Canada’s a key middle power— maintaining status and competitive edges solves great power war.

Robert Cox in his 1989 article “Middlepowermanship, Japan and the Future World Order” poses a valid question “what is the essence of the middle power’s functional relationship to the world order?” (Cox, 1989:825). Before delving into the theory behind middle powers it is important to understand why they are so important in the world. Middle powers have acted as a stabiliser and neutraliser, especially during the Cold War, middle power countries acted within the interests of their bloc to neutralise the tension, “or urging restraint on the alliance leader, or resisting renewed 21 tendencies towards isolationism on the part of the bloc leader”(Cooper et al. 1993:20). “The middle-power role is to affirm the principle of adherence to acceptable rules of conduct by all powers, great and small” (Cox, 1989:834). Middle powers are able to affirm this world order through various international institutions based on a post- Westphalian political structure and a decentralization of global hegemony (Cox, 1989:835). In the era after the Second World War when the Great Powers had been decimated a new grouping of powers began to emerge. A country like Canada who was very involved in the war through industry, finance, technology and manpower came out on the other side with a new place in the global order. No longer was Canada a former colony or a nation pretending to be its own country; rather, as a nation Canada had an important impact. Perhaps most importantly, the Canadian economy was stronger than ever at the end of the war. Since Canada was not a ‘great power’ like the United States or Britain but was no longer a small power a new place in the world order needed to be sought out. This is where the evolution of middle powers began. After the Cold War ended there were new opportunities for middle powers. They were not needed to try and keep a stable world order; there were new initiatives they were able to participate in. Since the Soviet Union and the United States were no longer caught in a constant power struggle and there was no longer the same divide between east and west and as a result, “middle powers had greater freedom of action thrust upon them in terms of their diplomacy” (Cooper et al.1993: 21). Middle powers have the ability to come together through multi-lateral bodies such as NATO and the UN to uphold “the norms and rules of the international system and perform certain tasks to maintain and strengthen that system” (Cooper et al. 1993: 21). Throughout the 1980s with the United States’ declining resources middle powers were poised to take on a more active role in the international arena (Cooper et al.1993: 21).