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WARSAW, Poland — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made no secret his heart is set on taking Canadian soldiers to Africa, with perhaps a sideshow in Colombia.

It is part of a grand strategy to burnish his reputation as a gentle agent of change, with the ultimate goal of winning Canada a temporary seat on the UN Security Council.

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That may not sound like much of an achievement — permanent members Washington, Beijing, Moscow, London and Paris all wield vetoes and shape global discourse on the council. But the seat in New York would be the crowning glory of Trudeau’s first term in office and proof Canada is back on the world stage — although the truth is Canada has not punched above its weight since a few years after the Second World War.

Even before Trudeau could turn to the military to make his dreams come true in Africa, the stark exigencies of realpolitik have pulled him in the opposite direction. The first international act of a leader who styles himself as a man of peace will not be to send peacekeepers to the favoured mess of the moment, Mali or somewhere nearby, such as Niger or Burundi. It will be to deploy combat forces to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s backyard.