Harper on Foreign Policy - Review

As the last couple of weeks have demonstrated, Harper is a bipedal disaster for Canada on the world stage.

A brief review of his track record on foreign affairs shows an incompetence borne of naivete.

His first accomplishment - establishing "warm" relations with George W. Bush. While one can certainly argue that this is a positive accomplishment, promptly becoming "Bush's second poodle", replacing an increasingly impotent Tony Blair is hardly something that has done Canada's image on the world stage any favours. (and this Canadian is appalled by the degree of sycophancy involved)

Harper's second "major accomplishment" was a softwood lumber "deal" that is more detrimental to Canada's interests than pursuing the lawsuits was. Putting nearly half a billion dollars into a "slush fund" for the White House Rethuglicans to abuse is an absolute abuse of Canadian interests. Taking that money out of Canadian taxpayer coffers is downright offensive.

Then we get to move into the Afghanistan discussion. While we have a variety of issues to deal with where Afghanistan is concerned, the "mini-shrub" and "mini-darth" spontaneous visits to Afghanistan - mostly for the purpose of holding a "propaganda photo-op" news conference - are irritating, and less than persuasive of the reasons we should be there. The sudden overcommitment of Canadian troops to the most dangerous regions of the country is also very troubling. On the world stage, it creates an image of Canada swaggering about - thinking it looks "cool", but really looks as ridiculous as the the teenagers we see today wearing pants with the crotch down around their knees.

The whole business about climate change is highly visible on the world stage, and we send Rona Ambrose off to spout immature drivel at a world conference - just after the CPoC government has tabled the most ludicrous piece of legislation on the topic that one could imagine. Climate change is a huge issue around the globe, and the nations of Europe are rightly pissed off with Canada for the sudden turnabout of direction.

Harper's made this one step worse by refusing to attend a meeting of the EU leaders when he's going to "be in the neighborhood" anyways for a NATO summit. After aligning himself with a world leader that is almost universally despised in Canada, and most of the rest of the world doesn't exactly hold in high regard, Harper's antics on this front merely serve to diminish not only Canada's stature on the world stage, but make Harper out to be little more than a yapping poodle on W's leash - not exactly a credible place from which to defend Canada's interests.

His antics at APEC, especially with the Chinese president, show us a man who is illiterate in the language of diplomacy and persuasion. His "frankness" is not a sign of a decisive man, but rather it is the tactic of a blowhard who vastly overestimates his position and significance in the eyes of his audience. With the Conservative government's approach to the Kelowna Accord quite visible in the world's eyes, not to mention a number of other topics, Canada is in no position to be playing "holier than thou" with China on matters of policy and human rights. Anybody with a modicum of common sense will have long ago realized that Harper's holier-than-thou stance on many topics is a front for a very small man trying to act bigger than he is.

As a Canadian, I find Harper's utter ineptitude on the world stage embarrassing - his inability to admit when he's screwed up is offensive.