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Amidst the tumult of conflict in Ukraine and instability in the Middle East, the partnership between Russia and Iran is at a historic juncture and is ripe for potential multifaceted cooperation. With Western sanctions, defence production and supply vulnerabilities persist for both these states, which seek to advance their respective interests and authoritarian model of Read More…
On April 8th, 2024, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a new federal investment plan in defence spending for the 2024 federal budget. The “Our North: Strong and Free” defence policy update proposed to raise Canada’s defence spending-to-GDP ratio to 1.76% by 2029-30, amounting to $8.1 billion over five years, and $73 billion over 20 years, in new Read More…
The question of whether Canada needs a foreign intelligence service is not a new one. It’s been bandied about almost as long as Canada has had a domestic intelligence service. Created by an Act of Parliament in 1984, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) was mandated only to include the collection of data and information Read More…
Despite the world being interconnected in a way it has never been, civilization finds itself torn apart by civil strife and disagreement. “Polarization” is the word of the day, and it has hit Canada hard. Recent years have seen the issue reflected in the rise of hate crimes, distrust of the government, and general violence. Read More…
Since 2020, there have been seven coups in six French-speaking West African countries. Many of them have involved conflicts between military groups or established governments supported by France, and by extension the West and NATO, and rebel groups or juntas supported by Russia. France’s role as the main patron of established power in these countries Read More…
Since the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine has been a significant recipient of aid from the United States and dozens of other NATO member states, including Canada. This past April, after a six-month delay in Congress, the United States’ legislature voted to pass a much-anticipated $61-billion dollar aid package to Kyiv, its most extensive contribution to date. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Read More…
On August 26, 2022, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about Russia and China’s investments and intentions to build military, commercial, and industrial capacities in the Arctic. This is not new information. Russia and China made their Arctic strategies publicly available in 2009 and 2018, respectively. News articles frequently detail their interests and successes in the region. Despite this, Canada has Read More…
According to the 2018 expert panel report on Combatting Money Laundering in BC Real Estate, money laundering activity is a rapidly growing issue in Canada. The industry, estimated to be worth $41.3 billion in 2015, grew 11.6% in only three years to an astounding $46.7 billion in 2018. In 2020, the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada estimated that money Read More…
As Russia experiences growing isolation since its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has sought to deepen its relationship with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). This relationship, which had previously collapsed with the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991, has witnessed a prominent resurgence. The new relationship is marked by secrecy and mutual assistance aimed at Read More…
Warning: This analysis contains spoilers. “Mr. President… sir, how is your policy evolving in the use of airstrikes against American citizens?” Alex Garland’s Civil War paints a searing picture of a dystopian America caught in the throes of civil war, a country divided by warring states and military violence. While the President hides in the Read More…