Open AccessThe Role of Political Culture in Shaping Canadian, EU and US Disarmament Initiatives
Author(s) -
Rouba Al-Fattal
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
review of european and russian affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1718-4835
DOI - 10.22215/rera.v3i3.188
Subject(s) - disarmament , multilateralism , politics , political culture , dilemma , political science , european union , soft power , political economy , convergence (economics) , foreign policy , international trade , sociology , economics , law , economic growth , philosophy , epistemology
Canada and the European Union (EU) share, to a certain extent, a similar political culture, one based on multilateralism and the use of soft power. Nevertheless, over the past fifteen years Canada has been sometimes adopting disarmament policies that are similar to those of the EU and different from those of the US, while in other times it has been adopting policies that are similar to those of the US and different from those of the EU. This indicates that similarity in political culture alone is not sufficient enough to create convergence on foreign policies and that certain conditions must first be met for political culture to take precedence over neorealist explanations when dealing with security issues. Using Canadian, EU and US decisions on the issues of anti-personnel landmines and Iranian nuclear proliferation dilemma as case studies, this article analyses the conditions under which political culture plays a role in forming similar security policies.