Lloyd Axworthy has served Canada over multiple decades through both politics and public service. He was in elected office provincially in Manitoba and federally for the Liberal Party for 27 years. From 1996 to 2000, he was Canada’s foreign affairs minister, where he championed the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

He served as president of the University of Winnipeg, focusing on inclusive education for marginalized youth. He passionately believes in global institutions for solving global problems, and continues advocating for refugees and human rights.

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Axworthy spoke with Christopher White about the new U.S. doctrine of dominance in the Western Hemisphere — which it executed on Saturday when it entered Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife — and what this current geopolitical moment requires from Canada.

Christopher White: The post-Second World War order that has held us together since 1945 is being shredded, and we are seeing the reintroduction of great power spheres of influence. How has the post-war order served Canada?

Lloyd Axworthy: I think it has probably been one of the most important pillars of our own stability, our own security, our own ability to become a prosperous nation. Canada took a very significant role in the drafting of the UN Charter. Our foreign minister around that time, Mike [future prime minister Lester B.] Pearson, established the rule that you have to hold people accountable for their actions. Canada was a very much an architect in putting together those international treaties, agreements, institutions. But we also had the security of knowing that we were working in company with a government........

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