Intellectual on watch: James Eayrs and the study of foreign policy and international affairs.

Summary

---

A tribute to James Eayrs

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

Intellectual on watch: James Eayrs and the study of foreign policy and international affairs.

The editors of the International Journal decided some time ago that they would like to recognize the extraordinary contribution of James Eayrs to the study of Canadian foreign policy and related subjects by devoting a special section of one of their issues to articles on questions related to the substance of his work. I was delighted to have the opportunity to act as guest editor for this purpose, and Daryl Copeland, Daniel Madar, and Kim Richard Nossal enthusiastically agreed to write the articles in question.

DECLARING OURSELVES

The wary and the prudent often prefer the authors they read to declare themselves ahead of time lest a possible source of prejudice go undetected.

It should be noted at the outset, therefore, that I was a student in Professor Eayrs's graduate seminar on international affairs at the University of Toronto in 1964-65. He then kindly assumed the tiresome task of supervising the writing of my doctoral thesis. Dan Madar took the same course as an MA candidate not long thereafter, in 1966-67, and Eayrs later supervised his doctoral thesis as well. Madar also acted for two years as Eayrs's teaching assistant--a responsibility that meant that he could attend his supervisor's "classically erudite" lectures to undergraduates. (1) Kim Nossal similarly acted as Eayrs's teaching assistant from 1974 to 1976, and while the primary supervisor for Nossal's doctoral dissertation was John Holmes, Eayrs played a very active editorial role as a member of his supervising committee. (2)

Given this history, and given also their subsequent specializations in the academic trade, it is hardly surprising that Madar, Nossal, and Stairs, in addition to being deeply indebted to Eayrs intellectually, personally and professionally, began this project with knowledge of his extensive contributions to the Canadian literature on foreign policy and international affairs.

For Daryl Copeland, on the other hand, exposure to Eayrs's work has been a new experience. An award-winning Canadian foreign service officer with overseas assignments in postings as diverse as Thailand, Ethiopia, New Zealand, and Malaysia, he served as national program director of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs and editor of Behind the Headlines while on leave from Ottawa in 1996-99. He has written extensively--and in lively and provocative style--on subjects related to foreign policy, diplomacy, and public management, as well as on more general global issues. Now back in his department, he is currently engaged in a special research and writing assignment on diplomacy, security, and international policy in the globalization age. He and Eayrs have met only once, and briefly, but their interests--particularly those related to the functions of diplomacy and the responsibilities of diplomats--closely overlap. Copeland was therefore especially well positioned to bring a fresh eye, and a present-day perspective, to his reading of Eayrs's reflections on diplomacy and the diplomatic profession.

EAYRS AND HIS WORK

For the benefit of the uninitiated, a li...

See the full content of this document

---