Description
Book SynopsisThrough informed and skilful interviewing of the participants, Denis Stairs has reconstructed the background to Canadian policy during the Korean War. Ottawa officials, led by External Affairs Minister Lester B. Pearson, viewed the war as an exercise in collective security, in which it was essential to constrain the course of American decisions. As a result Canadian initiatives were taken on a multilateral basis through the United Nations with a view to moderating the exercise of US power; this is the theme which gives the book its title.
The story begins with a discussion of an American-inspired United Nations attempt, in which Canada was closely involved, to secure an early resolution of the Korean question in 1947-8 and concludes with the Canadian role in the Geneva conference in 1954. A final chapter analyzes the personalities, the policy decisions, and the role of the military and of public opinion as a case-study of Canadian foreign policy and diplomacy.
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