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What do you think Canada's Foreign Policy should be?
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| EvilTree |
Pick a choice that fits your preference the best.
Also give a little blurb about why you picked that choice and how do you consider to be knowledgeable in current affairs and Canada's role in world affairs. |
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| Moral Hazard |
| I would like to see Canada take an active, predominately non-military role in the world, particularlly with regard to human rights, environmentalism and trade. That being said I have to qualify my choice... before Canada can preach about these area we must ensure that our own policies are in order and well established in these regards. It is useless to continue (to act as we have been) taking the "moral high road" whilst not living up to that which we preach. Additionally, my preferance that we do not take a military role is based on our current military capability rather then any sentiment of pacifism. Until such time as we have rebuilt our military both in terms of equipment and size we should refrain from being involved in further foriegn deployment. That said, we should aggressively seek to retool our military and recruite more full time troops as without a miliary presence we cannot expect to be given any weight when it comes to international conflicts. |
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| EvilTree |
| quote: | Originally posted by Moral Hazard
I would like to see Canada take an active, predominately non-military role in the world, particularlly with regard to human rights, environmentalism and trade. That being said I have to qualify my choice... before Canada can preach about these area we must ensure that our own policies are in order and well established in these regards. It is useless to continue (to act as we have been) taking the "moral high road" whilst not living up to that which we preach. Additionally, my preferance that we do not take a military role is based on our current military capability rather then any sentiment of pacifism. Until such time as we have rebuilt our military both in terms of equipment and size we should refrain from being involved in further foriegn deployment. That said, we should aggressively seek to retool our military and recruite more full time troops as without a miliary presence we cannot expect to be given any weight when it comes to international conflicts. |
Thanks for a well thought out answer. |
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| apri_peel |
i think canada should work closely with the UN when it comes to international affairs. as Moral Hazard mentioned, we do not have a strong military presence and so we cannot go out there flashing our troops. also canadians are usually a less agressive nation, therefore i dont think we should make it our mission to flash our troops around, even if we had a good military system in place.
working together with the UN would give our ideas a stronger voice. other nations may share our views and provide support. only when working together with other nations that we can achieve goals in a global scale, financially and in terms of a stronger presence in the world. |
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| EvilTree |
| quote: | Originally posted by apri_peel
i think canada should work closely with the UN when it comes to international affairs. as Moral Hazard mentioned, we do not have a strong military presence and so we cannot go out there flashing our troops. also canadians are usually a less agressive nation, therefore i dont think we should make it our mission to flash our troops around, even if we had a good military system in place. |
You'd be surprised how much a 1000 well trained and well equipped soldiers can do with a proper and clear mandate.
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working together with the UN would give our ideas a stronger voice. other nations may share our views and provide support. only when working together with other nations that we can achieve goals in a global scale, financially and in terms of a stronger presence in the world. |
Other nations? Which nations because surely you can't mean every nation on earth. Each nation has its own agenda. Surely you don't mean working with nations such as Zimbabwe or North Korea?
I doubt many nations have same priorities as Canada.
PS: Thanks for your thoughts. |
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| apri_peel |
| quote: | Originally posted by EvilTree
You'd be surprised how much a 1000 well trained and well equipped soldiers can do with a proper and clear mandate.
Other nations? Which nations because surely you can't mean every nation on earth. Each nation has its own agenda. Surely you don't mean working with nations such as Zimbabwe or North Korea?
I doubt many nations have same priorities as Canada.
PS: Thanks for your thoughts. |
good points there :)
in terms of the troop sizes, we tend to suck at that. agressive forces would be highly opposed by canadians. the good thing about this country is a strong presence of activists and interest groups and their influence, even if minimal, on the government.
other nations, as in other UN nations. you're right about other nations having different priorities however, many agree on a number of issues, such as poverty, human rights, war, etc. surely there has to be some concensus on what issues need to be tackled first, but i strongly believe once that its only as a bigger and stronger force such as UN that global issues can be solved. |
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| DigiNut |
| quote: | Originally posted by Moral Hazard
I would like to see Canada take an active, predominately non-military role in the world, particularlly with regard to human rights, environmentalism and trade. That being said I have to qualify my choice... before Canada can preach about these area we must ensure that our own policies are in order and well established in these regards. It is useless to continue (to act as we have been) taking the "moral high road" whilst not living up to that which we preach. Additionally, my preferance that we do not take a military role is based on our current military capability rather then any sentiment of pacifism. Until such time as we have rebuilt our military both in terms of equipment and size we should refrain from being involved in further foriegn deployment. That said, we should aggressively seek to retool our military and recruite more full time troops as without a miliary presence we cannot expect to be given any weight when it comes to international conflicts. |
I have to say, it's great to hear from people who are able to look at the big picture and not rely on oversimplified political axioms.
I'm curious now, though, can you elaborate on what you mean by human rights? I've noticed that liberals, conservatives and libertarians/capitalists all use this term and all mean completely different things by it.
For the most part, I agree with pretty much everything you said (although again, it depends on your definition of human rights). I wouldn't mind seeing Canada take a lead in the environmental dep't, but I'd like to see that accomplished by being a leader in environmental and environmentally-friendly technology, not oppressive environment laws. |
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| BigTongue |
let me throw my hardcore republican views here first..
i say canada doesn't get involved with crap until they fix themselves up first... feed yourself first is the key...
then you spread the wealth a little by little.. you help those who have helped you in the past... and then the most needy at the end..
think of everyday life..
i take care of myself first.. then i take care of my friend's.. then i take care of helping out homeless people.. you wont see me donating money to someone who lives in a really small house and already has a job.. |
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| ChemEnhanced |
| quote: | Originally posted by DigiNut
I have to say, it's great to hear from people who are able to look at the big picture and not rely on oversimplified political axioms.
I'm curious now, though, can you elaborate on what you mean by human rights? I've noticed that liberals, conservatives and libertarians/capitalists all use this term and all mean completely different things by it.
For the most part, I agree with pretty much everything you said (although again, it depends on your definition of human rights). I wouldn't mind seeing Canada take a lead in the environmental dep't, but I'd like to see that accomplished by being a leader in environmental and environmentally-friendly technology, not oppressive environment laws. |
I am surprised it took you this long to respond to this thread :D :D :D :D :D :D |
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| EvilTree |
| quote: | Originally posted by BigTongue
let me throw my hardcore republican views here first..
i say canada doesn't get involved with crap until they fix themselves up first... feed yourself first is the key...
then you spread the wealth a little by little.. you help those who have helped you in the past... and then the most needy at the end..
think of everyday life..
i take care of myself first.. then i take care of my friend's.. then i take care of helping out homeless people.. you wont see me donating money to someone who lives in a really small house and already has a job.. |
I'd hate to tell you but Canada will never be able to fix itself. Not with idiots we have for politicians in charge. |
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| starsearcher |
| I chose the second option....but I don't like really any of the choices provided lol :p |
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