Has Canada lost its place in the world” Are we destined for a future as middle power, denied a seat at the “grown-ups table”” Some would argue yes—that decades of neglect and inattention have rendered Canadian foreign policy ineffective at best, and non-existent at worst.

Paul Heinbecker—career diplomat and former permanent ambassador to the UN'strongly disagrees. The golden days of Pearson may be long gone, he argues (and perhaps they weren’t quite as “golden” as we’d all like to remember), but Canada still has a role to play.

In Getting Back in the Game, Heinbecker presents his compelling vision for the future of Canadian foreign policy—a future in which Canada can work both with the United States and apart from it; in which our government can take a stand and effect change on issues of the day, from climate change to the Middle East; in which this country has a key role to play in the rehabilitation of global governance.

Drawing on more than thirty years of experience, Heinbecker offers a comprehensive, behind-the-scenes look at how we got to where we are, and how we can move forward. Through a wide range of topics—the institutions of foreign policy; the use of hard, soft and smart power; Canada’s complex relationship with the United States; and the continuing conundrum that is the United Nations, among others—Heinbecker explores the questions and concerns that are on the minds of Canada’s leaders, thinkers, and citizens. In the end, he makes a strong case for Canada’s future on the world stage. Like Mark Twain, he argues that “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”

Praise:

“Getting Back in the Game crystallizes Paul Heinbecker’s impressive experience analysis at the active centre of Canadian foreign policy for more than thirty years. His book is informed, fluent, often blunt, and both realistic and optimistic about a Canada which can matter in the world, and a United Nations that is ‘innovative, effective and important.’”
?The Rt. Hon. Joe Clark, scholar, statesman, former Prime Minister of Canada, and Secretary of State for External Affairs 1983–91

“Paul Heinbecker has served a variety of prime ministers and foreign ministers as a thoughtful and clear-spoken analyst of Canadian foreign policy. In this, a veritable ‘playbook’ in Canadian foreign policy past and present, he shares his insight with the Canadian public, and we will all benefit from his intelligent and provocative but always committed rendering of the active role that Canada can play in the world.”
?Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, President of the University of Winnipeg; Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1996–2000

“This is an impressive and comprehensive review of Canada and its place in the world: past, present, and future. It is a highly readable and sensible Canadian foreign policy treatise well rooted in experience and wisdom.”
?John Manley, President and CEO, Canadian Council of Chief Executives; Canada’s Minister for Foreign Affairs 2000–02; and Deputy Prime Minister 2002–03

“Paul Heinbecker makes a very persuasive case for an active, ambitious foreign policy for Canada. Getting Back in the Game should be required reading for all those who think Canada is too small to do anything worthwhile on the world stage.”
?Louise Fr—chette, Canadian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1992–94; Deputy Minister of National Defence (1995–98); and UN Deputy Secretary-General, 1998–2006.

Paul Heinbecker, former Canadian ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and former ambassador to Germany, is the director of the Laurier Centre for Global Relations, and Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). He is the co-editor of Irrelevant or Indispensable?: The United Nations in the 21st Century (WLUP and CIGI, 2005), and his writings appear frequently in magazines, journals, and newspapers.

An assistant professor at the University of Waterloo and Senior Fellow at CIGI, Bessma Momani specializes in Middle East economic liberalization and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She is the author of two books: Twentieth Century World History: A Canadian Perspective and IMF—Egyptian Negotiations. She has also written many scholarly articles in political and economic journals.

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