Since its inception in 1949, Canada has played an integral role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its numerous military and non-military engagements. As a founding member, Canada’s involvement over the past 70 years has varied from troop deployment and training in Europe during much of the Cold War, to activity abroad in places like Afghanistan and Libya. The articles in the NATO and Canada program examine NATO’s operational history and Canada’s role from a multitude of perspectives. The NATO Association of Canada aims to supply Canadians with a greater insight into the inner workings of this long-standing alliance and its Canadian contributions.
In 2024, several major developments unfolded in the Russian war on Ukraine, including Ukraine’s offensive in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, which began in August. The Ukrainian Armed Forces intensified drone attacks on Russia’s military and energy infrastructure, targeting more than 30 oil refineries. Additionally, Ukraine has rapidly transformed from receiving military aid to becoming a successful Read More…
Canada faces an urgent need to modernize its submarine fleet, particularly with under-ice capabilities, to maintain strategic autonomy and meet its international obligations. Public Service and Procurement Canada (PSPC) must urgently fast-track the acquisition of under-the-ice capable submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) or risk facing a critical capability gap. Several factors have recently Read More…
The main purpose of scrutinizing youth attitudes to international security is understanding the influence young people can have on security policy. It can be difficult to determine how salient foreign or military policy is for Millennial and Generation Z voters in determining their voting patterns. However, the high-profile youth opposition to ongoing American support for 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…
Many Venezuelans are eagerly hoping the election July 8, 2024 can be used to restart the rule of law and democratic norms in their country. Why should Canada actively support this process? Under socialist President Nicolas Maduro, during the 2010s, Venezuela became known internationally as the most left-wing country in Latin America, with the exception Read More…
As NATO’s seventy-fifth anniversary approaches, the alliance finds itself confronted by Russian revanchism and invasions in Eastern Europe, growing anti-Western alliances in Asia, and tenuous and uncertain political trends in many member nations. Yet to NATO, this is familiar territory – much of the same dynamics are occurring now as during the Cold War (1947-91), Read More…
The NATO Association of Canada is pleased to announce the publication of its summer 2023 publication, Cutting through the Haze: Grey Zone Operations and Contemporary Threats. Produced in collaboration with the Canadian Army Journal (CAJ), the volume explores grey zone operations and other dimensions of today’s threat landscape. The grey zone, which the volume describes Read More…
Introduction NATO and the African Union (AU) have had a cooperative relationship since 2005. The collaboration began with logistical and airlift support for the African Union Mission in Sudan and has since grown to include training assistance, structural assistance, and liaison and coordination activities in other African countries. However, the humanitarian consequences of such operations, Read More…
Introduction A protracted history of political, military, and security tensions characterize the complex and tense relationship between NATO and Russia. Right now, there is a deficit of trust between NATO and Russia, disagreements over security, regional issues and significant military build-up on both sides. From an economic and political viewpoint, Russia perceives NATO as a Read More…