An analysis of the ever-evolving nexus of ethics, security and international relations. Organized thematically, the chapters include theoretical and policy-relevant commentaries on Canadian nuclear policy, democratization, human rights, economic development, peacekeeping, and more.

Since 9/11, the wars on terror, economic crises, climate change, and humanitarian emergencies have forced decision makers to institute new measures to maintain security. Foreign policy analysts tend to view these decisions as being divorced from ethics, but Unsettled Balance shows that arguments about rights, obligations, norms, and values have played a profound role in Canadian foreign policy and international relations since the 1990s. The contributors to this volume examine a range of topics – from funding for climate change adaptation to the militarization of humanitarian aid – to collectively explore three key questions. What is the meaning of “ethics” and “security,” and how are they linked? To what extent have considerations of ethics and security changed in the twenty-first century? And what are the implications of a shifting historical context for Canada’s international relations? Their conclusions are essential reading for anyone who wants to understand not only how Canada responds to global challenges but also why it responds the way it does.

The wars on terror, economic crises, climate change, and humanitarian emergencies have challenged decision makers to institute new measures to maintain security. Foreign policy analysts tend to view these decisions as being divorced from ethics, but is this the case? Unsettled Balance, the first rigorous and sustained analysis of security and ethics in the post-9/11 world, shows that ethical arguments about rights, obligations, norms, and values have played a profound role in Canadian foreign policy and international relations, from debates on the "responsibility to protect" as a practice to the militarization of humanitarian aid.

This ground-breaking volume considers the ethical aspects of foreign policy change through five interrelated dimensions: conceptual, security, economic, normative and diplomatic. An impressive group of international scholars and practitioners makes it ideally suited to courses on international relations, security studies, ethics and human rights, philosophy, media studies and international law.

In the last two years, Canadian society has been marked by political and ideological turmoil. How does an increasingly divided country engage a world that is itself divided and tumultuous? Political instability has been reinforced by international uncertainty: the COVID-19 pandemic, populism, Black Lives Matter, and the chaotic final year of the Trump presidency that increased tensions between the West, China and Russia. Even with a Biden presidency, these issues will continue to influence Canada’s domestic situation and its ability to engage as an effective global actor. Contributors explore issues that cause or reflect these tensions, such as Canada’s willingness to address pressing crises through multilateralism, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Can Canada forge its own path in a turbulent world?

A compilation of brand-new research and writing from leading Canadian and European experts on Canadian foreign policy, Canada's Foreign and Security Policy re-examines Canada's political place and international influence in the contemporary world. As half of the contributors are non-Canadians, this 'outside-in' character of the book offers a unique perspective on internal versus external role perception, recognizing the disparity between Canada's national self-image and interpretations from outside the country's boundaries. Organized into three parts, the book begins with a conceptual analysis of Canada's label and position as a middle power, then moves on to assess the soft and hard dimensions of Canada's foreign and security policy within this framework. Individual chapters are policy-relevant and cover a range of topics of interest to Canadian foreign policy students and scholars alike, including human security, development policy, environmental and energy policies, the role of the Canadian forces, terrorism, NATO involvement, and Arctic sovereignty. Within these chapters, key debates meet new scholarship as authors examine the interrelationships within and among policy areas, and also call into question the 'sedimented truths' of Canadian foreign and security policy.