Taylor McDonald, Identity Discourses and Canadian Foreign Policy
Canada and the United States are steadfast allies. Canada fought alongside the U.S. through World Wars I and II, the Cold War, Korea, Balkans, the Middle East, and Afghanistan. The notable exception, however, was the 2003 Iraq War, from which Canada decided to abstain.
Visiting Scholar in Residence Taylor McDonald’s new book, Identity Discourses and Canadian Foreign Policy in the War on Terror, investigates the centrality of identity narratives to Canada’s two most paramount foreign policy decisions related to the so-called ‘Global War on Terror:’ the decision to join the US in the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the decision to abstain from the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
McDonald argues that both of these decisions became politically possible because parliamentarians linked these policies to similar narratives of an enduring Canadian identity, even while re-imagining their meanings. The decisions are explored through politicians’ mobilization of three discourses: Canada as America’s neighbor, 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.
Identity Discourses and Canadian Foreign policy in the War on Terror was published in 2023 as part of Palgrave Macmillan's "Canada and International Affairs" series, dedicated to timely policy-related research regarding Canada's place in the world.