the new petro power paradigm - Diplomat Magazine

QUESTIONS Asked|DIPLOMATICA
particular, are situated within national
boundaries. So there’s not a lot of dispute
about the known resources. It’s a bit of
a myth that there are known resources
that are in play. There may be [other resources]
but I don’t think anyone’s identified
them. So it’s really about transit. We
have this agreement with the U.S. and
other countries about whether the Northwest
Passage — and there are several, not
just one — whether they are international
waterways or Canadian sovereign territory.
This will be resolved in negotiations.
It’s a difficult issue but it’s not one that’s
going to lead to any real confrontation.
DM: In terms of Canada’s place in the
world, do you feel our recent military engagements
have improved things?
RC: In the eyes of the United States, I
think we’ve rehabilitated ourselves in a
partnership which has suffered because
of our lack of willingness and ability to
participate in some of the more robust
operations the U.S. was involved in. That
is our most important relationship. Our
engagement in Afghanistan, reinforced
by what we’ve done in Libya, has had a
ripple effect across the whole of our relations
with the United States. Iraq was a
low point and Afghanistan has erased
all those bad feelings. Minister MacKay
and Secretary Robert Gates had a very
close friendship that allowed all kinds
of things to happen behind the scenes in
terms of procurement. That would never
have happened without our active role
there. I have friends staying [with us]
from the United States who don’t know
very much about Canada. One chap is a
former CEO of a big company. He said,
‘All I know about Canada is that you’ve
got soldiers fighting alongside us in Afghanistan
and we really feel good about
that.’
DM: Robust operations versus peacekeeping
— where do you stand on that?
RC: I left the Canadian forces in 1973 because
I felt it wasn’t doing the kinds of
things that I personally, as a young fellow,
wanted to do. Had I been growing
up in the Canadian military today, I
would have stayed because we’re doing
just the kind of things that I think people
who join the military want to do. I think
we’ve come to a realization that, for better
or for worse, we’ve moved beyond
the stage of peacekeeping. D
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