Canada has played a vital role in international relations for the majority of its 144 year history since the signing of Confederation in 1867. Canada first participated in World War I, then World War II in 1939-1945. Following World War II, Canada was also involved in the Korean War. Canada has been primarily a peacekeeping nation. There are many questions people ask when a high income country goes to help a lower income nation such as Afghanistan. What are Canada’s motives for helping out Afghanistan? Who will benefit from Canada going to war in Afghanistan? These are some of the questions many people have. While Canada has many domestic problems of its own such as homelessness, poverty and increasing national debt, why should Canada …show more content…
If I believed in the social conflict perspective, my views on the reasons why Canada would participate in the war in Afghanistan would be that the basic human rights of Afghan women are being violated, lives of Afghan citizens and insurgents are being sacrificed for the betterment of living conditions. In order for the people of Afghanistan to live better lives, the higher income nations such as Canada and the United States need to intervene. However, there is a human and economic cost to achieve this goal. With any war, there will be casualties of war due to friendly fire and missiles that miss their intended targets. Unlike any previous war that has happened, the Taliban’s and insurgents choice of weapons is to use improvised explosive device (IED). The roads, trails and fields are covered with road side bombs that are created from everyday materials. These bombs are not seen by civilians who can endanger innocent people a risk for injury and …show more content…
Along with the financial costs, there is human cost with the loss of life of civilians, Canadian soldiers. The invasion of Afghanistan is only a short term solution to a bigger problem. When Canada and other nations leave the country, the Taliban and the warlord tribes will continue to insight fear on the Afghan citizens (Endersby, 2011).
Conclusion
Canada’s involvement has brought about a continuous debate on whether or not they should be in Afghanistan fighting a war that is half a world away. The events of September 11, 2001 in the United States reinforced the need to fight terrorism on a global scale. Because Canada belongs to alliances such as NATO, it was persuaded to assist with this “war on terror.” Canada’s involvement has been mainly
Without any outside involvement, the Taliban will continue to dominate and spread fear. Canada’s involvement engages the people to take a stand against an oppressed regime. Without any dialogue, the status quo will remain unless there is external involvement from the international
Canadians strongly believe that peacekeeping is about trying to protect people from extreme harm, a way of providing hope in situations that seem hopeless, and a good method of bringing peace and justice to war-torn countries or failed states. Canadians backing soldiers in their peacekeeping role has been so strong for such a long time that it has generated into their national identity. “Canadians cling to the mythology, born of the 1956 Suez Crisis, that we are a nation of peacekeepers, interposing between belligerent forces bent on war but, even though Canadian government officials and media of the 1990s called the operations in Bosnia and Somalia “peacekeeping missions,” they were something very different from Cold War-era peacekeeping.” Accordingly, over the past several decades, Canadian peacekeeping operations involving their military forces has shifted from a Pearson perspective based on humanitarian intervention to peacekeeping missions entailing massive violence. Therefore, my research paper will focus on how peacekeeping in the Canadian context has changed over the past several decades owing to the Canadian use of its military (internationally) force for extreme violence during peacekeeping missions. I wish to discuss this topic extensively within my research paper by focusing on vivid examples from UN Peacekeeping missions.
... nation. In addition to, supporting their allies, this shows how Canada is committed to maintain good alliances with their allies. They also joined a peacekeeping military defense with United States in order to gain trust from United States and become a peacekeeping military defense Canada is recognized today.
Eleven years after the second world war, a crisis occurred which had the potential to escalate into a third world war. Hostilities ran high and the background causes that prompted this crisis contained the same fundamentals as were seen in the first and second world wars. Those being militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism; wrought by those countries that had an interest in the Suez Canal and the Arab states. In the world of superpowers in conflict, Canada made a name for itself through an innovative peacekeeping scheme, instead of aggression (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 1999-2000). If Canada had not become involved in the Suez Crisis, as a neutral party, it could have escalated into a world war. The three components which add up to the conclusion of the Suez Crisis and a bench mark for Canada and world peacekeeping are: Canada's choice for those countries directly involved in the crisis, Canada's choice for involvement, and Canada's resolution of the United Nations Emergency Force, which would put a stop to a possible world war.
Canada refused to participate in the Suez canal crisis, “this action was a symbolic gesture that showed both England and the World that Canada was now a fully autonomous nation in total control of its foreign policy” (http://mrmillerss11.blogspot.ca/2010/02/feb-24-canadas-autonomy-timeline.html) . To stop any violence that would soon abrupt Lester. B.Pearson came up with the idea of “peacekeeping”. He stated “We are now emerging into an age when different civilizations will have to learn to live side by side in peaceful interchange, learning from each other, studying each other’s history and ideals, art and culture, mutually enriching each other’s lives. »
World War, Canada remained virtually unaffected during the war and its involvement set up a
In the book entitled Canada, NATO and The Bomb: The Western Alliance in Crisis by Tom Keating and Larry Pratt the main issue discussed was Canada’s position in Europe, North America and their view on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It went into specific issues dealing with political tension within Canada and tension outside Canada with other countries. It went through the years of different political parties and how they dealt with the matters of NATO.
Canada was influential in the development of NATO; it had been a member of NATO since it was founded in 1949. The purpose of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was to unify the western allies and strengthen the military as a reaction to a possible threat from the Soviet Union and its allies. In 1949 many countries signed a contract to be part of the organization including: Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, Iceland, Luxembourg, United States, Canada, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Portugal.² Canada gained benefits from being part of NATO such as the ability to have a say in alliance policy, and now Canada would be able to “deal with the US on a multilateral context.” ¹ NATO also provided safety for Canada from the potential aggression of the Soviet Union. Canada’s armed forces were the most engaged, and active responsive armed forces within NATO. Canada’s priority in NATO was to ensure that all allies remain modern and are able to face the threats during the time period.
...ore that 100 at this moment who have been deployed. At the end Canada has help all around the world to bring justice, and aid to those in need. Canada it’s seen as a peaceful nation and it has earn that title for all this work, and perseverance to make a better world by helping other nations with all this peace keeping missions.
...in reasons that most political violence occurs, and how to resolves these conflicts of political violence. After the research was completed, it is very apparent that Canada has had a very positive impact on Afghanistan. There are not many countries who would continue to stay in the country after completing their time in battle. Although Canada was involved in the war against Afghanistan, the country itself still found it mandatory for troops to continue to serve in Afghanistan as peace makers. Canada is known for peace and freedom and this exemplifies just that. Canada is putting forth time, effort, and money, to improve the living conditions of those in Afghanistan and helping them build a sustainable, peaceful life that they can carry out for years to come. Every country will have its own corruption; the answer is to begin from the basics. Peace and security.
Canada has had a good reputation when it comes to culture and identity. Canada is considered a peacekeeping country and that
After the Second World War, Canada contributed to conflicts preceding it, being impacted as it bred to a nation. The major factor that influenced Canadian autonomy as a peacekeeping nation grew through her involvement in the Suez Canal Crisis, Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The conflict to the Suez Canal was a threat, that may have led to another World War, that Canada took part in to keep the peace. Korean War and the Vietnamese War was one of the two proxy wars that Canada participated in, establishing her independence from Britain and creating ties with other countries. Canada’s political independence
In his essay “What We Are Fighting For”, Rex Murphy outlines reasons why Canadian army is fighting in Afghanistan. In the beginning, Murphy clearly states that Canada’s involvement in eliminating the Taliban Government was in retaliation for the 9/11 terrorist attacks to our ally, the United States, particularly because of those Canadian citizens who murdered in those attacks. According to Murphy, the international campaign to combat terrorism would be effective not only by eradicating the Taliban Government, but also by helping Afghan citizens in establishing a democratic state. Furthermore, Murphy explains that the Canadian army remains in Afghanistan to secure the peaceful democratic transition of power, as well as to assist Afghans with
As I have already stated Canada is very well known for our many peacekeeping efforts. This is due to the many places our peacekeepers have been, or are at this very moment, such as Bosnia, East Timor and even Central Africa. These are just a very small portion of the places our peacekeepers are presently stationed. I am not even mentioning the dozens and dozens of other places they have been to. Our peacekeepers have helped save countless lives and Canada has gained relatively little in return, but Canada does it anyways, because it is the right thing to do.
...d the contributions of the Canadian government. Canada is not only distressed by domestic terrorism, but it is concerned with international terrorism. By creating a strategy to deal with terrorism, Canada is taking many steps to end terrorism. Also, through international collaborations and conventions, Canada has faith that the UN and its members will be able to end terrorism.
Canada is a great country with great opportunities to succeed with not many complaints that affect our whole life but have you ever wondered what it is like to live in a place where the odds of you living are 30 years younger? or make 97 percent less money or how about you are 5 times more likely to get murdered? This is how an everyday life looks in developing countries and specifically, Afghanistan. It is interesting to see one country struggling so much where the other is not necessarily struggling at all. What is also interesting is the similarities we do have although lifestyle may totally be different. With Afghanistan’s population of 34.66 million, it makes it the 40th largest country in the world and with Its area of 652, 230 square kilometres it makes it