A rchive Date
[ 14-09-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/mansur_toronto.html
'Soft power' is just a Liberal myth
By SALIM MANSUR -- For the Toronto Sun
September 12, 2002
LONDON, Ont. -- In a world of nation-states, the currency that matters most, and upon which rests the fragile structure of peace, is military power.
We may protest that this should not be, that we must strive to make a world where the wolf shall dwell with the lamb. In the meantime, however, the wolves of nation-states need to be contained and occasionally punished, and there is no substitute for military power when such unpleasant tasks have to be performed.
It is now clear that Prime Minister Jean Chretien, as his Liberal predecessors, having little regard for the currency of military power, has so depleted the nation's Armed Forces that traditional allies have not much use for Canadian diplomacy when vital issues of international peace and security are at stake.
The word from U.S. President George Bush to Prime Minister Chretien on Iraq at their Detroit meeting on Monday was to listen to his speech today at the UN. This cold shoulder by the American president of a Canadian prime minister is indicative of how distant Washington has become from Ottawa.
And that should be a matter of concern to all Canadians.
What has brought about this situation is obvious. Canada is no longer seen as a reliable player in the vital game of nation-states where the currency is military power and peace is at stake.
Chretien's disregard for military power is reflected in the steady decline of defence expenditure as a percentage of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) during his term in office. In 1993, defence expenditure amounted to 1.9% of GDP, and presently amounts to 1.1% of GDP. At this level, Canada sits at the bottom of both the G8 nations and the Western European members of NATO. Spain and Holland are ahead of Canada, as is Turkey.
The long years of neglecting Canada's defence needs amounted to taking somewhat of a free ride in the council of western nations. When the crunch came in the form of a shooting war, as in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, Canada could not sustain a military presence for the long haul.
Sept. 11 also exposed the hollowness of the idea of "soft power" diplomacy as a substitute for military power.
Those who spoke about soft power, as did Lloyd Axworthy, the former Canadian foreign minister - "influencing the behaviour of other nations not through military intimidation but through a variety of diplomatic and political tools" - were, perhaps, not being disingenuous as much as they were striving to mask their refusal to invest in Canada's Armed Forces.
Diplomacy in a quest for peace is only effective when supported by military power.
In neglecting defence requirements, the Liberals were moreover failing Canadians by undermining what they prize most, their independence and sovereignty, as much as their health care.
On this matter the Liberals could learn from what the former British defence minister, Denis Healey of the Labour party, said during a parliamentary debate in 1969: "Once we have cut expenditures to the extent where our security is imperilled, we have no houses, we have no hospitals, we have no schools. We have a heap of cinders."
The one thing certain about Saddam Hussein is his instinctive understanding of military power. As a despot, unanswerable to anyone except superior force, he has neglected everything human and humane in his ruthless bid to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
RECKLESS WOLF
How near Saddam is in acquiring nuclear weapons to add to his arsenal of biological and chemical weapons may be disputed. What is indisputable, given his record, is how much more reckless a wolf he will become imperilling peace in his region and beyond.
No wonder President Bush has not taken Prime Minister Chretien into his confidence on the single most important issue of peace and security since Sept. 11.
The legacy of three terms in office for Prime Minister Chretien will not be his spending in health care or urban renewal, but in the neglect of Canadian defence requirements mortgaging Canada's security, hence sovereignty, to American protection.
Salim Mansur is a professor of political science at the University of Western Ontario. His column appears alternate Thursdays
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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