Modeling Peacekeeping: the Ac Se of Canada Examined Senai Abraha Kennesaw State University, [email protected]
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Kennesaw State University DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects 4-2015 Modeling Peacekeeping: The aC se of Canada Examined Senai Abraha Kennesaw State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd Part of the Peace and Conflict Studies Commons, and the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Abraha, Senai, "Modeling Peacekeeping: The asC e of Canada Examined" (2015). Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects. Paper 662. This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MODELING PEACEKEEPING: THE CASE OF CANADA EXAMINED By SENAI ABRAHA PhD DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Conflict Management in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia 2015 © Senai Abraha 2015 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The philosopher, Elbert Hubbard once said: “never explain, your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway”. Accordingly, I will just confess that the positive aspects of this thesis have been the product of genuine cooperation. A lot of noteworthy individuals have sacrificed their valuable intellectual, moral, and material assets to make this project successful. It was my privilege to have worked with, Dr. Richard Vengroff, the chair of my dissertation committee, who gave me an unwavering support and guidance. My dissertation committee crew: Drs. Carter, Vaught, Benjamin, and Smith have also tirelessly given me thousands of feedback as I developed and refined my arguments. I attribute the credit for this study to my dissertation committee members while bearing full responsibility for its flaws. I also wish to extend my gratitude to the Clendenin family for awarding me an awesome scholarship that not only waived my tuition fee but also secured me with adequate funding to cover my research expenses for two years. It would be an understatement if I say that my family has enabled me to complete this study. I am not sure if a single sentence would suffice to testify that my wife, Maki, convinced me to enroll in this PhD program alongside with her, maintain an excellent GPA, nail the comprehensive exam, and complete this dissertation against all odds. She has redefined the story of my life. My mother, Alemnesh, rightfully deserves the credit for this paper as has always been there for me in good and bad times: “it’s all because of you momé!” My sisters, brothers, and friends, thank you for the delightful dialogue, laughter, and courage! iii ABSTRACT This research introduced a comprehensive model for explaining why countries participate in peacekeeping by studying Canada’s peacekeeping decisions. The history of Canadian peacekeeping since 1947 presented an ideal case because of the significant fluctuation in its involvement from being a leading peacekeeper to a token contributor. It adopted Waltz’s schema to explain this fluctuation at the systemic, domestic, and individual levels of analyses. Most of the literature on Canadian peacekeeping decisions employed systemic level analyses such as national interest and international cooperation without taking into account the impact of domestic political and socioeconomic environment, and the role of leadership personality in peacekeeping decisions. This study tipped this imbalance by assessing the role of public opinion and leadership personality on Canadian peacekeeping decisions using a mixed research method. The evidence on public opinion showed that, with the exception of the Trudeau and Mulroney administrations, other Canadian governments didn’t consult public opinion in making peacekeeping decisions. Subsequently, the results on leadership personality indicated that Prime Ministers exhibiting personality traits associated with peaceful foreign policy did not commit greater number of peacekeepers than the Prime Ministers who did not reflect those attributes. The study concluded that Canadian peacekeeping decision is best understood by analyzing the dynamic interaction between the Cold War and the war on terror at the systemic level, the budget deficit and national unity at the domestic level, and the personality of Canada’s leaders at the individual level. Key words: Canadian peacekeeping decision, International Relations, Public Opinion, Leadership Personality. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS COPY RIGHT PAGE ……………………………………………………………………………i SIGNATURE PAGE ……………………………………………………………………………..ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 7 Systemic Analysis: Explaining Canadian Peacekeeping using IR Theories ........................ 8 The Realist Lens of Canadian Peacekeeping ........................................................................... 8 The Liberal Perspective of Canadian Peacekeeping .............................................................. 13 Constructivist Perspective of Canadian Peacekeeping .......................................................... 17 Cosmopolitan Perspective of Canadian Peacekeeping .......................................................... 20 Critical Perspective of Canadian Peacekeeping .................................................................... 22 Domestic Level of Analysis of Canadian Peacekeeping Decisions ...................................... 23 Bureaucratic Politics and Canadian Peacekeeping ................................................................ 23 Individual Decision-making in Canadian Peacekeeping ..................................................... 25 The Rational Choice Theory and Canadian Peacekeeping .................................................... 26 Political Psychology: The role of leadership in Canadian Peacekeeping .............................. 28 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 37 CHAPTER 3: HYPOTHESES METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES ................................. 41 Research Question and the Measurement of the Dependent Variable .............................. 41 Historical Approach ............................................................................................................... 42 Level of Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 43 Domestic Level of Analysis: Public versus Elite Opinion .................................................... 43 Individual level of analysis: Leadership Personality and Peacekeeping Policy Outcome .... 43 Sampling Leaders .................................................................................................................... 46 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 47 CHAPTER 4: BRIEF HISTORY OF CANADIAN PEACEKEEPING ...................................... 49 Canada and the birth of peacekeeping .................................................................................. 50 Canada leads peacekeeping: The Suez Crisis and its aftermath ........................................ 58 Canada embraces the resurgence of UN peacekeeping ....................................................... 69 The Decline of Canada’s Peacekeeping Role ........................................................................ 74 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 80 v CHAPTER 5: THE ROLE OF PUBLIC OPINION ON CANADIAN GOVERNMENT’S PEACEKEEPING DECISIONS ................................................................................................... 83 The origin and interaction of functionalism, public opinion, and peacekeeping in Canada ................................................................................................................................................... 85 The rise and fall of public discontentment towards peacekeeping ..................................... 94 Public government divide: Peacekeeping after the Cold War .......................................... 105 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 119 CHAPTER 6: LEADERSHIP TRAITS AND PEACEKEEPING DECISIONS: THE CASE OF CANADIAN PRIME MINISTERS ............................................................................................ 123 Personality