Lester B. Pearson and Peacekeeping History Research Paper

Canada and Peacekeeping
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The Canadian standpoint on peacekeeping is one that has been mired in political debate, clouded by historical perspectives, and heavily influenced by democracy. Because of this, the stance on peacekeeping efforts has shifted several times throughout Canada's history and with it the foreign policy agendas of the nation. Taking into account the influence of persons such Lester Pearson and John Diefenbaker, peacekeeping in Canada has changed drastically. Even more striking is the fact that changes in foreign policy agenda have also affected peacekeeping efforts and in doing so have transformed Canada from a peacekeeper, as initially intended, into a peacemaker. In essence, Canada long abandoned peacekeeping in favor of peacemaking.[S. Barrett, The Lamb and the Tiger: From Peacekeepers to Peacewarriors in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018), 56-62.]
As far as history is concerned, Canada is the motherland of peacekeeping. This is because the efforts of Lester Pearson, in an aim to regulate the conflict during the Suez Crisis in 1956, solicited the formation of the UNEF, which served as the peacekeeping forces of the United Nations. It is for these efforts, as well as other peacekeeping efforts afterwards, that Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. In essence, it must be clear that it is impossible to separate the history of Canada’s peacekeeping efforts from the history of Lester Pearson in peacekeeping. In this sense, it is clear that the history of Canada is the history of peacekeeping.[K. A. Spooner, Canada, the Congo Crisis, and UN Peacekeeping, 1960-64 (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2010), 31-37.]
However, it should also be clear that although Canadian history appears to be in favor of peacekeeping, this has not translated well into the future. At present, peacekeeping is observed in a negative light by many Canadians, particularly due to the scandalous actions of Canadian leaders and military commanders in past peacekeeping efforts. The torture and killing of a teenage boy by Canadian peacekeepers in Somalia during the civil war in 1991 come to mind when the negative history of Canada with peacekeeping is considered. Because of this, the Canadian public slowly shifted its thinking on peacekeeping from a noble and just cause to one that is tainted by the spillage of innocent blood. This is best associated with former leaders such as Diefenbaker who is credited as having been one of the worst Canadian leaders in terms of effectively leading the nation in peacekeeping efforts.[K. Jung, Of Peace and Power: Promoting Canadian Interests Through Peacekeeping (Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang, 2009), 31-35.]
As aforementioned, Diefenbaker proved to be one of the most ineffectual leaders in terms of facilitating the promotion of Canada’s foreign policy agenda with regards to peacekeeping and the previous efforts of visionary leaders such as Pearson. This is mainly because the foreign policy agenda of Canada underwent a paradigm shift. In this shift, Canada transformed from peacekeepers to peacemakers. From taking neutral positions on the peacekeeping front, Canada transformed into a nation of taking sides in conflict, which was essentially against what Pearson had envisioned in terms of peacekeeping.[Barrett, The Lamb and the Tiger, 89-95.]
While it is easy to blame poor leaders such as Diefenbaker for Canada’s gradual decline from peacekeeping to peacemaking, it should be noted that the changes in public opinion and foreign policy agenda equally contributed towards the said decline. First off, having been pioneers in the peacekeeping front, Canada had the opportunity to serve humanity in peacekeeping efforts on numerous occasions. Past conflicts in Egypt, Turkey, and Israel are some of the instances during which Canadian forces have massively helped in peacekeeping efforts. At the time, the agenda for the Canadian government was the establishment of peace and the peaceful resolution of the conflict in a way that allows foreign governments to make their own decisions on the futures of their nations. In this way, the peacekeeping forces, as envisioned by Pearson, served their mandate in full as peacekeepers.[Spooner, Canada, 68-71.] [Spooner, Canada, 34.]
However, his trajectory greatly changed in later years. First off, the rejection of peacekeeping forces by affected countries, as was the case in the Anglo-French invasion of Egypt (supported by Israel), signaled a shift in the perspective with which peacek...