Editing Canada (section)

===Foreign relations and military===
[[File:Barack Obama meets Stephen Harper.jpg|thumb|Prime Minister Stephen Harper meeting [[President of the United States]] [[Barack Obama]]]]

Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partner.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Haglung|first=David G|date=Autumn 2003|title=North American Cooperation in an Era of Homeland Security |journal=Orbis|publisher=Foreign Policy Research Institute|volume=47|issue=4|pages=675–691|doi=10.1016/S0030-4387(03)00072-3}}</ref> Canada nevertheless has an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with [[Cuba]] and declining to officially participate in the [[Iraq War]]. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] and the [[Francophonie]].<ref>{{cite book|last=James|first=Patrick|title=Handbook of Canadian Foreign Policy|editor= Michaud, Nelson; O'Reilly, Marc J|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2006|pages=213–214, 349–362|isbn=073911493X}}</ref> Canada is noted for having a positive [[Canada–Netherlands relations|relationship with the Netherlands]], owing, in part, to its contribution to the Dutch liberation.<ref name="netherlands"/>

Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of over 67,000 regular and approximately 43,000 reserve personnel including supplementary reserves.<ref>{{cite web |publisher= Department of National Defence |url=http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/acf-apfc/index-eng.asp |title=About the Canadian Forces|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> The unified [[Canadian Forces]] (CF) comprise the [[Canadian Army]], [[Royal Canadian Navy]], and [[Royal Canadian Air Force]].

Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth led to major participation in British military efforts in the [[Second Boer War]], World War I and World War II. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for [[multilateralism]], making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Teigrob|first=Robert|title='Which Kind of Imperialism?' Early Cold War Decolonization and Canada–US Relations|journal=Canadian Review of American Studies|date=September 2010|volume=37|issue=3|pages=403–430|doi=10.3138/cras.37.3.403}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book |title = Canada's international policy statement: a role of pride and influence in the world|publisher = Government of Canada |url=http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/ips-development |year=2005 |isbn = 066268608X |accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> Canada was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and of [[NATO]] in 1949. During the [[Canada in the Cold War|Cold War]], Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the [[Korean War]] and founded the [[North American Aerospace Defense Command]] (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against potential aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite book|last=Finkel|first=Alvin|title=Our lives: Canada after 1945|publisher=Lorimer|year=1997|pages=105–107, 111–116|isbn=1550285513}}</ref>
[[File:US Navy 090425-M-9917S-314 Canadian Army soldiers assigned to Alpha Company, 3d Battalion, 22d Regiment of Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-24 depart a U.S. Navy landing craft air cushion (LCAC) and deploy onto Mayp.jpg||thumb|left|[[Canadian Army]] soldiers from the [[Royal 22e Régiment|Royal 22<sup>e</sup> Régiment]] during UNITAS Gold (April 25, 2009)]]

During the [[Suez Crisis]] of 1956, future Prime Minister [[Lester B. Pearson]] eased tensions by proposing the inception of the [[peacekeeping|United Nations Peacekeeping Force]], for which he was awarded the 1957 [[Nobel Peace Prize]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Holloway|first=Steven Kendall|title=Canadian foreign policy: defining the national interest|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=2006|pages=102–103|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=MSHy65g7M7wC&pg=PA102|isbn=1551118165}}</ref> As this was the first UN peacekeeping mission, Pearson is often credited as the inventor of the concept. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989,<ref name="morton-milhist"/> and has since maintained forces in international missions in [[Rwanda]], the former [[Yugoslavia]], and elsewhere; Canada has sometimes faced controversy over its involvement in foreign countries, notably in the 1993 [[Somalia Affair]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/27/world/torture-by-army-peacekeepers-in-somalia-shocks-canada.html|title=Torture by Army Peacekeepers in Somalia Shocks Canada|last=Farnsworth|first=Clyde H|date=November 27, 1994|newspaper=The New York Times|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref>

Canada joined the [[Organization of American States]] (OAS) in 1990 and hosted the OAS General Assembly in [[Windsor, Ontario]], in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ai-ia/rir-iro/am-as/oea-oas-eng.cfm|title=Canada and the Organization of American States (OAS)|year=2008|publisher=Canadian Heritage|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> Canada seeks to expand its ties to [[Pacific Rim]] economies through membership in the [[Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation]] forum (APEC).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/cimar-rcami/2009/06_apec.aspx|title=Opening Doors to Asia|year=2009|publisher=Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref>
[[File:HMCS Regina (FFH 334) 1.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Halifax class frigate|Halifax-class]] [[frigate]] [[HMCS Regina (FFH 334)|HMCS ''Regina'']], a warship of the [[Royal Canadian Navy]]]]

In 2001, Canada had troops deployed to [[Afghanistan]] as part of the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|US stabilization force]] and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded [[International Security Assistance Force]]. Starting in July 2011, Canada began withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan.  The mission had cost 157 soldiers, one diplomat, two aid workers, and one journalist their lives,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Canada-ends-combat-mission-in-Afghanistan-1456030.php|title=Canada ends combat mission in Afghanistan|last=Reichmann|first=Deb|date=July 7, 2011|accessdate=2011-07-11}}</ref> with an approximate cost of [[Canadian dollar|C$]]11.3&nbsp;billion<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afghanistan.gc.ca/canada-afghanistan/news-nouvelles/2010/2010_07_09.aspx?lang=eng|title=Cost of the Afghanistan mission 2001–2011|accessdate=2011-07-11}}</ref>
Canada and the US continue to integrate state and provincial agencies to strengthen security along the [[Canada-United States border]] through the [[Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Konrad|first=Victor|coauthors= Nicol, Heather N|title=Beyond walls: re-inventing the Canada-United States borderlands|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|year=2008|pages=189, 196|isbn=0754672026}}</ref>

In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, [[Norway]], and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5&nbsp;billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/02/06/idUSL06661675._CH_.2400|title=Rich nations to sign $1.5 bln vaccine pact in Italy|last=Vagnoni|first=Giselda|date=February 5, 2007|publisher=Reuters|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref> In August 2007, Canada's [[territorial claims in the Arctic]] were challenged after a [[Arktika 2007|Russian underwater expedition]] to the [[North Pole]]; Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.<ref>{{cite news | last = Blomfield | first = Adrian| url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1559165/Russia-claims-North-Pole-with-Arctic-flag-stunt.html | newspaper = [[The Daily Telegraph]] | title = Russia claims North Pole with Arctic flag stunt | date = August 3, 2007 | accessdate=2011-05-23 }}</ref> In July 2010 the largest purchase in [[Military history of Canada|Canadian military history]], totaling C$9&nbsp;billion for the acquisition of 65 [[Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II|F-35 fighters]] was announced by the federal government.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10667633
|title=Row over Canada F-35 fighter jet order
|publisher=BBC News
|date=July 16, 2010
|accessdate=2011-05-23}}</ref>