Is Canada a Secret Global Superpower?
Our diasporas make us deceptively strong
This post was originally sent on October 30th 2019 as a Metaviews newsletter which I publish each weekday. Please support my writing and research by subscribing!
Canada may be on the verge of an existential crisis as the global geopolitical order is reconfigured, and regional tensions within the country threaten its future. However it is in these moments of existential angst that opportunities emerge, and in this particular moment in history, Canada faces a unique opportunity to redefine itself, both domestically and globally.
As a country, Canada has always been plagued by a sense of inferiority combined with a colonial legacy of submission. Yet this seems to be changing as we move further into the 21st century.
What if contrary to popular belief, Canada is actually a secret global superpower? Not an empire, nor a dominant economic force, but a remarkably resilient and increasingly relevant cultural and technological network of networks.
Canada as the bridge in the global village. Canada as the embodiment of the Internet.
I’ve been making this argument, almost jokingly, for quite some time. Yet it was the article above on Tse Chi Lop that brought it back to mind. Here’s a quote:
Tse Chi Lop, a Canadian national born in China, is suspected of leading a vast multinational drug trafficking syndicate formed out of an alliance of five of Asia’s triad groups, according to law enforcement officials. Its members call it simply “The Company.” Police, in a nod to one of Tse’s nicknames, have dubbed it Sam Gor, Cantonese for “Brother Number Three.”
The article itself is definitely worth a read if you’re interested in the evolution of the global narcotics trade. However I find it interesting and unsurprising to learn that one of the most powerful gangsters in the world is Canadian.
All the world lives in Canada, and many Canadians regard themselves as citizens of the world. The diversity and depth of the diasporas that live here create a fantastic fabric for both export oriented businesses and international collaboration. That criminals have figured this out and found success does not surprise me. I just wish the rest of Canadian society was as bold and internationally focused.
Perhaps the problem lies in how we currently conceive of Canada as a nation. We still see it as a geographically centric set of communities, rather than the network of international networks that is has become. Our connectivity with the world allows us to influence and play a role in the world which we really haven’t spent the time to appreciate.
With this in mind I noticed an interesting reference in the following fascinating profile of militant protesters in Hong Kong:
Specifically the role that the Cantonese diaspora is playing in the ongoing street battles:
Their support network includes Hong Kongers in Canada, Australia and Britain who help coordinate attacks on the police, he said. Studying protester chat groups and the live feeds from videographers on the ground, these remote tacticians can direct the front-liners — and help guide their retreat.
Part of the success of the Hong Kong protests has been the combination of the physical and the digital. The use of encrypted and decentralized tools that enabled organizers to not only be distributed, but also international.
Of course the cynic in me wondered if any of these external coordinators were tied to or literally members of anglo intelligence agencies, but I’m not sure that matters. The take away here is that Canada is engaged in a proxy war with China in the streets of Hong Kong, and for the moment at least, are not losing.
Yet criminals and protesters are just one slice of a larger picture of Canadian (soft) power.
Our growing role in AI research, development, and leadership creates opportunities for us to influence how technology will shape the global economy. And while I’m a blockchain cynic, I will acknowledge the prominent role of Canadians in the development of distributed computing and ledger technology.
Similarly our subtle yet pervasive role in the cultural industries, whether Hollywood or Bollywood, has for quite some time given us a considerable role in the shaping of global culture.
It’s really not that difficult to paint a picture of Canada as a secret superpower, especially if we were to take such a notion seriously, and think strategically as to how we might exercise and develop our (soft) power.
Assuming we survive. There’s good reason to believe that if our current leadership, whether federal or provincial, continue their brain dead 20th century approach to governance and public policy, Canada as we know it will cease to exist.
One of your fellow subscribers, Jim B, shared this newsletter from Peter Zeihan and Michael N. Nayebi-Oskoui on the Future of Canada. It provides a strong and detailed analysis of why Canada faces an existential threat from forces within and below the country. The last paragraph effectively provides a tl;dr (too long didn’t read) summary:
Alberta has the means and motive to destroy Canada. Washington has the means and motive to destroy Canada. And the likely format of the new Trudeau government is providing the opportunity.
While alarmist, the argument made is remarkably persuasive, and suggests that Canada should not be complacent, but rather be open to innovative if not radical paths to ensure future success and stability.
Which is why I’m putting forward the absurd yet I believe quite reasonable suggestion that Canada is a secret superpower that could if desired come out of the closet and embrace its fabulous identity as a not so secret superpower.
Although this is where I must disclose, dear reader, that I’m not a nationalist. I’ve spent most of my life opposing nationalism, and instead exploring other kinds of collective identities and political structures.
Fellow subscriber Mark Jeftovic and I used to discuss and scheme towards the establishment of the city state of Toronto. Of course I now regard Toronto as a failed state, and living outside of Ottawa I’m a little more predisposed to imagine a future for Canada in spite of seeing a future based on city states.
As a result what I’ve shared with you today should not be regarded as nationalistic, but if anything, the opposite.
Canada’s future success does not reside in the concept of nationhood or in the embrace of nationalism. Rather it reflects the role of networks, and the diversity and depth of the global networks that reside in Canada.
Our future is not as a nation, but as a network of networks that combine to form the superpower we call Canada.
This post was originally sent on October 30th 2019 as a Metaviews newsletter which I publish each weekday via https://metaviews.substack.com
Please support my writing and research by subscribing!
