Russia – NAOC

Trade Law and the Coordination of Security-Based Trade Measures

As economic security becomes increasingly central to international policymaking, trade law is being reshaped by sanctions, export controls, and other security-based economic measures. In this article, Hassan Ahmed examines how the WTO’s national security exception has evolved from a narrow safeguard into a more routine justification for strategic economic action, and how allied states increasingly coordinate such measures through informal alignment rather than unified legal frameworks. Using examples ranging from semiconductor export controls to sanctions coordination following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the article explores the growing intersection of trade law, strategic competition, and alliance politics, including the implications for middle powers such as Canada.

Centre For Disinformation Studies

Special Report: Iran, Russia, & Hybrid Warfare Influence Operations

In this special report, Soha Sarfraz examines how Iran and Russia use influence operations and information warfare to weaken democratic cohesion across NATO societies. Particularly by targeting key institutions through digital disruption, narrative manipulation, and the covert exploitation of grassroots mobilization. She argues that these campaigns threaten not only institutions themselves, but also the social trust, political consensus, and informational resilience that sustain collective defence, underscoring the need for stronger democratic resilience and alliance-wide responses to hybrid threats.

Cyber Security and Emerging Threats

Nuclear Allegations and Rhetoric Continue to Undermine Global Peace

Hope Arpa re-evaluates the logic of nuclear deterrence in the context of nuclear programs allegation’s use to justify interventions. The article considers allegations of nuclear programs as motivators of preemptive strikes, discursive tools to justify intervention politically and socially, and the perception of enemy states as nuclear ambitious causing security dilemmas. The root cause of these conflicts is not necessarily framed as exclusively the nuclear weapons themselves, but the international system’s framing of them as the ultimate ‘self-defense’ tools.

Cyber Security and Emerging Threats

The Missing Shield: Why NATO’s Innovation Strategy Needs Modern Intellectual Property Protection

This article argues that without integrating IP protection into its cyber, emerging and disruptive technologies, and innovation strategies, NATO risks undermining the very technological edge it seeks to secure.

Daria Synelnykova Previous Events

Charting Ukraine’s Pathway Toward a Just Peace with Canada & NATO Allies – Panel Report

On February 23, 2026, the NATO Association of Canada (NAOC), in partnership with the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group and the Embassies of Ukraine and Lithuania in Canada, organized a panel discussion entitled “Charting Ukraine’s Pathway Toward a Just Peace with Canada & NATO Allies”. The event was dedicated to commemorating the 4th anniversary of the Read More…

Centre For Disinformation Studies

Defending Solidarity After Warsaw’s Flag Incident

On 9 August in Warsaw, police detained 109 people during a concert by Belarusian singer Max Korzh for “drug possession, unlawful entry, assaults on security staff and use of pyrotechnics.” At the same event, one attendee displayed the red-and-black flag associated with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). The symbol is contentious in Poland because the Read More…

Centre For Disinformation Studies

What Canada Has Yet To Learn from Ukraine About Countering Disinformation

Imagine a government on the verge of a decision that will take years to implement and billions of dollars to sustain. A major defence procurement. A long-term NATO deployment. A new assistance package for an ally. On paper, everything looks orderly. Briefings are prepared. Consultations take place. Procedures are followed. Yet, even before the decision Read More…

Environment, Climate Change, and Security

Power Play in the Arctic: Part 6 – Cold Fronts, Hot Choices: Dr. George Soroka Looks Ahead

*This is the final instalment of a six-part series. For the final instalment of the “Power Play in the Arctic” series, Marcus Wong (MW) sat down with Dr. George Soroka (GS) of Harvard University’s Department of Government, who also serves as Executive Officer of The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies at the Weatherhead Read More…

Rudy Yuan Society, Culture, and Security

Fighting the Culture of Disruption: NATO’s Role in Countering External Sabotage and Homegrown Terrorism in Europe

On January 2nd 2026, 45,000 households in southwestern Berlin woke up to find themselves without power or heating in the middle of winter. Overnight, assailants set fire to a cable bridge near a power plant, disrupting parts of the Berlin power supply network for weeks. Even after power was eventually restored, the subsequent fallout from the city government’s lacklustre response has led to calls for the mayor, who had been caught playing tennis during Read More…

Isabelle Zhu Women in Security

Shifting Priorities in Ukraine: Is NATO’s WPS Agenda Under Threat?

WPS policies are often disregarded when matters deemed of higher priority emerge, despite NATO’s high engagement of WPS values through public diplomacy, military, and political means. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has posed the biggest security crisis to NATO in decades, and considering the gendered dimensions of the war, which has seen high rates of sexual and gender
based violence, NATO’s limited WPS response leaves the future of the Agenda in question. As a core tenet of NATO’s values, WPS must not be disregarded; member states that have adopted FFPs, such as Canada, should continue to drive the WPS agenda forward. This article makes key recommendations, including shifting to a human rights-based approach (HRBA) and employing more intentional language in operational directives, to support Ukraine’s current WPS policies.