ABSTRACT
Canada promoted middle power status and diplomacy, based on wartime contributions and post-war planning during World War II. Conditioning this role was Canada’s Atlantic position between its former colonial master, Great Britain and its United States ally to the south. Anglo-American values about rules-based order anchored in democracy and the rule of law explicitly informed global order, as did memories of the Great Depression and the failure of the League of Nations. Canada conceded special status for great powers as the price for a universal order but avidly promoted a rules-based system with status proportional to contributions. Canada was an early sponsor of the People’s Republic of China’s international participation but its rise to global status and the eclipse of United States power challenges Canada’s vision of middle power diplomacy. Uncertainty, unfamiliarity and distrust about Chinese and American commitment to a rules-based order inhibits deeper engagement and challenge liberal internationalist diplomacy.
