His Majesty King Charles III’s visit to Canada at the end of May, to deliver the Speech from the Throne, his first visit as Sovereign, therefore came at a significant time. The Speech from the Throne opens every new session of Parliament, setting out the government’s ambitions for the parliament and is traditionally read out by the Governor General on behalf of the Sovereign. Only twice before has the Head of State read the Speech directly and King Charles’ decision to deliver the Speech himself in itself was an important symbol for reaffirming the UK’s commitment to Canada and, importantly, to Canadian sovereignty. 

So what did the Speech tell us? And where next for UK-Canada relations?

1) A Focus on Canadian Values 

One of the most integral parts of King Charles’ Speech was his emphasis on building Canada’s soft power assets as a country with “a unique identity, which is recognised across the world for bravery and sacrifice, in defence of national values and for the diversity and kindness of Canadians.” King Charles also emphasised Canada’s history, embracing its British, French, and Indigenous roots, as a constitutionally bilingual and multicultural state with a commitment to truth and reconciliation. In focusing on and leveraging these values, King Charles argued that “Canadians can give themselves far more than any foreign power on any continent can ever take away…Canada can build new alliances and a new economy that serves all Canadians.” 

2) Building New Relationships with the United States and Diversifying Canada’s Relationships

While reaffirming the continued importance of Canada’s relationship with the United States, King Charles also emphasised Canada’s commitment to strengthening its international partnerships and identifying opportunities to build coalitions of like-minded partners. Reading between the lines, it is clear that Canada will be looking more towards the UK and Europe as partners moving forwards, as it looks to diversify its relationships and move away from its reliance on the US. 

With fresh leadership in both the UK and Canada, and with Prime Minister Carney’s strong personal links to the UK, there is plenty of opportunity for the UK and Canada to strengthen relations. The UK’s membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) provides particularly strong opportunities to strengthen relations, and there are also potential opportunities to strengthen bilateral trade. CANZUK – which comprises Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK – could also prove an increasingly useful grouping, especially with the United States currently reviewing its AUKUS agreement with the UK and Australia, necessitating that the UK find new routes and opportunities to engage outside of Europe.

3) Strengthening Canada’s Military and Defence

King Charles’ Speech also emphasised the importance of strengthening Canadian defence and national security, in response to an increasingly volatile global environment. The Speech emphasised how Canada will focus on rebuilding, rearming, and reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces, boosting its defence industry by joining ReArm Europe, and strengthening its presence in the North.

This focus on strengthening Canadian defence and security mirrors trends seen in Europe, where concern about reliance on the United States for national security has seen nations rapidly invest in their own defensive capabilities. As King Charles affirmed, Canada is arranging to be in the Arctic on a near-permanent basis, while Prime Minister Carney has vowed to raise defence spending to 2% from 1.4% of Canada’s GDP. 

With the UK also rapidly investing in defence, this creates renewed opportunities for the UK to collaborate with Canada on defence, particularly when it comes to the Arctic, an increasingly geopolitically important region which is often under-considered in European foreign policy decision making.

4) Bolstering Canada’s Role as a Foreign Policy Leader

As the United States retreats from its position of global leadership, King Charles also emphasised Canada’s commitment to building a coalition of “like-minded countries that share its values”, not least through its Presidency of the G7, which it hosted earlier this week. The Summit began “a new era of co-operation that promotes long-term resilience over short-term efficiency,” according to Carney with a firm focus on security and trade.

But with President Trump leaving the Summit early, the Summit also stood as a timely reminder of the need to form new coalitions and partnerships that may not always involve the United States. Here there is a renewed opportunity for both the UK and Canada, both of whom have emphasised their commitment to global leadership and global values, to step up at this critical juncture in global politics.

5) A Commitment to Canadian Sovereignty

While King Charles’ decision to deliver the Speech from the Throne himself can be seen as a subtle nod to Canadian sovereignty, the Speech itself was less subtle, with multiple references to Canadian sovereignty included. Here King Charles is uniquely positioned to reaffirm the importance of Canadian sovereignty, both as Sovereign of Canada, and given President Trump’s well known affinity for the Royal Family. With President Trump’s aggressive overtures towards Canada, that could be increasingly important over the coming years.

The views expressed in this article are the authour’s own and do not necessarily represent those of BFPG. 

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Tensions between the US and China have flared at the United Nations – as President Trump blamed the Chinese government for the spread of Covid-19. The BBC report that President Trump said; “”We must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague on to the world – China. In the earliest days of the virus China locked down travel domestically, while allowing flights to leave China and infect the world. China condemned my travel ban on their country, even as they cancelled domestic flights and locked citizens in their homes,” he added.

In Reuters, Renee Maltezou writes that Turkey and Greece are ready to resume talks over contested claims in the Mediterranean for the first time in four years. Of the historical conflict and recent development, Maltezou writes: “the talks, which broke off in 2016 after 60 rounds that made little progress over 14 years, will resume in “the near future” in Istanbul, the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement, without elaborating.” Supposedly, the Turkish government gave no time for a resumption of negotiations, but officials have said there are positive developments. Maltezou continues: “tensions flared last month after Ankara sent its Oruc Reis seismic survey ship into disputed waters, escorted by gunboats, to map out sea territory for possible oil and gas drilling.”

Also in Reuters, Idrees Ali writes on stuttering peace talks in Afghanistan. Though the Special Representative for Afghanistan has said that levels of violence are too high and progress in talks continues to be slow, Ali writes that “the talks are the best hope for peace in years and come as a result of a February pact between the Taliban and United States, allowing U.S. forces to withdraw in exchange for Taliban promises on terrorism. But the militant group has refused to agree to a ceasefire and the war grinds on.”

In Politico, Cristina Gallardo writes that the UK is set to scrap the plans for a post-Brexit alternative to the European Union’s satellite navigation system, Galileo. A baby of Theresa May, Gallardo writes that: “the UK Space Agency is expected to announce that contracts awarded to U.K. space companies to build the British Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) will not be extended beyond their expiration date at the end of this month” – putting the nail in the coffin of May’s plan. Gallardo continues: “May’s plan, floated in 2018, was at the time considered bold and expensive. There is consensus in the space sector now that the U.K. does not really need a global system, and that funding pressures brought about by the coronavirus pandemic have rendered the GNSS project unachievable, according to UKSA and industry officials. The contracts awarded so far aimed to provide detailed engineering studies and procure some parts of the system.”

Finally, debate over who might be the replacement for human rights icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the US Supreme Court continues to heat up. In Axios, Jonathan Swan writes on a potential replacement – Judge Amy Barrett – and considers the current political circumstances. According to the article, “Trump has already pulled the court well to the right. If he gets to replace Ginsburg, especially with Barrett, he would cement a young, reliably conservative majority that could last for decades.”

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The foreign policy headlines have been dominated this week by news that, with the support of America, the UAE and Bahrain have signed agreements fully normalising their relationships with Israel. Whilst the move has been celebrated by some as a historic and extraordinary triumph, The New York Times’ Editorial Board have argued that, whilst this is “on the face of it, a good and beneficial development”, “the agreements…made only a perfunctory nod to what ‘Middle East peace’ has long referred to: peace between Palestinians and Israelis.” They argue that: “A true Middle East peace deal will require an accommodation with the 4.75 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, a people who have been denied a homeland for more than seven decades”.

Russia has also had a big week and Vladimir Soldatkin reports in Reuters that: “Russian President Vladimir Putin bestowed a $1.5 billion loan on Belarus on Monday in a gesture of support for its leader Alexander Lukashenko, who flew to entreat his patron for help after five weeks of mass protests demanding his resignation.” Furthermore, Ivana Stradner and Milan Jovanović discuss in Foreign Policy how the recent parliamentary election in Montenengro, which saw the pro-Western Democratic Party of Socialists replaced by newly formed coalition of opposition parties, could “have outsized repercussions for the international order”. They argue that: “It’s high time the EU wakes up and does something to stem Russian President Vladimir Putin’s creeping influence in the Balkans.”

Japan is also preparing for a period of new leadership with Yoshihide Suga becoming Japan’s new Prime Minister. William Sposato discusses what can be expected from the Prime Minister in Foreign Policy, describing him as a “policy wonk short on charisma (who) is best known for the blandness of his daily press briefings.” He argues that: “As the ultimate fixer, Suga has already made clear that his goal is stability, not innovation.” 

Meanwhile, Barbados has declared that it will remove the Queen as head of state and become a Republic stating that “The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind,”. However The Economist warns that whilst the Prime Minister “will have no problem mustering the two-thirds majority in both houses needed to dump the monarchy”, “many former British colonies have contemplated the republican idea, only to discover that it is hard to execute. Barbados (has) dithered for nearly a quarter of a century.”

Finally, in the human rights sphere, Borzou Daraghi in The Independent discusses the hanging of 27-year-old Navid Afkari, a former Iranian wrestling champion. “The 85,000-member World Players Association accus(ed) Iran of using him as a “pawn” in their domestic political calculations, demanding that Iran’s participation in the Olympics, world wrestling and international football be reassessed should the death take place”. Meanwhile, Madeline Wattenbarger describes in The Guardian how women in Mexico have seized a “human rights office to force President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to tackle grim toll of rape and murder.” Similar occupations outside of Mexico City have been met with force, with police entering occupations, “beat(ing) the women and children with them, before taking them away in unmarked vehicles to the prosecutor’s office”. Police have also attacked crowds outside the occupations.

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Whilst the UK secured a £15.2 billion Free Trade Agreement with Japan this week, its first major post-Brexit agreement, the front pages have been dominated by the UK Government’s plan to give itself the powers to unilaterally rewrite parts of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. After the revelation, Herszehhorn, Moens, Gallardo and Barigazzi wrote in Politico that: “For the EU, the mood was more of exasperation than despair. Whatever the ultimate goal or goals of Johnson’s government, EU officials said the threat of breaching the Withdrawal Agreement was only poisoning the process”. But for now “talks limp on”.

Away from the front pages, some of the biggest global companies have been caught up in this week’s foreign policy developments with Microsoft releasing a report admitting that Russian, Chinese and Iranian hackers have targeted those involved in the 2020 Presidential election and US-European policy debates. Tim Starks writes for Politico that “the report is the most expansive public warning to date about the rapid spread of foreign governments’ efforts to wield hackers to undermine U.S. democracy”.

Meanwhile, James Palmer writes in Foreign Policy how “Disney’s ‘Mulan’ disaster highlights (the) dangers of China deals”. From the support of the film’s star Li Yu for the Hong Kong police during pro-democracy demonstrations, to thanking Chinese authorities in Xinjiang during the credits, the film has been embroiled in political controversy. In the latest blow to Disney, China “silenced all coverage of the film on the mainland a couple of days before its release.” Disney’s disaster is a timely reminder that firms, and nations, need to have a more informed understanding of China and to know, in advance, what they will and will not tolerate from China. Last month the BFPG released a report into the importance of establishing a UK-China engagement strategy. You can read more about this here.

In the international development sector, Save the Children have been allowed “to resume bidding for government aid contracts after a sexual misconduct scandal saw the charity withdraw itself from the process more than two years ago” writes William Worley in Devex. The organisation “has taken “significant steps” to improve its safeguarding and now meets Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office standards”. And in the Guardian, through the story of ‘Samita’, Harriet Grant draws attention to the fact COVID-19 related school closures “could lead to 13 million more child marriages over a decade”.

Finally, a story to watch out for over the next week is the ongoing political transition in Mali. Boureima Balima reports in Reuters that, keen to ensure democracy in Mali after the President was ousted on the 18th August, “West Africa’s regional leaders have given the military junta in Mali until Sept. 15 to name a transitional president and a prime minister.” The junta have since begun a three-day national consultation in response. It remains unclear what will happen if the junta fail to meet this deadline.

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As the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office opened its doors for the first time, FCDO Secretary Dominic Raab claimed that the UK will lead the world on tackling famine – not least famine caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Karen McVeigh writes in the Guardian that although critics fear aid spending will be deprioritised, Raab has claimed that merging the two departments will be a force for good. McVeigh writes that: “Raab announced a £119m aid package to tackle coronavirus and famine, aimed at alleviating extreme hunger for over 6 million people in Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Central African Republic, the Sahel region, South Sudan and Sudan.”

Will Worley writes in Devex on the FCDO, highlighting the fears for the aid sector – and worry that the UK will end its commitment to the 0.7% of GDP aid spending target. Worley cites Rachel Glennester, Chief Economist at the FCDO (and formerly Chief Economist at DFID,) who said there was: “lots of potential to combine different instruments — trade, diplomacy, investment, research, and aid — to have a greater impact on the world. Aid flows on their own will always be small compared to the impact of policy, investment, and remittances but they can be [an] important catalyst.”

The Daily Mail notes that the UK had dropped to 47th place in the global broadband ‘speed leagues,’ due to slow rollout of pure fibre networks. Ryan Morrisson writes that: “the top three spots in the table were all taken by small nations including Liechtenstein, Jersey and Andorra – all with more than 200Mpbs average speeds. The US is placed 20th with an average speed of 71.30Mbps and Australia is in 62nd place with an average speed of 25.65Mbps.”

This week, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin travelled to Belarus – as tensions in the country continue to increase. Dan Haverty wrote in Foreign Policy that: “mass protests have gripped Belarus since longtime President Aleksandr Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in the presidential election on Aug. 9, despite facing massive opposition to his 26-year presidency. The security forces have since launched a brutal crackdown on protesters, and opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was forced to flee to Lithuania.” Though previously, Russian government officials have suggested Russia will refrain from overt involvement in Belarus – Prime Minister Mishutin’s visit suggests this could be changing.

Lynne O’Donnell writes in Foreign Policy that peace defying Taliban prisoners are returning to the battlefield in Afghanistan. According to the article, “confidential research obtained by Foreign Policy shows that the majority of Taliban prisoners released under an agreement signed by insurgent leaders and the United States are taking up arms to fight Afghan forces and continue their “jihad” to overthrow the U.S.-backed Afghan government and replace it with an Islamic emirate.”

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Fears over an ‘East-West split’ in the so-called architecture of the internet have ramped up as Western governments, led by America, look to ban Chinese involvement in the construction of their digital comms infrastructure. Peter Foster, in the Financial Times, spoke to the head of the National Cyber Security Center, who noted that it looks unlikely that the current, free and open ‘version’ of the internet will survive. Ciaran Martin said Western countries “need to make sure that our technological development keeps pace with, and outpaces, any competing model. That’s what really matters.” 

Elsewhere, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a speech to the Republican National Convention – focussed on President Donald Trump officially accepting the GOP’s nomination for the presidency – a controversial move given the office very rarely gets involved in domestic, partisan politics. The Telegraph reported that Pompeo praised the President’s foreign policy wins in his speech, and wrote that: “Mr Pompeo delivered standard recitations of Republican party claims about the successes of Trump’s “America First” foreign policy against Russia, China and Iran. He said they made his family – wife Susan and son Nick – and all Americans safer. He spoke of the defeat of the Islamic State’s physical caliphate, Mr Trump’s pro-Israel agenda and the president’s determined vigilance to guard against the “predatory aggression” of the Chinese Communist Party.”

The crackdown in Belarus continued in earnest this week, as authorities arrested leading opposition figures, who are pivotal in the protests against the President, Aleksandr Lukashenko. Our Evie Aspinall wrote a helpful explainer of the situation in Belarus, noting that: “During the 2020 election, all of Lukashenko’s main political rivals were either exiled or jailed. This included Sergei Tikhanovsky, a prominent blogger who was arrested in May, after which his wife – Svetlana Tikhanovskaya – stepped in, becoming the main opposition candidate. On the 9th August, the Central Election Commission announced that Lukashenko had won 80.1% of the vote, and his rival Ms Tikanovskaya had won just 10.12%.”

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe – the longest serving Prime Minister in the history of the country – has announced his resignation on health grounds. Al Jazeera examines the runners and riders to succeed Abe, including Taro Aso, the 79-year-old Minister of Finance, and Shigeru Ishiba, a ‘hawkish’ former defence Minister. According to the website, Abe’s resignation speech was hugely apologetic. “I have decided to step down from the post of the prime minister,” Abe said, saying he was suffering from the same condition that ended his first term in office. “I cannot be prime minister if I cannot make the best decisions for the people.”

In an interesting read from the team at POLITICO, it’s clear that the departure of EU Commissioner Phil Hogan has sparked unrest amongst EU officials. The article notes that officials see the removal of Hogan as a sign that commissioners – previously bordering on the unaccountable – are no longer ‘bulletproof.’ The article notes that: “for some Commission officials and diplomats, von der Leyen’s approach marks a break with the past: The perception that senior Commission officials could act with impunity, safe in the knowledge that it was almost inconceivable they would be forced out.”

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The Economist said:

“In any event, it is widely agreed that Britain’s diminished network of diplomatic missions should be bumped up. As foreign secretary from 2016 to 2018, Mr Johnson promoted a plan to open or reopen a string of smaller ones. He visited more African countries than any foreign secretary since the Conservatives returned to office in 2010. In the past year Britain’s Treasury has been persuaded to pay for 400-odd extra diplomatic posts focused on Africa (based at home or in the continent).

Still, Britain’s diplomatic footprint in Africa is tiny compared with what it was. According to a report issued last year by the British Foreign Policy Group, a think-tank backed by former ambassadors, in 2017 Britain had 231 diplomats (excluding local hires) in 31 of sub-Saharan Africa’s 48 countries. In 16 of those British missions, only one or two diplomats were in situ. Missions to five more countries have since been opened or reopened. France, which had 42 embassies south of the Sahara, counted 1,373 diplomats (excluding local hires) in 2018; China probably has even more. Diplomats from Brazil, India and Turkey, eager to do business and diplomacy in Africa, also outnumber Britain on the ground in various countries.”

You can read the full article here.

The British Foreign Policy Group is an independent, non-partisan think tank based in London. Through dynamic research, events and networks, we seek to strengthen the UK’s international engagement, and advance our understanding of global affairs in the 21st Century.

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The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP -Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Harriet Baldwin MP – Minister of State for Africa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (also DfID)

The Rt Hon Sir Alan Duncan KCMG MP – Minister of State for Europe and the Americas at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Dr Andrew Murrison MP – Minister of State for the Middle East at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (also DfID)

The Rt Hon Mark Field MP – Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Lord Ahman of Wimbledon – Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The Rt Hon Rory Stewart OBE MP -Secretary of State for International Development

Harriet Baldwin MP – Minister of State for International Development (also FCO)

Dr Andrew Murrison MP – Minister of State for International Development (also FCO)

Baroness Sugg CBE – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development

The Rt Hon Penny Mordaunt MP -Secretary of State for Defence

The Rt Hon Earl Howe – Minister of State for Defence

Mark Lancaster TD MP -Minister of State for the Armed Forces

The Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP – Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Defence People and Veterans

Stuart Andrew MP-  Minister for Defence Procurement

The Rt Hon Liam Fox MP -Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade

George Hollingberry MP– Minister of State for Trade Policy

Graham Stuart MP – Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Investment).

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