TOO SOFT BY HALF

Not every prime minister or president has a doctrine named after him. So it
is noteworthy when a mere foreign affairs minister gets one. But the
"Axworthy Doctrine," named after Canada's own Lloyd Axworthy, not only
exists, it has a meaning of sorts -- elevating a Human Security Agenda over
such traditional aims as the balance of power and seeing Canada as a leader
in the "soft power" institutions of the United Nations rather than just
another U.S. ally in organizations like NATO.

For such aspirations -- and for Canada's image as a responsible ally -- the
last week was a disappointing one:

- - On Wednesday, a report prepared by the International Narcotics Control
Board (INCB) -- just the sort of UN agency that Mr. Axworthy's "soft power"
is all about -- took Ottawa to task for its negligence in the worldwide
fight against illegal drugs. Lax drug enforcement, it claims, has made
Canada a haven for illicit drug manufacturers and traffickers who
accordingly pose "major problems." Criticism like this appears annually in
INCB reports on the international drug trade, but it is normally reserved
for countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan, the major producers of illicit
drugs. Why Canada this year? According to the INCB, this country was named
because "Canada appears to be very active on many fronts, but unfortunately
this does not correspond to real action."

- - On Thursday, Washington suspended the export of firearms to Canada after
receiving requests for 115,000 handguns, 25,000 rifles and 200 million
rounds of ammunition since last April. Not unreasonably, U.S. officials want
to know why the Canadian government has issued so many import licences.
(Licences from both countries are needed to bring weapons into Canada.) They
are concerned that Canada might be being used as a trans-shipment point from
where the weapons are smuggled back across the border or abroad. In the
past, weapons sold to Canada -- and to the Canadian government -- have ended
up in such curious destinations as China, Iran and Libya. A senior law
enforcement official in Canada, speaking on the condition of anonymity,
said: "I don't know where these handguns could be going."

- - Finally on Friday, Alfonso Caruana, one of the world's biggest mob chiefs,
and his two brothers pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import and sell
narcotics. For over 30 years Caruana lived in Canada, where he built a
highly sophisticated Mafia clan. Known as the "Treasurers of the Mafia," the
clan hopped around the globe arranging massive shipments of cocaine, heroin
and marijuana and laundering money for other international crime gangs.

Now, curbing illicit drugs, weapons proliferation and terrorism are all key
elements of Mr. Axworthy's human security mission. The minister has been a
highly vocal campaigner for "global action" in the form of greater
governmental co-operation to curb the flow of drugs, arms and light weapons.
And last month in a speech to the Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy and
Development in Montreal, he pointed out that soft power does not mean soft
positions.

"Let there be no mistake," he said. "Promoting human security can also
involve the use of strong measures."

The problem is that curbing drugs, terrorism and weapons proliferation is
also very expensive. It requires large numbers of intelligence agents. And
it pushes Ottawa to rely more, not on UN agencies, but on the U.S.
government, which is more active and informed than most governments in
anti-terrorism policy and narcotics control. Ultimately, soft power depends
on the co-operation of the military and intelligence agencies of the U.S.

When Canadian officials say off the record that they are baffled by the
upsurge of handgun licences, and when UN agencies criticize Canada for not
vigorously fulfilling its commitments on narcotics control, they are both
saying the same thing: Canada does not even take soft power seriously. Doing
something about the international trade in drugs and arms means more than
simply proclaiming a doctrine. It means committing the police and
intelligence resources to do the job.

If Mr. Axworthy wants to help globally, he must act locally. Otherwise, his
doctrine is just another hot air balloon.