Canada Among Nations, 1994

Book excerpt: A Part of the Peace addresses three areas in international affairs which are of particular concern to Canadian foreign policy makers: multilateralism, regionalism and peacekeeping. The authors consider Canada's involvement within various multilateral institutions, in particular the United Nations and the GATT. The five essays in 'Disengagement From Regionalism' trace developments within Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific, as enthusiasm for regional integration ebbs and flows. The 1994 edition of Canada Among Nations concludes with the issue of peace. As the cold-war era recedes into memory, the new world order turns out to be a time of great uncertainty. Civil strife in Bosnia, Somalia, the former Soviet Union and Cambodia challenge our traditional notions of peacekeeping. As the United Nations' mandate to intervene evolves to meet these challenges, so Canadians are reconsidering their role within that mandate.