This article laments the ending of Canada's tradition of peacekeeping that developed during the Cold War:
After almost two decades of service to Canada and the world, the Pearson Centre, formerly known as the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre, is shutting its doors this month. ...
The demise of the Pearson Centre is the latest evidence of the government’s neglect of UN peacekeeping. Why has the government of Stephen Harper rejected this widely supported Canadian military tradition that every other prime minister since St. Laurent has embraced?
But the author neglects ugly incidents in peacekeeping in a thankless and pointless mission in Somalia that tarnished Canada's image.
And the author neglects that after decades of being in the rear areas of the global struggle against the Soviet Union (for which Canada did prepare to fight, with a good heavy brigade based in West Germany then), Canada is now on the frontline.
Canada stepped up to fight in Afghanistan at our side, keeping a good battalion in the fight for many years. I thank Canada for their sacrifice.
But this was as much in Canada's interest as a favor to an ally. On 9/11, Canada discovered that terrorism could come to North America and strike hard. So Canada fought the terrorists. And fought well. There was no peace to keep and the enemy that proved it could reach as far as Canada had to be killed and beaten.
And now Russia will confront Canada across the Arctic Circle. Again, Canada is on the frontline.
Not to mention that the author ignores the bloody obvious that without a Cold War raging, keeping even the imperfect peace that UN peacekeepers provided which helped keep those conflicts from sparking a war between America and the Soviet Union is no longer needed. Imperfect peace then was preferable to risking nuclear war over some petty local squabble. But what's the payoff now?
Canada needs real soldiers and has too few to spare to send on often futile and always thankless deployments at the butt end of nowhere to hold the lid on war rather than truly create peace among factions that only want victory and loot.
So yeah, Canada's flirtation with being a polite power more interested in doing duty in the cause of the UN is over.
Good. Canada had a large navy and air force at the end of World War II, and fielded an entire army in the European Theater of Operations. That is a military tradition worthy of maintaining. And defeating the enemies of the West is a better service to Canada and the world than babysitting violent factions who wouldn't know what to do if peace broke out.
