r/canadaleft • u/Entire-Half-2464 • 6d ago

BREAKING: In a shocking development Canada announces it will build a coalition of countries who share their values to build their economy and trade opportunities and will exclude the United States. “If the U.S. no longer wants to lead, Canada will.”

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u/VonnDooom 6d ago

What are you basing this on? You say Canada has a disproportionate amount of soft power — what are you basing this on?

And you are saying Canada has hard power? What are you basing this on?

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u/YaumeLepire 6d ago

I'm saying Canada doesn't have much hard power. It does have some, though. Canada has a military and police forces. They may not be all that big, but that is objectively a certain amount of hard power.

Soft power, though, which is the ability of a country to influence things on the global scale without resorting to threats of violence, is largely based on a country's image abroad. It's basically a country's brand. And Canada consistently has a pretty damn good one, deserved or not. Canada's part of the G7, among other international groups, there are some important and prestigious global institutions that are based on Canadian soil, like IATA and some globally-famous universities, and Canadians have served and continue to serve in positions of import in global politics. The power of the Canadian passport is a good indicator of this, too. And all of that for a country with a pretty dinky population, compared to its contemporaries.

Canada's not that "powerful", objectively, but it has consistently punched above its weight class, when it comes to having its say on the global scene. That's what I'm basing this on.

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u/Red_Boina Fellow Traveler 6d ago

If that's your perspective of Canada's soft power you literally live 20 years in the past and are up to a very sore awakening.

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u/VonnDooom 6d ago

That is exactly correct; Yaume is living 20-30 years in the past.

Canada had Romeo Dallaire, and argued for international landmine bans in the past.

Now it gives standing ovations to nazis; foams at the mouth over Ukraine (guess what: the international community sees the hypocrisy and does NOT stand with Ukraine); toes the line on pure neoliberalism; and stands with Israel.

Canada has no soft power. It is a hollow shell of whatever it once was. It used to be capable of at least having an independent foreign policy; but Trudeau admin was literally lockstep with the Biden admin on everything. Yes, the NATO expansion, Russia-provoking, Ukraine-proxy war, Israel-supporting Biden admin.

So again: Canada is nothing today. No one respects Canada, because its behavior is not worthy of respect.

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u/QueueOfPancakes 6d ago

Canada is largely responsible for the unprecedented level of sanctions that were placed on Russia due to its actions against Ukraine. You may not agree with Canada's position, but we aren't discussing if Canada uses its soft power for good or evil, simply whether it has a disproportionate amount of soft power. And it clearly does.