Both articles that study the role of Canada in peacekeeping focus on changing the country’s image for the country’s population. Both authors also note that the government’s efforts to improve the rhetoric took time, but as a result, they changed people’s attitudes toward combat for peace. Kros (2015), in his article, says that after the events in Afghanistan, politicians began to change rhetoric by positioning Canada as a country of a peacemaker who should use force to protect world peace.
After years, this rhetoric has led to changes in the consciousness of society and people accepted the need to send battle groups to resolve conflicts. Kros notes, “Among the general public, the term “peacekeeping” remained the favored and simplest way of evoking Canadian activities to promote peace abroad, even if, in fact, they no longer entailed peacekeeping but, instead, a whole range of other missions, including combat” (2015, p. 94).
Landriault (2018) also confirms this idea by noting that the level of support for foreign intervention and participation of Canadian troops has increased. Consequently, both authors claim that Canadians support the state’s new rhetoric of peacemaking, which can include violence and fighting.
The authors of both articles express an opinion that Canada still has not abandoned its traditional position as a peacemaker and that Canadians prefer this way of building peace in the world. Landriault (2018) emphasizes that although the level of support for foreign interventions among the population is high outside the context, this statistic is different if the question is moderated to a more specific situation.
Landriault says, “Indeed if Canadians are generally highly supportive of peacekeeping, it does not mean that they oppose specific combat missions” (2018, p. 71). Kros (2015), also confirms this idea and suggests that although Canadians allow forceful intervention to some conflicts, they still prefer soft power; thus, it is unclear if Canada is ready to refuse its traditional politics. Consequently, although the rhetoric of power in Canada and the methods of peacekeeping began to change 15 years ago, Canadian society is still not ready to accept forceful methods and violence to ensure peace.
References
Cros, L. (2015). The narrative of Canada as a peacekeeping nation since the 1990s: Permanence and evolution of a national paradigm. International Journal of Canadian Studies, 52, 83–106.
Landriault, M. (2018). Post-Afghanistan syndrome? Canadian public opinion on military inrevention after the Afghanistan mission. The Canadian Journal of Peace and Conlict Studies, 50(2), 57-78.