Less than Zero: Canada and the Arab Spring (and why it matters, darn it!)

Couldn't we at least send face paint?

Yesterday I pontificated on and speculated a bit about Canada and the Arab Spring. The main points of my rant argument were:

• Canada has been slower than its allies to express support for the Arab Spring
• Canada has not articulated any kind of policy towards the Arab Spring despite its leadership in the Libyan mission.
• Canada should express unequivocal support for peaceful democratic transition, condemn attacks and violence against peaceful protesters and feel free to make its views known if it would seem that any of these transitions take on an illiberal/dangerous character.

Anything else that Canada could contribute in terms of money or support would be good. And it was speculated yesterday that Harper would lay out more of a vision as to what Canada’s response would be.

So what happened? 

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Six Months later, Canada develops a policy on the Arab Spring

The Globe and Mail is reporting that Stephen Harper is going to use the G8 summit to define his government’s position on the Arab Spring. Way to go guys! Only 6 months after the fact. Glad to see the Government of Canada taking the most important developments in the structure of international politics since 1989 so epically seriously.

What we still don’t know is whether Harper will actively or tepidly support the Arab Spring.

A couple of quick thoughts.

First, I don’t think Harper has any problems with carving out his own stance on the issue. He was clearly out of step with all of his Western allies (and other Canadian political parties) with his very lukewarm support for the Egyptian protestors – a stance clearly inspired by Harper’s strong support and concern for Israel’s security.

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