Canada and USSR-US Relations

Canada was a crucial influence on USSR-US relations:
-Canada’s use of diplomacy was effective in bettering the superpowers’ relations
-promoted peaceful coexistence between the nuclear-capable superpowers
-supporter of Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties (SALT)
-calmed tensions between both sides starting to support disarmament
-Trudeau appealed for both sides to show more restraint when tensions renewed
-appealed for sides to end competition of spending on military and nuclear technology
-told United States to show more constraint after it invaded Grenada
-middle power status made Canada perfect for negotiating with Russia
-openly showed that Canada’s goal is to live peacefully, not fight communists
-ex. Trudeau’s foreign policy
-was not completely attached to the United States with better ground to negotiate
-was in the middle to keep the superpowers apart
-befriended communist states to
-started better relations with China
-first to recognize China as a country
-traded with China, show cooperation
-made communist states calm down and rethink their ideas on democracy/capitalism
-major part of Trudeau’s foreign policy
-made 1972 Summit Hockey series
-show that West can interact with the East without guns
-befriended Castro, the leader of Communist Cuba
-removed nuclear weapons from Canada
-scale back participation in nuclear arms race

Canada was not a crucial influence on USSR-US relations:
-still openly show that Canada was mostly in the United States’ sphere of influence
-support United States in Korean War nearly automatically
-conflict increased tensions between the West and the communists
-participate in NORAD and NATO and a strong supporter
-listen to many of the commands of the United States
-let the Americans build the radar stations for warning about Soviet missiles
-accepted BOMARC anti-ballistic missiles
-escalate the conflict between Soviets, make them nervous
-keep full brigade in Europe and all other military requirements set by US
-sometimes indecisive in events
-did not even do anything in the Cuban Missile Crisis to calm the powers
-was closest to nuclear war, and Canada did not respond well
-sat by without negotiating or pacifying opposing forces
-was not always effective in negotiations
-did not directly effect the end of the Cold War
-only influenced step-by-step process
-could not really force the superpowers to stop tensions
-in the end, the superpowers make the decisions
-they could choose to continue hostilities and normally did to some extent