Trudeau came to power as a skeptic in international affairs, a critic of traditional diplomacy and diplomats, of military alliances, of the Commonwealth and the United States, and of United Nations peacekeeping. He rejected Pearson's claim that Canada could be an important player on the world stage, helping to fix disputes between other countries. Trudeau thought the country a modest power, and one moreover that ought to look to difficulties closer to home -- like nationalism in Québec -- rather than trying to solve the world's problems.
Trudeau thus turned the focus of government policy inwards at first, cutting the armed forces and the number of Canadian troops in Europe. But he ended his career as a traditional Pearsonian internationalist, favouring peacekeeping and international institutions and embarking on a peace mission to try to reduce nuclear tensions among the great powers.
Internationalism is never easy in practice. Trudeau talked a lot about the importance of giving a hand to the world's poorer countries, but the amount of concrete change -- in economic assistance, in trade with the Third World -- was small.
