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Canadian international relations experts share their views on global politics and Canada's role
A survey of Canadian international relations professors has found they disagree on how to respond to potential Chinese aggression against Taiwan and which global regions will matter most to Canada in the future.
For the past 20 years, the Teaching, Research and International Policy (TRIP) survey has asked university professors about how they teach international relations and what they think about global affairs. Originally based in the United States, the survey expanded to Canada in 2006 and is now conducted regularly in many countries.
The Canadian faculty survey was conducted from March 5 to July 12, 2024. Of the 109 who participated, most held permanent academic positions, including 22 full professors, 31 associate professors and six emeritus professors.
Participants were asked to agree or disagree with statements about global politics. Seventy-five experts agreed that states are the main players in global politics, but there was less agreement on the importance of domestic politics.
Most felt that international institutions help bring order to the chaotic global system. However, whether globalization has made people better off - even if there are some losers - divided experts, with 21 believing no one is better off due to globalization while two-thirds believed the opposite.
When it came to more critical or less mainstream ideas - such as whether major international relations theories are rooted in racist assumptions - opinions were split.
More than 50 agreed, but more than a third disagreed, and many gave neutral responses. Disagreement over the role of racism in shaping world politics highlights the difficulty of decolonizing international relations and incorporating post-colonial perspectives - particularly when trying to understand complex "failed cases" like United Nations peacekeeping efforts in Haiti.
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Professors were also asked where they get their international news. Most rely on major newspapers, international media and internet sources.
When asked which world region is strategically most important for Canada today, nearly half - or 43 of 97 experts opting to respond to the question - chose North America (excluding Mexico); in other words, the United States. Sixteen selected the Arctic and another 16 chose East Asia.
Very few picked regions like the Middle East, Europe or Russia. Looking ahead 20 years, 10 experts shifted their answer from North America to the Arctic.
Experts were asked what Canada should do if China attacks Taiwan. Most supported non-military responses: 72 supported sanctions and 69 supported taking in refugees.
About half supported sending weapons or banning Chinese goods. Fewer supported cyberattacks (18), sending troops (15) or a no-fly zone (14).
Surprisingly, six said Canada should launch military action against China.
Justin Trudeau was prime minister when the survey was conducted. When asked about his performance, 50 per cent rated him poorly or very poorly, 30 per cent were neutral and only a small minority rated him positively.
Canadian international relations professors don't always agree, but a few trends stand out.
Despite recent government focus on the Arctic in terms of its Our North, Strong and Free policy, many professors still view the U.S. as Canada's most important strategic region. East Asia drew some attention, but few see it growing in importance.
With a new government under Prime Minister Mark Carney, there may be opportunities to improve on areas where Trudeau was seen as weak by respondents to the survey.
For example, despite having developed a strategy for the Indo-Pacific region, vital Canadian trade and maritime security interests were minimized by the previous Liberal government. Carney could therefore contemplate expanding Canada's maritime assets, improving its artificial intelligence and cybersecurity capacity and investing in digital infrastructure and quantum computing.
Read more: Defence policy update focuses on quantum technology's role in making Canada safe
Carney had pledged to fulfil Canada's commitment to NATO's target of two per cent of GDP spent on defence, saying Canada will meet the threshold by the end of 2025.
However, Canada will still lag behind. NATO is calling on allies to invest five per cent of GDP in defence, comprising 3.5 per cent on core defence spending as well as 1.5 per cent of GDP per year on defence and security-related investment, including in infrastructure and resilience.
Canada's 2024 GDP was $2.515 trillion, which means a five per cent defence investment of nearly $125 billion annually would have accounted for more than a quarter of a federal budget (which was under $450 billion in 2024-2025).
Canada, a founding NATO member, leads a multinational brigade in Latvia and supports Ukraine in other ways.
Ukraine seems on an irreversible path towards NATO membership. Though 69 per cent of respondents supported NATO membership for Ukraine, only 44 per cent felt it was likely. Though the U.S. tariff crisis attracts attention, some experts are increasingly looking to the Arctic to understand Canada's strategic interests - a trend sure to be reflected in future surveys of Canadian international relations experts.
