Identity discourses and Canadian foreign policy in the war on terror

This book examines how popular narratives of Canadian identity became implicated in Canada’s foreign policy in the Global War on Terror.

McDonald argues that Canada’s decisions to join the 2001 Afghanistan War yet abstain from the 2003 Iraq War became politically possible because parliamentarians linked these policies to similar narratives of an enduring Canadian identity - even while re-imagining their meanings.

These decisions are explored through politicians’ mobilization of three discourses: Canada as America’s neighbour, Canada as protector of foreign civilians, and Canada as a champion of multilateralism.

This book challenges conceptions of national identity as entirely stable or fluid and contests predominant arguments that downplay the role of identity discourses in Canadian foreign policy.

The relevance of these narratives is assessed by exploring the rhetoric of Canadian foreign policy in light of contemporary international challenges, including the Donald Trump presidency, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Russia’s War on Ukraine.