The Harper government’s foreign policy sharply differs from many previous government. However Harper’s foreign policy differs most from previous Liberal governments. Most notably the Harper government seems to have broken the “Pearsonian” tradition of liberal internationalist multilateral foreign policy tradition. Canada’s tradition has always been to find common ground to work with like minded countries. All of these traditions were an important part of Canada’s middle power. Canada has maintained its middle power status by advancing our national interest abroad by working with like-minded countries to expand national interests. An area where the Harper government has not consistent is with the practice of declared principles. Canada has partnered with countries such as China and Saudi Arabia, countries where human rights and free government have not been very …show more content…
Peter Lyon has once described that. Canadian foreign policy has had a history of sacrifice and contribution. After World War Two in 1945 Canada has lent much of its resources to help create the United Nations, the Bretton Woods system, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As threats of the Cold War spread across the globe Canada became very active in peacekeeping missions. Canada’s commitment to multilateralism and peaceful resolutions has carried out to the 20th centuries. These campaigns have included ridding the world of landmines, and Canada playing a leadership role and leading the establishment of the International Criminal Courts. Canada’s label as a middle power implies that although they do not have the hard economic and military power capabilities, they had more power than the “soft:” countries at the bottom, while also having the ability to influence those countries with little