Canada S Foreign Policy Post 9 11
The Impact of 9-11 on Human Security in Canada’s Foreign
Policy
Draft: Please do not quote
Paper to be presented on
C10: Responses to the American
“War on Terrorism”: Political Parties and Democracy
Canadian Political Science Association,
Saskatoon, June 1, 2007
Dr. Stefan Gänzle
Visiting Assistant Professor (DAAD)
University of British Columbia
Institute for European Studies/Political Science
182 C. K. Choi, 1855 West Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2 sganzle@interchange.ubc.ca Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of Canadian foreign policy and its changes in the post-September 11th (9/11) world focusing of the emergence and sidelining of the
‘human security’ (HS) agenda. The paper argues that the securitization of the HS agenda has reduced its normative power substantially, and that domestic politics have reshaped the HS agenda into a US-led security dialogue in which the Canadian state has lost its impetus as a prime mover or the normative weight acquired in the 1990s by the advancement and attainment of key HS agenda items such as the Ottawa Convention and
Treaty.
I. Introduction
Throughout the second half of the 1990s, the concept of ‘human security’ became closely associated with Canadian foreign policy. The then foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy was clearly seen as a norm entrepreneur within various international organizations popularizing a ‘new’ approach in international politics which emphasizes the importance of protecting individuals and communities from any form of political violence in contrast to national security (albeit mutually reinforcing) which, in turn, focuses on the defense of the state from external attack. 1 Although human security declined conceptually as soon as
Lloyd Axworthy had left Ottawa in 2000, its agenda did not entirely lose momentum – as this paper will show. As a normative concept it has contributed to inform a number of
Canadian foreign policy domains, soften domestic policies vis-à-vis (international) terrorism and still
Policy
Draft: Please do not quote
Paper to be presented on
C10: Responses to the American
“War on Terrorism”: Political Parties and Democracy
Canadian Political Science Association,
Saskatoon, June 1, 2007
Dr. Stefan Gänzle
Visiting Assistant Professor (DAAD)
University of British Columbia
Institute for European Studies/Political Science
182 C. K. Choi, 1855 West Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2 sganzle@interchange.ubc.ca Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of Canadian foreign policy and its changes in the post-September 11th (9/11) world focusing of the emergence and sidelining of the
‘human security’ (HS) agenda. The paper argues that the securitization of the HS agenda has reduced its normative power substantially, and that domestic politics have reshaped the HS agenda into a US-led security dialogue in which the Canadian state has lost its impetus as a prime mover or the normative weight acquired in the 1990s by the advancement and attainment of key HS agenda items such as the Ottawa Convention and
Treaty.
I. Introduction
Throughout the second half of the 1990s, the concept of ‘human security’ became closely associated with Canadian foreign policy. The then foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy was clearly seen as a norm entrepreneur within various international organizations popularizing a ‘new’ approach in international politics which emphasizes the importance of protecting individuals and communities from any form of political violence in contrast to national security (albeit mutually reinforcing) which, in turn, focuses on the defense of the state from external attack. 1 Although human security declined conceptually as soon as
Lloyd Axworthy had left Ottawa in 2000, its agenda did not entirely lose momentum – as this paper will show. As a normative concept it has contributed to inform a number of
Canadian foreign policy domains, soften domestic policies vis-à-vis (international) terrorism and still