The World in Canada

The government of Canada’s International Policy Statement, released in mid April, spells out a proactive and ambitious foreign policy. Its main goal, as the statement’s subtitle says, is to build for Canada “a role of pride and influence in the world.” It represents the most ambitious vision in a generation for promoting Canadian values and interests—on this continent with the United States and, independently, across the globe. In the four areas of foreign policy it enumerates—diplomacy, defence, development and commerce— the government proposes to aim higher and spend more.

But spending more without a strategic vision will not succeed in spurring Canada to achieve its full potential. There is a glimpse of one such vision in the document, although it is left underdeveloped. A key recurring theme in the statement is that “the world is changing, quickly and radically, and these changes matter to Canada … We are in the midst of a major rebalancing of global power.” In...