Welcome to Diplomatic Dispatch, a new podcast series by Radio Canada International.

My goal is to bring you insights into Canada’s foreign, defence and development policy.

I’ll discuss Canada’s global role through interviews with policy makers, former and serving diplomats and soldiers, academics and think tank experts, humanitarian workers, civil society activists and entrepreneurs recorded at the Summit on Canada’s Global Leadership in late November of 2019.

Former Liberal cabinet minister and Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, Allan Rock, says the Trump administration presents Canada's greatest foreign policy challenge. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The event was organized by the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC), the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID), the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH) and the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI).

There I met with Allan Rock. He is a former Liberal cabinet minister and also served as Canada's ambassador to the United Nations after leaving federal politics, as well as president and vice-chancellor of the University of Ottawa.

He says the possible re-election of President Donald Trump for another term in 2020 would present the greatest challenge for Canadian foreign policy.

"The decision that is going to have the biggest impact on Canada's foreign policy is not going to be made by Canadians, it's going to be made by Americans," Rock says. "If he [Trump] continues in power, after the election of November 2020, we're going to have to think very carefully how we're going to survive that.

"And if he doesn't, we're going to have to think very carefully how we're going to rebuild and restore, and recover from these awful years."

This is Episode 4: The Trump challenge

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