Canadian Foreign Policy, as an academic discipline, is in crisis. Despite its value, CFP is often considered a “stale and pale” subfield of political science with an unfashionably state-centred focus. This book asks why. Contributors from both inside and around the field investigate how they came to view themselves as participating in CFP as an academic project – or not – and what that means for both their intellectual trajectory and the development of the field. How were they taught to think about Canada? How does that affect their interpretation of this country’s place in the world? And how do they teach the subject themselves?

The thoughtful essays in this nuanced collection shine a light on issues such as the casualization of academic labour, the prospect of Indigenizing the field, and the relationship between study and practice. More broadly, they offer a much-needed assessment of the boundaries, goals, and values of the discipline, and an important guide to its revitalization.

Brian Bow's profile page

Andrea Lane's profile page

Brian Bow is a professor of political science and director of the Centre for the Study of Security and Development at Dalhousie University. He is the author of The Politics of Linkage: Power, Interdependence, and Ideas in Canada-US Relations, which was awarded the Donner Prize for 2009.

Andrea Lane is a PhD candidate in political science at Dalhousie University and an assistant professor at the Canadian Forces College. Her work has been published in International Journal and the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, and also appears in Justin Trudeau and Canadian Foreign Policy (edited by Norman Hillmer and Philippe Lagassé) and Canadian Defence Policy in Theory and Practice (edited by Thomas Juneau, Philippe Lagassé, and Srdjan Vucetic).