Although fifty years have passed since Lester Pearson stepped down as prime minister, he still influences debates about Canada’s role in the world. Known as “Mike” to his friends, he has been credited with charting a “Pearsonian” course in which Canada took on a global role as a helpful fixer seeking to mediate disputes and promote international cooperation.

Mike’s World explores the myths surrounding Pearsonianism to explain why he remains such a touchstone for understanding Canadian foreign policy. Leading and emerging scholars dig deeply into Pearson’s diplomatic and political career, especially during the 1960s and his time as prime minister. Topics range from peacekeeping and Arctic sovereignty to environmental diplomacy and human rights policy. They show that competing forces of idealism and pragmatism were key drivers of Pearsonian foreign policy and how global events often influenced politics and society within Canada itself.

Situating Pearson within his times and as a lens through which to analyze Canadians’ views of global affairs, this nuanced collection wrestles with the contradictions of Pearson and Pearsonianism and, ultimately, with the resulting myths surrounding Canada’s role in the world.

Asa McKercher is assistant professor of history at the Royal Military College of Canada.

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Galen Roger Perras is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Ottawa. He holds an MA in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada and a PhD in History from the University of Waterloo. Specializing in Canadian-American relations and North American military history, he has more than 40 academic publications located in academic journals and edited monographs. His major publications include: Franklin Roosevelt and the Origins of the Canadian-American Security Alliance, 1933–1945: Necessary But Not Necessary Enough (Praeger 1998); and Stepping Stones to Nowhere: The Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and American Military Strategy, 1867–1945 (University of British Columbia Press & Naval Institute Press, 2003). The University of Ottawa selected him as an Educator of the Year in 2008–09.

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The essay format, where the authors are able to drill down deeply into many specific areas, helps illustrate many elements of Mr Pearson’s career which are likely unknown to even the most expert reader.

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