16 January 1954: Draft Memorandum for the Prime Minister

Pearson drafts this memorandum for Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent days after Secretary of State John Foster Dulles’s January 12 speech regarding the Eisenhower administration’s New Look. In this preliminary assessment, Pearson notes the new emphasis on “massive retaliatory power” and the European concerns regarding a troop withdrawal from the continent. The Minister explains that it will be politically difficult to keep Canadian forces overseas if the United States reduced its commitments, and emphasizes Canada’s desire to keep defence policy rooted in a strong North Atlantic Alliance.