Maxie hist podcast

Canada has played a significant role in promoting peacekeeping efforts throughout history. After World War II, Canada helped in post-war reconstruction and formed the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. In the 1960s, Canada actively participated in peacekeeping operations, and in the 1970s, they focused on anti-racism and education initiatives. During the Cold War, Canada supported arms control negotiations and protested against unjust wars. After the Cold War, Canada continued to contribute to UN peacekeeping missions. However, there has been controversy due to Canada's participation in wars led by America. Despite this, Canada remains committed to supporting international peace and security. Hi, I'm Maxie. Before the podcast starts, I would like to invite you to enjoy a poem. Peace, my heart. Let the time for the parting be sweet. Let it not be a death, but completeness. Let love melt into memory and pain into songs. Let the flight through the sky and in the folding of the wings over the nest. Let the last touch of your hands be gentle, like the flower of the night. Stand still, you will be foreign for a moment, and say your last words in silence. I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light you on your way. In the poet Tiger's world, peace is the magic that makes that wood bloom. And Canada is considered to be the magic which continuously contributed to peacekeeping. Having suffered from two world wars, source-rich distribution was eventually accomplished among capitalist countries, and people are eager for valuable peace. Consequently, Canada, as a peacekeeper, played an outstanding role in promoting recovery, rebuilding the society, and setting post-war roots by actively responding to these desires, and building a positive environment for development through the United Nations and with its allies. In today's podcast, we will detail Canada's effort, attitude, and strategy shifted throughout several specific time periods, and the benefits enjoyed by both Canada and the world. And I would like to ask you to think about that. Is Canada still a peacekeeper in today's perspective? During World War II, there was a notion of organizing post-war reconstruction, which meant helping people in struggle to resettle and recover from the war. The idea contributed to stimulating international trade and transcending to a multilateral system, which offered equal opportunities for developed and developing countries to participate in international affairs. Therefore, right after the war, victorious capitalist countries were satisfied with everything they got from the war, and they thought it is time to rebuild society and the post-war roots that can serve for them in the world. Post-war recovery is a potent means to reconstruct the economy and be dominant in the later worldwide affairs. To recover from the war, America led the formation of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. And Canada also played a great role in the formation through providing Montreal for conference locations and raising ideas for post-war rebuilding. Lester B. Pearson, one of Canada's greatest prime ministers, proposed at the United Nations that an armed impartial peacekeeping force could be inserted between Israeli and Egyptian forces to enforce a ceasefire and stabilize the situation. Canada as a peacekeeper is not only represented by the actions of the government, but also the active movement of ordinary people. 1960s was the beginning of the decade of development, a surge of peaceful idealism and an eagerness to help new nations, also known as third world countries, with their developing challenges, which is totally different from colonial eras. Canada University Service Overseas, a non-governmental organization, was established by student volunteers and conducted peacekeeping operations by teaching overseas. In the 1970s, the organization participated in the anti-racism and liberal movement in South Africa. In Nigeria, they conducted school reconstruction work, emphasizing education. In this time period, we can tell that Canada is a loyal peacekeeper who is enthusiastic and actively involved in peacekeeping operations. Three years after, the Cold War happened. The Cold War refers to the time that America and the Soviet Union conflicted without shooting war. Under the threat, the world was shrouded in a tense circumstance. People who suffered from two world wars are scared about the conflicts between these two super countries. During this time, we can witness both Canada's government and Canadian people fighting for valuable peace. The Canadian government took a unique approach, combining support for the scheduled deployment of the Euro missiles with a high-level peace initiative launched by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau that aimed to improve east-west relations and revive arms control negotiations. Pierre Trudeau also met six leaders in North Atlantic Treaty Organization and other leaders in Western bloc, communitist countries and non-aligned movements. During the Vietnam War, not only the Canadian medical team providing health care for civilians, Ko Heng, a Canadian lady who had a background in health administration, protested against unjust war and spent years speaking and writing about her experiences in Vietnam for anti-war organizations. Her protests broadened the image of the anti-war movement and strengthened the power of peacekeeping. In November 1989, the collapse of the Berlin Wall declared the end of the relatively stable world caused by the Cold War. As a result, more peacekeepers like Canada are needed by countries and civilians for keeping stable circumstances. Until 1989, 10% of UN's peacekeeping force came from Canada. After the Cold War, multilateral system developed, which increased the opportunity and demand for more assertive activity. In this situation, Canada as a peacekeeper has a larger stage to participate in diverse activities. Although Canada's allies' preference was slightly transforming from the UN to America and other NATO members, Canada's peacekeeping behaviors still exist. When it comes to the 2000s, the connection between Canada and America was ever stronger. Let's see if there are any differences in peacekeeping operations this time. From 1988 to 1998, Canada was involved in 36 UN peacekeeping missions, giving the UN new peacekeeping relevance. In 1992, Canada was the first country to donate to the UN Protection Force in Croatia, which aimed to ensure peace talks. In 1993, facing the worsening situation, Canada fought Croatian force who killed citizens, and Canada diplomats engaged the UN and NATO to take greater role in confronting acts of genocide. Canada leads about 130 developing projects in Africa and effectively connects peacekeeping work, especially in security, female and education. According to the government document, Canada spent about 1.76 billion U.S. dollars on official development assistance between 2003 and 2014. Generally, we can recognize Canada's peacekeeper image from this former data. However, there can be a controversy. Since Canada participated in the invasion war against Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which were led by America, Canada's image as a peacekeeper was questioned. Moreover, Discover Canada, Citizenship and Immigration commends and emphasizes Canada's role as a warrior and highlights armed forces. However, the role of peacekeeper is still not changed, and with armed forces, Canada is in a more militarily powerful way to defend peace. From above, we can see that Canada participated in various peacekeeping missions in a number of continents and countries, which contributed to 10% of the UN's peacekeeping force. Many people and countries suffering from the war enjoyed Canada's selfless devotement. Although Canada's participation has shown a downward trend in recent years, the country remained committed to supporting international peace and security events. In today's perspective, globalization is developing. More peacekeepers like Canada are emerging. Canada, as a well-known peacekeeping country, not only defends world peace, but also provides a number of experiences for those new peacekeepers. Well, although I don't want to, it is time to stop. I hope today's podcast can be helpful to your understanding of the character of Canada as a peacekeeper. Thank you so much for listening.