Strategic Friends: Canada-Ukraine Relations from Independence to the Euromaidan (Volume 247) (McGill-Queen's Studies in Ethnic History)

Since the end of the Soviet Union, Canada has played a leading role in the international response to Ukraine and to the challenges associated with its transition to independence. As Conservative and Liberal governments alike have sought to adapt foreign policy to contend with uncertainty and upheaval, the relationship between Canada and Ukraine has remained resilient. In Strategic Friends Bohdan Kordan examines the intersections between global developments and Canada's evolving foreign policy in light of national interests, domestic factors, and political agency. His historical-comparative narrative follows the post-Cold War aspirations and ambitions of the Mulroney, Chrétien, Martin, and Harper governments as they worked to minimize conflict, increase security, contextualize the independence movement, manage bilateral relations, and promote election monitoring, as well as defend liberal democracy and the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Consulting media reports, official speeches, statements, published government documents, and archives of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Kordan highlights both continuities and shifts in policy during the leadership of four prime ministers, and reveals the undercurrents of contemporary Canadian foreign affairs. Investigating the progression of the Canada–Ukraine relationship, Strategic Friends queries the dynamics that have shaped Canada's foreign policy response in an age of change. "Canada's relations with an independent Ukraine have been resilient despite the many challenges associated with post-Soviet transition, highlighting the "special" nature of the relationship. But this also denotes change in Canada's foreign policy towards Ukraine as Conservative and Liberal governments alike variously sought to adapt and contend with uncertainty that accompanied transition. Focusing on the differences and similarities between governments and widely held assumptions about Ukrainian-Canadian influence, Bohdan Kordan examines how systemic factors, national interests, and leadership perspectives shaped Canada's foreign policy toward Ukraine as it was tested. He advances the argument that Canada's foreign policy responded to change and that forces at work provided the occasion for unprecedented policy preferences and innovation to take place. Nevertheless, traditional parameters and constraints - alliance obligations for example - continued to shape Canada's relations with Ukraine, accounting for continuity in Canada's foreign policy. A Part Together investigates the nature and evolution of the Canada-Ukraine relationship and the dynamics at work. In the process it helps to reveal the undercurrent of contemporary Canadian foreign policy and with it a better sense of the developments that have shaped Canada's response in an age of change and uncertainty."-- Provided by publisher "Canada's relations with an independent Ukraine have been resilient despite the many challenges associated with post-Soviet transition, highlighting the "special" nature of the relationship. But this also denotes change in Canada's foreign policy towards Ukraine as Conservative and Liberal governments alike variously sought to adapt and contend with uncertainty that accompanied transition. Focusing on the differences and similarities between governments and widely held assumptions about Ukrainian-Canadian influence, Bohdan Kordan examines how systemic factors, national interests, and leadership perspectives shaped Canada's foreign policy toward Ukraine as it was tested. He advances the argument that Canada's foreign policy responded to change and that forces at work provided the occasion for unprecedented policy preferences and innovation to take place. Nevertheless, traditional parameters and constraints - alliance obligations for example - continued to shape Canada's relations with Ukraine, accounting for continuity in Canada's foreign policy. A Part Together investigates the nature and evolution of the Canada-Ukraine relationship and the dynamics at work. In the process it helps to reveal the undercurrent of contemporary Canadian foreign policy and with it a better sense of the developments that have shaped Canada's response in an age of change and uncertainty."-- Résumé de l'éditeur The continuity and change in Canada's relationship with Ukraine since the breakup of the Soviet Union. The continuity and change in Canada's relationship with Ukraine since the breakup of the Soviet Union.