A Study Of Canada's Arctic Policy With Reference To Theories Of Middle Power Diplomatic Behavior (1945-2015)

Canada is a regional power in today's Arctic. In Arctic politics, it plays an indispensable and significant role just as much as Russia or the US. However, in history, it took Canada a lasting and sophisticated process to obtain its sovereignty as well as establish its leadership position in the regional governance in the Arctic. To sort out a history of the development of Canada's Arctic policies is the focus of the present study. During the early Cold War period, in face of the US requirement of installing military facilities on its territory. Canada was fully aware of the US disrespect to its sovereignty but was left with no other choice. However, the Canadian governments managed to maintain its security in the Cold War while acquiring the sovereignty over its Arctic islands. In the late period of the Cold War. between the strong domestic pressure for claiming sovereignty over the "Northwest Passage" and the obstinate US opposition against any sovereignty claim over sea routes due to its worldwide principle of "freedom of navigation", the Canadian governments managed to get around the US opposition and worked out an alternative to establish its sovereignty over the Arctic waters step by step. After the end of the Cold War. Canada created its agenda of regional governance aiming at the well-being of the Aboriginals. Arctic environmental protection and sustainable development. It enjoyed little popularity'among nations especially among the big powers. But through mediation and numerous negotiations. Canada managed to forge a consensus among the eight Arctic states including the US and Russia to bring about and strengthen a regional governance mechanism in the Arctic centered on the "Arctic Council",If Canada's Arctic policy can be taken as a diplomatic behavior as a whole, this behavior can be interpreted with the theory of middle-power diplomacy. Middle Power, a role Canada is deeply identified with, is a term Canada coined for itself at the end of WWII in order to imply an independent status as well as one that is higher than small powers in the post-war international system. The present study attempts to systematize the theories of middle-power diplomacy into "hierarchical approach", "functional approach" and "behavioral approach" and apply these three approaches to the analysis of three different historic periods of Canada's Arctic diplomacy. The periodic features of each different period are highlighted and a general tendency of increasing independence and decreasing dependence on the US in Canada's Arctic policy is concluded.'"Hierarchical approach" is used to explain Canada's Arctic policies between 1945 and 1968. featuring a high level of dependence on the US. "Hierarchical approach" describes thepolicy orientation based on power hierarchy, which mainly takes the form of obedience to and dependence onthe big power, though some reward as a result of the submission is also possible. In this period. Canada yielded to the US request of building military facilities in Canada but also obtained US support for Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic islands for that. "Functional approach" is used to analyze Canada's Arctic policies between 1968 and 1993. featuring an increased level of independence. "Functional approach" refers to the selection of a specific field and the fulfillment of a certain function in order to promote the overall status or achieve certain goals. In face of the US opposition against the Canadian claim of sovereignty over Arctic waters, the Canadian government selected "environmental protection" as a functional area and declared its functional sovereignty over the Arctic waters on the basis of exercising environmental protection within Arctic waters. This served as a breakthrough leading to Canada's declaration of full sovereignty in the Arctic. "Behavioral approach" is applied to interpret Canada's Arctic policies between 1993 and 2015. featuring a high level of independence. "Behavioral approach" is about behaving in typical middle-power behaviors such as "mediation, multilateralism and good international citizenship" to showcase a middle-power identity. In this period, with certain concession to the US. Canada basically followed its own agenda of regional governance and built up a regional governance mechanism with Arctic Council at its core. Canada's diplomatic independence is also highlighted in the fact that the regional governance mechanism created under the leadership of Canada stands outside the UN system led by big powers such as the US and on the contrary the US is co-opted to participate in theArctic regional governance undertaking led by Canada.Canada's diplomatic independence in the Arctic is the pre-condition for China to deepen bilateral and multilateral collaboration with Canada on Arctic-related issues. On the other hand,China makes an ideal partner for Canada on Arctic-related affairs among non-Arctic countries, considering Canada's game of power politics among the Arctic powers, its open approach to Arctic development and limitation in its actual strength.