Ah, now I think I see. If I understand you correctly, I would agree with you. ;-)
When Canadians talk about peace-keeping, we tend to see it very specifically as part of a U.N. sponsored action that has wide international backing.
From some of the limited reading I've done on Australian history, and culture, I have gained the impression that, like the U.S. in some ways, Australia has incorporated something of a "bringing law to the wild frontier" trope into its political and cultural bag of metaphors.
As a nation, we don't have this. (It exists in pockets, such as parts of Alberta and the Yukon, but it's not a national metaphor.) The public image of peacekeeping in Canada (I can't speak to the image of peacekeeping within the military community in Canada, as I know very little about that) is more that of sending in a bunch of polite and diplomatic but brave and resourceful policemen to separate the warring parties, care for anyone who got hurt, and get then to sit down and talk. No sheriffs, no posses.
One of our more cherished national myths is the one about half the U.S. army chasing the embattled Plains Nations north to the border, and then watching in amazement as two lone RCMP offices negotiate a peaceful entry of the fugitive Nations into Canada. (And of course, we never talk about how we betrayed those Nations after they arrived.) That's the essence of the Canadian image of a peacekeeper.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2004-10-31 01:29 pm (UTC)When Canadians talk about peace-keeping, we tend to see it very specifically as part of a U.N. sponsored action that has wide international backing.
From some of the limited reading I've done on Australian history, and culture, I have gained the impression that, like the U.S. in some ways, Australia has incorporated something of a "bringing law to the wild frontier" trope into its political and cultural bag of metaphors.
As a nation, we don't have this. (It exists in pockets, such as parts of Alberta and the Yukon, but it's not a national metaphor.) The public image of peacekeeping in Canada (I can't speak to the image of peacekeeping within the military community in Canada, as I know very little about that) is more that of sending in a bunch of polite and diplomatic but brave and resourceful policemen to separate the warring parties, care for anyone who got hurt, and get then to sit down and talk. No sheriffs, no posses.
One of our more cherished national myths is the one about half the U.S. army chasing the embattled Plains Nations north to the border, and then watching in amazement as two lone RCMP offices negotiate a peaceful entry of the fugitive Nations into Canada. (And of course, we never talk about how we betrayed those Nations after they arrived.) That's the essence of the Canadian image of a peacekeeper.