Western economies. As noted by Bruce Gilley (2011, p. 255), To the extent that Canada is structurally integrated with any Asian country, it is Japan, not China, and neither comes close to rivalling Canada's structural integration with the United States. Of course, successive Canadian governments have continued to emphasize Canadas role as a Pacific nation. The Trudeau government claimed that it had new interest in Pacific affairs generally (Keith 1992, p. 319), even if little of substantive actually emerged under his tenure. In turn, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney promised a more muscular role in the Pacific, whether by creating a three-oceans navy or procuring nuclear submarines that could buttress Canadas surveillance and anti-submarine warfare capability in that theatre (Langdon and Ross 1987; Sokolsky 1989). But Mulroneys naval ambitions would fall prey to tough economic and budgetary realities. Even his Liberal successor seemed much more inclined to focus on economic matters exemplified by Prime Minister Jean Chrtiens hosting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and decision to send Team Canada missions to China. Canadas only significant venture in Asia-Pacific security after Indochina appears to have been Mulroneys North Pacific Cooperative Security Dialogue (NPCSD), which was designed to facilitate discussions on security issues between government officials (track-one) and academics (track-two) from key North Pacific countries (Henderson 1992). Yet the Dialogue was also notoriously short-lived, lasting from 1990 to 1993. One participant even concludes that the NPCSDs sudden end damaged Canadas reputation in the region and left many people to doubt the countrys staying power (Jones 2008, p. 15). It was surely Canadas most significant attempt to become strategically re-engaged in that region. Since then, most of Canadas others efforts have been limited to narrow economic concerns, in which security matters were largely left to the initiative of other Asia-Pacific players. Canada might have then punched above our weight on issues of economics and trade, as Hugh Stephens (2012, p. 3) recently described it. But even if true, it would still be an exaggeration to use the label strategic to describe such economic activity, let alone grand strategy. <A> Conclusion Much of Canadas forays in the Pacific were underpinned by concern over the direction of American strategic policy and its detrimental impact on the Central Front. This reveals not only the historic limits to the countrys strategic role in that theatre, but also the challenges likely to arise in the pursuit of an independent grand strategy for the region, notwithstanding the occasional exhortations on Canadas place as a Pacific nation. Yet this does necessarily mean that Canadas Pacific strategy has simply come and gone. Nor does it mean, as John Holmes (1971, p. 9) once said, that Canada should leave security initiatives to those giants of the Pacific Rim and concentrate instead on economic issues. Canada could very well find itself strategically re-engaged and in pursuit of a grand strategy in the Asia-Pacific, but it could only 12

do so as a North American rather than a Pacific nation and one with a historic and intimate strategic partnership with the United States. Much still depends on how Americas own strategic orientation to the Pacific develops, with perhaps the most important question being how Washington responds to Chinas rise. Does the United States continue to hedge its bets by combining elements of engagement with containment? Or does it move more decisively in either direction? After all, the Obama administration has recently announced a pivot towards the Asia-Pacific, after nearly a decade in which Americas strategic attention was largely fixated on the global war on terrorism and stabilization missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is still too soon to know whether this strategic re-engagement actually represents a prelude to more significant changes in American strategy, but Canada would do well to recognize that Washingtons attention will increasingly be directed across the Pacific. So far, Canada has shown little interest in the American debate on how to best deal with a rising China, even if much of its economically-driven behavior speaks of an implicit preference for engagement. And the United States has preferred to look to its own resources and those of its key Asian allies to buttress the offshore balancing elements of its hedging strategy. Yet this might very well change in the coming years. On one hand, Washington seems set to implement some modest effort at defense retrenchment, which could still impact its capabilities in the Asia-Pacific and lead to some cajoling of its key allies, including Canada. On the other hand, there is a possibility that the United States might need to openly buttress its military balancing role against China. As such, unless the geo-strategic situation changes sufficiently to permit greater engagement, Canada is likely to feel even greater American attention on its role in the region. It is difficult to assess the Canadian response. Much depends on the context, specifically whether Canadas acquiescence to American preferences would result in a trade-off to the pursuit of an independent role abroad. For example, officials would likely be much more open to cooperate in the face of either growing Chinese belligerence or explicit interest among Americas allies in the theatre. Otherwise, Canada might be tempted to continue its strategically disengaged role in the Asia-Pacific though officials would likely not openly criticize or obstruct American action and, if necessary, might even offer the covert use of military assets in support of our ally. That being said, Canada might have little choice other than to fall in line with the Americans, especially if they hinted in no uncertain terms their interest in Canadian support. First, Canada could seek out greater military-to-military ties with a number of American allies in the region, such as Australia and perhaps even Japan. Second, it could pursue a greater naval role in support of American strategy in the Pacific, which seems especially natural given the historic cooperation and high-level of interoperability between both countries respective fleets. This would necessarily the further repositioning of naval assets from the Atlantic to the Pacific (Adams 2012). It could also very well involve Canadian involvement in naval exercises beyond RIMPAC and in any future maritime coalitions of the willing. Even then, however, officials would likely prefer to situate such cooperation on a multilateral basis though given Americas suspicion over such multilateralism in the Asia-Pacific, it would likely have to settle for a semblance of a more independent role, such as by encouraging further Sino-American dialogue.

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Naval assets have a certain advantage irrespective of the Canadian response. While useful for open naval cooperation with the Americans, they also represent very flexible assets that could be used in a more unpublicized manner. In either case, however, it is important that these naval platforms have the capabilities necessary to participate in more contested maritime domains, especially given Chinas growing anti-access capabilities designed to contest American maritime supremacy. With current plans to replace Canadas aging frigates and destroyers, the government should ensure that any next-generation naval assets be capable of operating in more contested domains in East Asia. Sadly, there has been little discussion on what naval capabilities might be required for future contingencies in the Asia-Pacific and whether more advanced systems, such as the Aegis combat system, might even be required (McDonough 2012).

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