Looking back to and forward from Kim Richard Nossal’s The Politics of Canadian Foreign Policy

Abstract

Revisiting Kim Richard Nossal’s 1997 textbook on Canadian foreign policy—with its reputation as a valuable source in the analysis of the evolution of Canadian international relations enhanced by the privileging of the political component—makes for compelling reading in 2014. This review article argues that even if many of the substantive themes in Nossal’s survey with respect to Canada’s foreign policy as exhibited by the government of Stephen Harper miss the mark, the core ingredients of the domestic context showcased by Nossal’s work are even more relevant nearly 20 years on.