Fire and the Full Moon

Fire and the Full Moon is a most welcome addition to the literature of Canadian foreign policy. Strikingly well written and deeply researched, the book explores an area that Canadian diplomats often ignored or took for granted - relations with Indonesia, one of the largest countries in Asia, and, in the 1960s especially, the epicentre of the Cold War in Asia. Webster expands our understanding of Canadian foreign relations in the twentieth century and reminds us of the importance of the Third World in the definition of Canadian policy abroad. -- Robert Bothwell, author of Alliance and Illusion: Canada and the World, 1945-1984 Webster's detailed analysis of the perspectives of Canada's foreign policy-makers and politicians on Indonesia, and Asia more generally, forms the fascinating core of this book. Fire and the Full Moon is about the disjuncture (intended or not) between the rhetoric and self-image of Canada's foreign policy-makers and the reality of their actions. This is first-rate scholarship. -- Jacques Bertrand, author of Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict in Indonesia

Fire and the Full Moon reassesses Canada’s postwar foreign policy objectives and national image through the gulf between rhetoric and reality in Canada’s response to decolonization in Indonesia and the Global South.

The history of Canada’s postwar foreign policy is dominated by Cold War narratives – the Gouzenko Affair, UN peacekeeping missions, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. By contrast, the story of Canada’s response to decolonization in the Global South is less well known.

Fire and the Full Moon explores Canadian-Indonesian relations to determine whether Canada’s postwar foreign policy was guided by an overarching set of principles. Canada, a loyal member of the Western alliance, wanted developing countries to follow a non-revolutionary model of decolonization and paid little attention to violations of human rights. Webster’s reassessment of Canada’s foreign-policy objectives in Indonesia, and of its own national image, will appeal to students of diplomatic history interested in Asia and the developing world.