In December Michael Lollesgaard, a Danish army major general, went home after a year and a half as Force Commander of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, or MINUSMA. The post has been vacant since. The UN has been holding it in case a Canadian comes along.

In December Canada’s plan was to decide over the holidays whether to lead a “peacekeeping” mission (the word is approximate, the mission’s casualty count high), in Mali or elsewhere. Parliament would be asked to debate it — well, now-ish. But now that’s on pause while Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan waits for a meeting with Jim Mattis, his U.S. counterpart.

Canada’s allies understand the delay. The UN’s patience will not be infinite. At some point a new commander for a crucial mission against Islamists and chaos will have to be selected. If it isn’t a Canadian, it will be someone else.

Frankly, on the list of decisions Justin Trudeau needs to make about Canada’s relationship with the United States and the rest of the world, Mali ranks maybe somewhere near the middle.

The world is waiting on Trudeau, and Trudeau is waiting on Donald Trump. No, not quite. The world is waiting on Trump, and some are watching Trudeau for cues. At one point, early meetings between Trump and two leaders seemed carved in stone: Mexican president Enrique Pena-Nieto and Trudeau. Then Pena-Nieto cancelled. Now Trudeau’s meeting seems to float in time and space.

What happened in the meantime was that British Prime Minister Theresa May jumped the queue to see Trump. It went very badly. New questions present themselves: Is it really better to meet the president in person or to stay on the phone? If the latter, it had better be a morning call, not later. Just ask Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull about that.

If Trudeau does meet with Trump, expect it to come together on short notice and to take place in Washington, not Ottawa. Nobody will protest against a Canadian in Washington. Meanwhile Trudeau is firming up other travel plans.

One possibility, which the PMO would not confirm on Friday, is that Trudeau would travel to Germany later this month: a stop in Berlin and another at the Munich Security Conference, Feb. 17-19, with Sajjan and foreign minister Chrystia Freeland joining him.

Munich is the biggest annual North Atlantic war-and-peace confab. The size of the Canadian delegation has varied over the years from imposing to nonexistent. Peter MacKay went in 2009; he got in trouble with a taxpayer group for the size of his hotel bill. This year the U.S. delegation will include Vice President Mike Pence, Mattis and Homeland Security director John Kelly.

A German trip would mark a relatively rare decision by Trudeau to leave the country for something besides an obligatory-participation summit meeting like the G-7 or G-20. It helps that CETA, the Canada-EU trade deal, could be on the verge of a vote in the European Parliament at Strasbourg. Maybe Trudeau could add that to his itinerary too.

The prime minister has three big global priorities: the United States, China and Europe. The first is a bit weird right now. The second will take some time to rise. The Europeans, especially the ones who disagree with Trump that the EU should collapse, could use some reassurance from a North American.

They’re not sure Stéphane Dion is that North American. The former foreign minister is widely respected. But he is not thought capable of being in two places at once, with two different attitudes. So nobody knows how Dion’s dual appointment as ambassador to Germany and to the European Union can work.

The EU appointment needs the approval of all 28 member states and the European Council. No G7 country has ever asked the EU to take half an ambassador. Dion’s appointment comes just as the Europeans are worried that Trump will send them Ted Malloch, a businessman who would openly prefer the dissolution of the EU. Nobody would accuse Dion of agreeing, but half a Canadian against this guy Malloch seems stingy. And will Greece ratify the appointment of a Canadian ambassador who’d spend half his time in Berlin?

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There is no obvious right answer to a lot of these questions for Trudeau. One reason other countries are watching him for cues: Since his inauguration on Jan. 20, no tweet from Trump has received more than 84,000 retweets. Trudeau’s tweet from Jan. 28 — “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength” — has been retweeted 427,000 times. A lot of people won’t care. But it’s Trump who’s got the world watching Twitter and counting crowds. Will he respect or resent a leader whose online clout rivals his? Guess we’ll find out.

Paul Wells is a national affairs writer. His column appears Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

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