Canada's role as world power and its sense of itself in the global landscape has been largely shaped and defined by the changing policies and personalities in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). This engaging and provocative book brings together fifteen leading historians and political scientists to discuss a century of Canada's national interests and DFAIT's role in defining and pursuing them. In the National Interest also provides a platform for discussion of Canada's present and future roles on the international stage. With its unique combination of administrative and policy history, In the National Interest is in a field of its own. -- Back cover.