Introduction: Canada and the World in 25 Years—Will Anyone Be Listening?

Abstract

If bold predictions are the preferred method for prognosticators and pundits, our contributors are decidedly more circumspect in offering a straightforward picture of how the world will receive Canada and Canadians in 25 years’ time. Nonetheless, the analytical and imaginative undertaking that we offer here is governed by the understanding that the global environment Canada faces at present and in the medium future is very different than that to which it was accustomed during the ‘‘long twentieth century.’’ It comes across very clearly from all contributors that not all regions of the globe will be ‘‘listening’’ or paying attention to Canada to the same degree as the world undergoes important political and economic shifts. This raises the question of whether countries around the world will need to listen to Canada in 25 years, the matter to which contributors to this special issue broach through a variety of arguments. While our predictions are tentative, and although our individual analyses focus on different components of the shifting world order of which Canada is a part, there is broad consensus that Canada’s foreign policy needs to speedily adjust to a profoundly different set of global circumstances. In excavating the present to better determine the various factors that have led to prevailing articulations of Canada’s international identity and conduct, our endeavour enables us to reimagine the past as much as envision the future.