The inclusion of human rights in Canadian foreign policy is typically rationalized as
corresponding to the fundamental Canadian value of respect for human rights; however,
Canada’s limited appeals to human rights, couched in the rhetoric of values, altruism, and
morality, have not produced a substantive policy that adequately considers or sufficiently
protects human rights. Although human rights are generally considered subordinate to
security, economic, and other national interests, this thesis will argue that these are
mutually inclusive concepts that serve to support each other. By examining Canadian
engagement in Afghanistan through the theoretical perspective of the English School
solidarists, this thesis contends that Canada national interest can be realized through a
commitment to a human rights foreign policy, thereby providing concrete justification for
the inclusion of human rights in Canadian foreign policy. The objective of such an
approach is to improve Canada’s ability to protect and promote international human
rights, leaving little doubt in the minds of Canadian foreign policy-makers that there is
undeniable value in a human rights foreign policy and that such a policy will produce
national interest ends.