Clarks: Foreign Policy

foreign policy: According to Ibbitson, the book is essentially pointless because Clark is most concerned with issues of relatively marginal interest or importance a realm of foreign policy that concerns most others least. And with that flourish, Ibbitson sets know-nothing populism as the new critical standard for assessing Canadas global activity. Welcome to Canadian Foreign Policy for Dummies, according to The Star. Three examples are given by Ibbitson to demonstrate the insignificance of Clarks foreign policy preoccupations. First, he says, the largest decrease in global poverty is coming from economic growth in developing countries such as India and China, not from the efforts of Western development agencies. Second, Canadas success at immigrant attraction and settlement do more for our global standing than our Israel policy ever could. And lastly, no amount of Canadian government cooperation with NGOs will change Chinas resource-hungry engagement in Africa for good or for ill. Clark thinks otherwise on all these scores, Ibbitson suggests, only because hes obsessing over how Canadians are viewed in the corridors of the UN and So its come to this: not only are Canadian citizens being dumbed-down by political parties who treat them as narrow-minded consumerist taxpayers, but now the leading lights of Canadas journalism establishment are joining in the effort. Thats the conclusion to be drawn from a review by Globe and Mail columnist John Ibbitson of Joe Clarks , How We Lead: Canada in a Century of Change . In Ibbitsons view, the book would have been fine had Clark stopped with praising the international files that the Harper government has gotten right economic and military strength, trade initiatives and sound immigration policy and noting its one glaring failure on the environmental front. However, the bulk of Clarks book dwells on areas where the Harper approach has notably diverged from that of preceding Canadian governments: diplomacy, multilateralism, international development, cooperation with civil society and a balanced Mid East policy. In all those respects, Ibbitson charges, Clark nitpicks at issues that make no real difference to Canadian or global outcomes. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.