Conflicting Visions

Ryan Touhey is an associate professor of history at St. Jerome's University (University of Waterloo), where he teaches courses on the history of Canadian foreign relations, Canadian political history, and modern South Asia. Focusing on post-1939 Canadian foreign relations, his current research examines Canadian efforts to develop public diplomacy programs in the early Cold War. He has published on Canada's foreign relations with South Asia in International Journal, the Canadian Historical Review, and the Canadian International Council. He has been a frequent commentator on Canada-India relations on Radio Canada International, in the Globe and Mail, and in India Abroad.

This is a much-needed book in the field of Canada's (and India's) bilateral relations, and is based on a painstaking search through the vast (and often nonlinear) RG25 file group at the National Archives in Ottawa...[and it is] an excellent study of diplomatic access to the top, the role of ministers of external affairs (both countries used similar names for this activity), and the role of the powerful unelected officials who guarded the doors and crafted the language of policies. - Robert Anderson, Simon Fraser University (Pacific Affairs, Vol. 90 No. 1, March 2017) Conflicting Visions [is] perhaps the best of [a] superb new crop of historical work on Canada's international relations ... Like other recent books on Canadian international history published by UBC Press, Conflicting Visions draws on a source base that is not just multi-archival but international. The result is an exemplary work of history.- Asa McKercher, McMaster University (British Journal of Canadian Studies) [Touhey's] research deftly combines well-known events in the [Canada–India] bilateral history with the personal reflections of some of its most proficient members. The narrative is reminiscent of a classic story arc featuring two star-crossed lovers who, despite their best intentions, are beset by a series of mistaken expectations and miscommunications, and are ultimately separated … [This book] will stand as one of the finest studies within the Canadian foreign policy literature of Canada's bilateral relations.- Anita Singh, Centre for the Study of Security and Development, Dalhousie University (International Journal) [Ryan Touhey's] book is indeed thorough. It provides a well-researched and documented history of diplomacy and all its attendant personalities, misunderstandings, and foibles, and how these qualities affected the nature of the interactions between the governments of Canada and India. Because this is a diplomatic history, it focuses exclusively on the elite: prime ministers, cabinets, high-ranking diplomats, and their personnel. Touhey's main argument concerns the so-called "bridge thesis"...Touhey provides an excellent history of the bridge thesis, showing step-by-step how it was formulated and put into action. He also reveals where it started to go awry until finally it was acknowledged to be a myth. - Matthew Hayes (American Review of Canadian Studies, Issue 46.4, December 2016)

• Introduction1 Plain Tales from the DEA: Why India?2 Building a Bridge: Bilateral Relations, 1947–493 A Helping Hand: The Genesis of Canada's Aid Relationship with India, 1950–514 In Close and Friendly Collaboration: Canada and India during the Korean War, 1950–535 A Special Relationship? 1952–576 Friendly but Not Close: The Diefenbaker Years, 1957–637 Mounting Problems, 1963–668 An Inability to Influence: Nuclear Cooperation and the NPT Negotiations, 1966–689 Old Hopes and a New Realism? Bilateral Relations, 1968–7310 Choices Made: The Descent of Bilateral Relations, 1974–76ConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex