The United States has long represented one of Canada's primary international allies. This partnership has remained strong despite turbulent times in the relationship, such as the one brought forth by the Trump presidency. Our article seeks to understand the sources of such continuity through the lens of continentalism. While historical accounts of continentalism have portrayed it as a passive force stemming from Canada's material self-interest, scholars have recently identified the emergence of an evolved form of continentalism that represents a dominant idea and a coherent analytical framework in Canadian foreign policy. Has this new form of continentalism indeed gained widespread acceptance among Canadians? We answer this question by considering continentalism in the ideational realm. Using novel public opinion data, our analysis investigates whether continentalist attitudes have become embedded in Canadians’ national identity and foster closer alignment preferences vis-à-vis the United States. We find significant and robust evidence of such effects.

Cet article aborde les relations sino-africaines dans le cadre de l'analyse comparative des politiques étrangères. Il propose une analyse constructiviste des stratégies diplomatiques du Niger et du Burkina Faso dans leurs relations avec la RPC et Taïwan depuis les années soixante. En s'inspirant d'une démarche éclectique combinant d'une part, agents et structures et de l'autre, facteurs domestiques et facteurs systémiques, il explique les stratégies fluctuantes de reconnaissance diplomatique des deux États à l’égard des deux « Chine » par la construction sociale de l'intérêt national. Les résultats corroborent les postulats du constructivisme sur le poids des idées et des contextes dans la fabrique de l'intérêt national.

This article addresses second-wave feminist interventions in Canadian foreign policy debate with reference to two analytic streams: (1) political science and international relations (IR) perspectives since the late 1990s that stress the formal decisional aims of advocacy and the role of transnational networks in pressuring reluctant governments and (2) sociological approaches that underline movements’ cultural as well as statist dimensions and the significance of their domestic political strategies. Examining engagement by the Voice of Women (VOW) in nuclear weapons debates and National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC) in free trade controversies confirms sociological expectations of campaigners’ varied claims and contributions and the importance of their political rootedness in Canada. Consistent with political science and IR arguments, the study finds NAC paid growing attention to international political opportunities in 1990 and following. The conclusion considers implications of the analysis and directions for future research.