Follow the Leader, Lose the Region

This book argues that the Canadian government should think beyond a Western perspective when making Asian foreign policy decisions.

As the competition among the traditional great powers in the Asia region intensifies, Canada faces a stark choice: Should it align its foreign policy with the United States-led free and open Indo-Pacific strategy? Shared values and material ties give Canada a clear incentive to follow the lead of the United States and Western-aligned democracies in the region. However, there are other considerations to take into account.

Follow the Leader presents the case for the development of a foreign policy based on understanding how Asia sees itself rather than Western presumptions. Examining a range of key issues, it draws on Asian scholarship, leadership statements, polling, and media to demonstrate the Western misunderstanding of regional developments and to outline alternative, regionally-based perspectives on Asia’s contemporary dynamics.

This critical analysis urges the Canadian government to chart an independent policy, arguing that whatever Canada might gain from following its traditional allies, it equally stands to lose by aligning itself with a consortium of states committed to self-preservation over regional stability.

Jeffrey Reeves is vice president of research and strategy for the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. He has served as director of Asian Studies at the United States Army War College and as an instructor at Peking University in the People’s Republic of China. His books include Chinese–Japanese Competition and the East Asian Security Complex: Vying for Influence and Chinese Foreign Relations with Weak Peripheral States: Asymmetrical Economic Power and Insecurity.