This special report provides an objective overview of the newly elected minority Liberal government’s plans regarding defence and discusses proposals from other opposition parties.
NATO and Canada
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.
Three Russian Threats and How Canada Can Prepare for Them
While Canada might seem an unlikely target of direct threats from the Russian Federation, its engagement in global affairs and commitments to human rights and democracy inevitably put it at odds with Russia’s vision of the world order, drawing it into conflict with Russia’s revisionist foreign policy. With the Trump Administration pursuing an apparent rapprochement Read More…
History’s Insights for the West’s Russian Dilemma
Through his rhetoric and actions, United States (US) President Donald Trump has created political space for a reversion of Western-Russian relations to their pre-2014 state, underpinned by the implicit assumption that strained relations since that year have resulted from flawed Western foreign policy. In this article, Simon Waring argues that Russian aggression against Ukraine since 2014 and hostility towards the West is consistent with centuries of Russian foreign policy, and that a thaw in US-Russia relations today cannot change the fundamental antagonism between Russian and the Western world.
Canada’s Defense Spending Crisis: A Fight at Two Fronts
Decades of relative peace have led Canadians to believe that defense spending is unnecessary. However, external threats are looming towards our southern border and the Arctic, leaving Canada unprepared and unprotected.
Canadians: Why NATO Matters to You
Does NATO really matter to us as Canadians? In this article, Simon Waring explains NATO’s purpose as a stabilizing presence in Europe, and how international wars and crises affect us here at home.
Special Report: The MAS Gap, Canada Falls Behind as Allies Adopt Maritime Autonomous Systems
This is Part One of a two part series on maritime autonomous systems. Introduction As the geopolitical landscape becomes increasingly complex, with rising global competition and evolving security threats, Canada must take decisive steps to enhance its maritime capabilities by adopting Maritime Autonomous Systems (MAS). While our allies, including the United States, France, and NATO Read More…
Canada’s Military Assistance to Ukraine in 2024: Key Trends
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…
Special Report: Under the Ice and Into the Future, Strengthening Canada’s Submarine Capabilities
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…
How Young People in Canada and the USA View National Security
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…
NATO’s 2% Spending Minimum. Will Canada Ever Make It?
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…