Society, Culture, and Security

Will it take a military disaster to convince Canadians that defence must be taken seriously?

March was not a great month for Canadian defence policy, even such as it is. It began with the publication by the CBC of a December 2023 Department of National Defence report stating that: “Only 58 per cent of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) would be able to respond if called upon in a crisis Read More…

Society, Culture, and Security

NATO75 – Making the Most of Black Swans

There is an apocryphal quotation commonly attributed to Vladimir Lenin, that, “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” This apposite reflection on the uneven velocity of historical change could have been written of the new, narrow epoch the Atlantic Community finds itself in at the current moment. Only five Read More…

Security, Trade and the Economy

Are Wars a “Recipe for Epidemics”?

During the American Civil War, in the 1860s, two thirds of soldiers’ deaths came, not from the conflict itself, but from infectious diseases, including typhoid and malaria. These infectious diseases were infamously referred to as the “Third Army.” Even over a century later, with the knowledge that people now possess of infectious diseases, they still Read More…

Centre For Disinformation Studies Society, Culture, and Security

Mapping Russian Disinformation Narratives And Their Influence Across Europe In The Face Of The 2024 European Parliament Election

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the threat of pro-Kremlin disinformation in Europe has become a matter of increasingly pressing concern. This is particularly true for NATO members that provide Ukraine with significant military and humanitarian aid. Between February and March of 2022, Russia’s state budget for mass media increased by 433 percent, as “the audience and reach Read More…

Society, Culture, and Security

“CIMIC” Doctrine in Post-Conflict Missions and Humanitarian Operations under NATO-led forces: The KFOR Case

Abstract: This article compares experiences gained in KFOR and ISAF and what they might equip Allied leaders to anticipate in the Western Balkans, should Moscow begin to create trouble on that front to shore up its position in Ukraine.  Post-conflict missions and humanitarian operations conducted by NATO-led forces have revealed successes, lessons learned, and challenges to civil-military Read More…

Gleb Adamovych Security, Trade and the Economy

NATO and Energy Security: Changing Times

In the face of the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine, the existing Atlantic energy infrastructure has found its Achilles’ heel, namely a reliance on resources controlled by powers with interests that are inimical to the rules-based international order. According to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance’s goals in the face of this new crisis have Read More…

Cyber Security and Emerging Threats

The Russia-Ukraine War’s INF Angle

Although there are no longer INF Treaty restrictions on the deployment of ground-launched intermediate-range missiles, and concerns about their deployment in Europe loomed large in the diplomatic brinkmanship leading up to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022, land-based INF-range missiles have yet to play a role in the Russia-Ukraine War. The scope of the Read More…

Society, Culture, and Security

Special Report: Did NATO “Promise” Russia Not to Enlarge?

A common trope in Russia’s discourse about NATO is the charge that the organization has not dealt with Moscow in good faith. Many Russians, of which Putin is a particularly vocal example, allege that Western officials assured their Soviet counterparts during the Two Plus Four negotiations (West Germany and East Germany plus the US, USSR, France, and the UK) on German reunification in Read More…

NATO and Canada

Why Are Tensions Between NATO and Russia So High?

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…

Society, Culture, and Security

Lessons Learned: Past NATO Missions and the Strategy in Ukraine

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine drags on into its second year now, debate still rages about how the conflict will end and the role that NATO can play in bringing about the conflict’s successful conclusion. At the moment, NATO troops are not in Ukraine directly contributing to the fighting; NATO member countries are supplying weapons Read More…