Middle powers in new arenas : understanding Canada's Arctic policy ...

• Main Author: Khan, Mohammad Morad Hossain
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2023
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0435925; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0435925

Do middle powers side with status quo powers or rising/revisionist powers in new arenas of international cooperation and conflict? This research focuses on a case study of how Canada as a middle power manages its Arctic policy between the United States (US), the established superpower, and China, the rising and revisionist superpower, in its Arctic governance. Relatively little attention is given to the general question of how a middle power in the international system behaves in a new context. Does Canada feel threatened by China in its Arctic policy? Or does Canada want to be neutral between the US and China in its Arctic policy so that Canada does not need to take a side? Or might Canada feel threatened by the US in the current era? To determine which of the hypotheses is the true situation, primary data through semi-structured interviews of Canadian elite policymakers have been collected. This research finds evidence for the argument that Canada feels threatened by China’s Arctic policy and activities ...