Dr. Michael Byers, Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law, describes his recent book as a challenge to George Grant's Lament for a Nation which paints Canada as a country already lost to the forces of Americanization. Am Johal interviews Byers in Vancouver about his thoughts on what Canada's role on the global stage.

Am Johal: I just read your book over the weekend. How did you come up with the idea to write a contemporary response to George Grant's iconic Lament for a Nation?

Michael Byers: The motivation was intensely personal. Like many Canadians, I had internalized George Grant's message: Canada as an independent country had ceased to exist.