Political Geography: Canada / Journal: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies

1. The Canadian Armed Forces Primary Reserves and Aid to the Civil Power

Author:: Mike Fejes
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Over the past twenty years, domestic military operations in Canada have seen a dramatic increase in the employment of the Primary Reserve (PRes) alongside the Regular Force. This raises an important question regarding how, in an evolving environment, the PRes can be successfully employed in future aid to the civil power roles? This paper argues that the current organization and terms of service for the PRes are not properly structured and mandated to support any large-scale and sustained aid to the civil power operation - and that this forces Canadians to accept risk when it comes to domestic national security. Theoretically, Canadians have relied for decades on what Sokolsky and Leuprecht have defined as an easy rider approach; where the government contributes just enough resources to ensure that the Canadian public respects and values the military effort. As demands increase, future domestic operations may now have to adapt to a new approach where the criteria for success becomes crisis resolution rather than crisis contribution. By examining the current roles and framework under which the PRes operates, the legal obligations that are currently in force, and the proposal that the PRes assume primary responsibility for domestic response operations, this paper concludes that assigning new roles and responsibilities to the PRes without additional legal obligations will not set the conditions for success should a large scale or lengthy call out be required.
Topic:: Military Strategy, Armed Forces, Military Affairs, Conflict, and Risk
Political Geography:: Canada and North America

2. ‘Defence Against Help’ Revisiting a Primary Justification for Canadian Participation in Continental Defence with the United States

Author:: P. Whitney Lackenbauer
Publication Date:: 02-2021
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Any conceptual framework for Canadian policy had to recognize the interdependent nature of North American security, whereby the United States’ safety was dependent on Canadian territory and airspace. In its classic incarnation, the concept of defence against help thus represents a trilateral equation, consisting of an external threat (or threatening context), a smaller state (the security of which is inextricably linked to the perceived security of a larger neighbour), and the neighbouring larger power itself. The equation incorporates how the threat relates to the larger state, and how the smaller state plays (or does not play) an intermediary role in the threat relationship between the threatening context and the larger state. Canada’s alignment to the United States did not detract from the value of the concept to its decision-making; it bolstered it. A smaller state can invoke the strategy of defence against help in two ways: unilaterally (with or without coordination with the larger state), or conjointly with the larger state. Does defence against help continue to represent a workable, basic decision-making strategy for Canada to ensure continental defence in the 21st century? Building upon observations that I initially drew in a 2000 working paper, I maintain that the concept no longer represents an attractive or viable justification for core Canadian strategic decision-making. Rather than conceptualizing United States continental defence priorities as a threat to Canada’s sovereignty (as it is conventionally defined in military and diplomatic circles) owing to potential territorial encroachment to protect the American heartland, cost-benefit analysis of Canadian options should focus on the benefits that Canada derives from its bilateral and binational defence partnership. Instead (and in contrast to some recent commentators), I suggest that the driving strategic consideration since the late 1980s has been less about defence against help than about the need for Canada to contribute meaningfully to bilateral defence in order to stay in the game and secure a piece of the action.
Topic:: Defense Policy, Regional Cooperation, Military Strategy, and Regionalism
Political Geography:: Canada, North America, and United States of America

3. “The Exigencies of the Military Situation Must be the Primary Consideration”: the Department of Indian Affairs, Communication Control, and Indigenous Families in the First World War

Author:: Tim Clarke
Publication Date:: 02-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: During the First World War Indigenous peoples in Canada contributed to the war effort through enlistment in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), the Patriotic Fund, and agricultural and industrial production. Their contributions, however, were not universally accepted in Indigenous communities. For many aging, non-military eligible, individuals, enlistment and off-reserve work deprived families of care-givers, bread-winners, and youth, essential to household and community well-being. Their petitions to the Canadian government, filtered through the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA), reveal the breadth of opinion and sources of frustration from across Indigenous communities in Canada. For the DIA, however, the years from 1914-1918 provided a crucial opportunity to solidify its power over Indigenous communities. Through a three-pillared archetype of communication control, the DIA increased its unilateral dominion over Indigenous affairs, largely at the expense of the eldest members of Indigenous communities, remaining traditional governance structures, and especially women. While the DIA rightly lauded Indigenous contributions to Canada’s war effort in post-war declarations, it conveniently ignored the costs associated with such contributions, thus denying a crucial aspect of Indigenous First World War history; an omission historians have too often indulged.
Topic:: Communications, Military Strategy, World War I, Indigenous, and Indian Affairs
Political Geography:: Canada and North America

4. Exploring the Meaning of Indigenous Military Service during the Second World War in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States

Author:: R. Scott Sheffield
Publication Date:: 02-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: This article explores the meaning of military service for Indigenous men who volunteered during the Second World War. At its core, this question can help elucidate what is often the “big why?” invariably asked by people encountering this subject for the first time: why did young Indigenous men fight for a freedom, democracy and equality that they had never experienced? Employing a transnational lens, the article seeks to do interrelated things. First, it examines the meaning of military service for Indigenous men in each of three distinct phases: prior to their enlistment, while serving in the army and in combat, and after demobilisation and transitioning to veterans. Second, this study considers Indigenous perspectives and experiences in relation to, and the broader context of, the non-Indigenous comrades-in-arms with whom they enlisted, served, and sacrificed. In the end, this examination reveals a diversity of interpretations amongst Indigenous soldiers at each stage, but cannot be definitive in the face of such complexity and the ultimately idiosyncratic and personal nature of veterans’ lived experiences.
Topic:: Military Affairs, transnationalism, Indigenous, and Military Service
Political Geography:: United States, Canada, Australia, North America, and New Zealand

5. Embracing Indigenous culture in military organizations: the experience of Māori in the New Zealand military

Author:: Grazia Scoppio
Publication Date:: 02-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: This article builds on a 2007 research on Indigenous peoples in the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) which identified best practices from New Zealand that Canada could draw upon to enhance participation of Indigenous peoples within the Canadian Armed Forces. Using organizational culture theory as a conceptual framework, this article further investigates the main approaches and practices that have enabled a positive partnership with Māori and the successful inclusion of Māori culture in the NZDF. Specifically, the paper investigates the mechanisms used by the NZDF and the internal and external environments of the organization supporting the participation of Indigenous groups in the New Zealand military. The discussion explores ways in which Indigenous practices and customs can be incorporated into other military systems and protocols. The paper concludes that, among military organizations, the NZDF is a leader in transforming the organizational culture by enabling the organization to embrace Indigenous culture and empowering Indigenous members within their ranks.
Topic:: Culture, Military Affairs, Indigenous, and Defense Industry
Political Geography:: Canada, Australia, North America, and New Zealand

6. “Indigenous Communities are at the Heart of Canada’s North”: Media Misperceptions of the Canadian Rangers, Indigenous Service, and Arctic Securit

Author:: P. Whitney Lackenbauer
Publication Date:: 02-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: This article critically interrogates the assumptions and critiques levelled at the Canadian Rangers by two ardent media critics: Robert Smol and Scott Gilmore. Situating the Canadian Rangers in the Canadian Armed Forces’ Arctic Operational Picture, it argues that the Rangers are an appropriate and operationally valued component of a Canadian military posture designed to address Northern risks across the defence-security-safety mission spectrum. Rather than seeing the Rangers as a sideline to the “serious” military show that Smol and Gilmore would like to see play out in the North, their proven ability to operate in difficult and austere environmental conditions – often reflecting applied Indigenous knowledge of their homelands – and to maintain interoperability with mission partners to address practical security challenges is highly valuable. By serving as the “Eyes, Ears, and Voice” of the CAF in their communities, the Rangers embody federal approaches to collaboration and partnership predicated on ideas that Northerners are best placed to make decisions in areas that impact them.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, Military Affairs, and Indigenous
Political Geography:: Canada, North America, and Arctic

7. “Growing Together”: The Cultural Contribution of Indigenous People in the Canadian Military since the First World War

Author:: John MacFarlane
Publication Date:: 02-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: During the First World War the culture of the Canadian Army reflected the society of the time. Today Indigenous peoples are welcomed, their cultural heritage appreciated and encouraged. This transformation of the Canadian military can be explained in part by how our society has evolved but even more by how Indigenous members of the CAF have proven that they can ‘do the job.’ This article presents the perceptions of some Indigenous veterans who adapted, in various ways, to military culture while also retaining elements of their own culture. In most histories of Indigenous peoples in the Canadian military, the focus has been on how the Armed Forces changed them; but after a century it is increasingly clear how much Indigenous people have changed the military.
Topic:: Military Affairs, World War I, Indigenous, and Military Service
Political Geography:: Canada and North America

8. Canadian Dilemma: Is There a Path from Systemic Racism Toward Employment Equity for Indigenous People in the Canadian Forces?

Author:: Carol Agocs
Publication Date:: 02-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Indigenous peoples continue to be oppressed by racial discrimination enacted through legislation, policies and practices of the Canadian state, including the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Systemic racism, practiced through institutionalized policies and customary behaviour affecting people working in organizations, results in inequality for some groups and privileges for others. Since 2002 the CAF has been covered by the federal Employment Equity Act whose purpose is to address systemic discrimination by requiring employers to remove and prevent systemic barriers to equality for Indigenous people, women and “visible minorities” and to maintain a workforce that reflects the diversity of the Canadian population. Aside from its legal obligation, it is in the interest of the CAF to recruit and retain Indigenous People because they are an essential part of Canada’s labour supply. However Indigenous members of the CAF comprise a small and marginalized minority within a rigid, bureaucratic and culturally foreign organization. Implementing the Employment Equity Act could assist the CAF to address the Canadian state’s promise of reconciliation, fairness and equality for Indigenous people. This chapter reviews available evidence bearing on the CAF’s employment equity record, which presents a pattern of resistance to the Act’s requirements and failure to progress toward a representative workforce. In the absence of effective action to implement change, the CAF has yet to find a path from systemic racism toward employment equity for Indigenous People.
Topic:: Race, Culture, Military Affairs, Discrimination, Social Services, and Indigenous
Political Geography:: Canada and North America

9. Organizational Influence on Individual Perceptions: The social representations of the Aboriginal military in the Canadian Armed Forces

Author:: Sebastien Girard Lindsay and Jean-François Savard
Publication Date:: 02-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: In the context of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report, the Canadian state is in the process of reaching out to Aboriginal communities. Public organizations must therefore be actively involved in integrating Aboriginal people into their communities so that they are representative of Canadian society as a whole. The question of the perceptions of Aboriginal employees becomes crucial because it may be a factor that facilitates or restricts the access of these people to public organizations. As such, Aboriginal people have a special, complex and rich relationship with the military. It seemed relevant for us to study the perception of the Canadian military with Aboriginal people. Using the theory of social representations, this research exposes the structure of these perceptions. We have discovered that the military perceives the army through the prism of excellence and legal authority. Thus, the perception scheme is not a priori an obstacle to the integration of Aboriginal people, but there are indeed prejudices and stereotypes on the periphery of the representational structure. These prejudices and stereotypes could constitute an obstacle to the effective integration of this population.
Topic:: Civil Society, Military Affairs, Indigenous, and Social Cohesion
Political Geography:: Canada and North America

10. Deterrence, Resilience and Hybrid Wars: The Case of Canada and NATO

Author:: Nicole Jackson
Publication Date:: 08-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: This paper examines controversies over responses to hybrid warfare ranging from defensive societal and institutional resilience to more aggressive measures, and considers some of the strengths and limits of classic deterrence theory. How Canada and NATO interpret major transformations, and the language of ‘hybrid war’ that they adopt, matter because they influence responses. Reflecting NATO’s rhetoric and policies, Canada has become more internally focused, adopting a ‘whole of government’ and increasingly ‘whole of society’ approach, while at the same time taking more offensive actions and developing new partnerships and capabilities. Canada and NATO are taking significant steps towards ‘comprehensive deterrence’, yet more clarity is needed in how responses are combined to avoid the dangers of hybrid wars with no end.
Topic:: NATO, Diplomacy, Nuclear Weapons, Regional Cooperation, Military Strategy, and Deterrence
Political Geography:: United States, Europe, Canada, and North America

11. Geostrategy and Canadian Defence: From C.P. Stacey to a Twenty-First Century Arctic Threat Assessment

Author:: Ryan Dean and P. Whitney Lackenbauer
Publication Date:: 12-2019
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Geostrategy can be nebulous in meaning, leading to “concept creep” when applied by theorists. “The concept of geography is perilously all-embracing and, like other factors that purportedly explain everything, has the potential to end up explaining nothing in particular,” Gray warns. “One can speak of physical geography, human geography, economic geography, political geography, cultural geography, military geography, strategic geography, and many more. Unfortunately for neatness of analysis, the geographical setting for international power must embrace all of these.”10Canadian historian C.P. Stacey’s11 approach lends a methodological rigour to avoid conceptual overstretch, while remaining sufficiently expansive in its breadth of interpretation to consider the state actions needed to maintain a constructive world role writ large(clustered around issues such as strategic doctrine, global geopolitical imperatives producing the foci of regional involvement internationally, and global roles shaping how a country should yield its worldwide influence).12Stacey is an original Canadian defence thinker who teaches us that geography matters in strategic analyses and offers a starting point to develop a set of measures with which to appreciate Canada’s position in the international system. Accordingly, we begin this article by outlining how Stacey conceptualized geostrategy in his important, if often overlooked, The Military Problems of Canada.13 Although shifting great power polarity and advances in technology such as the emergence of new and more acute asymmetric threats and new strategic domains (such as space and cyber), require a modest revision of Stacey’s core methodology of military geography, his methodical approach continues to offer relevant insights to the identification and assessment of threats to Canadian defence. Having modernized Stacey’s geostrategic analytics, we then apply them to the Canadian Arctic as a case study. The region is undergoing a massive transformation, with climate change and geopolitical developments ending the region’s “isolation.” Nonetheless, the complex array of variables at play makes it difficult to anticipate what activities are going to happen – and, equally important, whereand when. Our analysis suggests that Stacey’s approach supports official military statements anticipating no near-term conventional military threats to Canada’s Arctic by encouraging a more deliberate parsing and analysis of geographical variables often conflated or overlooked in strategic assessments.
Topic:: Defense Policy, Military Strategy, Military Affairs, and Geography
Political Geography:: Canada, North America, and Arctic

12. Contemporary Strategic Trends and the Canadian Army

Author:: Elinor Sloan
Publication Date:: 04-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: This article looks at key strategic trends, the sorts of missions in which the Canadian army is likely to take part over the next few years, and the implications for the army at the tactical/operational level.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Military Strategy, Military Affairs, and Conflict
Political Geography:: Canada and North America

13. The Liberal Government and Canadian Defence Policy

Author:: Andrew Rickter
Publication Date:: 10-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: The Liberal government of Justin Trudeau has been in office for almost three years, and thus enough time has passed to reach some early observations on its defence record. This paper looks at 3 critical issues – the government’s approach to defence spending, its recent defence White Paper, and its actions regarding the CF-18 replacement project – and concludes that while there have been some positive developments, defence is clearly not a priority of the government. Moreover, its tendency to politicize the defence file and to issue misleading policy pronouncements on matters related to it do not inspire much confidence. Thus, barring an unexpected increase in spending, Canada’s defence prognosis is poor and the Canadian Armed Forces will likely see their capabilities erode further over the near-to-medium term.
Topic:: Defense Policy, Military Strategy, Budget, and Liberalism
Political Geography:: Canada and North America

14. Donald Trump and Canadian International Security

Author:: Robert Huebert
Publication Date:: 01-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: The campaign and subsequent election of Donald Trump as President is raising serious international security issues for Canada. It is ironic that it is the democratic process of Canada’s most important ally and trading partner that has created this new security reality. Trump is doing what he promised to do – which, nominally, should be a good thing. In a democratic system, there is often a criticism of leaders who say one thing while campaigning and then do something else. No one can suggest that Trump did not warn the American electorate what he was intending to do. The problem is that few in Canada (and elsewhere in the international system) expected his promise and messages to lead to his victory. But not only did he win, he is showing every indication of moving as quickly as possible to fulfil those promises. So what are some of the policies and what how will they effect Canada?
Topic:: Foreign Policy, National Security, Regional Cooperation, and Trade
Political Geography:: United States, Canada, and North America

15. Blurred Lines: Mexican Cartels and the Narco-Terrorism Debate

Author:: Alexander Salt
Publication Date:: 09-2017
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Since 2006, well over 70 000 lives have been claimed by Cartel and narcotics related violence in Mexico. The sheer scale of this conflict has attracted considerable scholarly attention, particularly that which seeks to classify what type of violence this is, be it terrorism, insurgency or something else altogether. This paper addresses this issue by asking: Can Mexican Cartels be considered terrorist organizations? The paper explores the evolution of the Cartels in Mexico from 2006-present, analyzing their motivations, tactics and operations, organizational structures, and targets of violence. The paper concludes that Cartels should not be defined as terrorists as they lack political motives for their use of violence. However, Cartels can be said to have a dual nature; sometimes they act like terrorists in terms of their operational and tactical level behavior, and the rest of the time they act as illicit businessmen.
Topic:: War on Drugs, Narcotics Trafficking, Violence, and Drugs
Political Geography:: United States, Canada, North America, and Mexico

16. The Canadian Armed Forces in the Arctic: Building Capabilities and Connections

Author:: Adam Lajeunesse and P. Whitney Lackenbauer
Publication Date:: 04-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: The Arctic has emerged as a topic of tremendous hype over the last decade, spawning persistent debates about whether the region’s future is likely to follow a cooperative trend or spiral into conflict. Official Canadian military statements, all of which anticipate no near-term conventional military threats to the region, predict an increase in security and safety challenges and point to the need for capabilities suited to a supporting role in an integrated, whole-of-government (WoG) framework. This entails focused efforts to enhance the government's all-domain situational awareness over the Arctic, to prepare responses to a range of unconventional security situations or incidents in the region, and to assist other government departments (OGD) in their efforts to enforce Canadian laws and regulations within national jurisdiction. Despite popular commentaries suggesting that military deficiencies in the North make Canada vulnerable, we argue that the Canadian Armed Forces are generally capable of meeting its current and short-term requirements and is responsibly preparing to meet the threats to Canadian security and safety that are likely emerge over the next decade.
Topic:: Security, Diplomacy, Nationalism, and Military Strategy
Political Geography:: Canada, North America, and Arctic

17. Revisiting Africa in Canadian Security Planning & Assessment

Author:: Christopher Roberts and Tim Stapleton
Publication Date:: 10-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: During the Second World War, Canadian expeditionary forces played a proportionally significant role in the war in Europe, but, just like the First World War, Canada avoided or was not asked to consider deployment of land forces in any significant way to African theatres of operations. Not since the South African War (also known as the Second Anglo-Boer War) of 1899-1902 had Canadian-raised combat arms units been sent to the continent. Between 1956 and 1969, however, Africa became an active theatre of operations for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), but in substantially new roles: peacekeeping (Suez, Congo) and military training and assistance outside the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (Ghana, Tanzania and Nigeria). Africa was the experimental lab for both of these new taskings, and the first time Canadians served alongside, under, or trained soldiers from newly independent African states. Canada’s early engagement with post-colonial Africa was led by security, commercial, and world order considerations, with the CAF and not official humanitarian and/or development assistance at the forefront. Where commercial and security concerns characterized Canada’s initial activity (1955-1965), between 1965 and 1975 development, “facilitated by, rather than caused by, the public’s increasing responsiveness to the humane internationalism of the era,” came to dominate Canada-Africa relations.1 From one of the lowest contributors to foreign aid on a proportional Gross National Product basis in the early 1960s, Canada had surpassed many other major and minor Western donors by the middle of the 1970s.2 Not unrelatedly, the 1970s also marked a nadir of Canadian defence spending, with the CAF shrinking in personnel, its presence in Europe halved, and its ships, aircraft, vehicles, and even small arms aging without replacement. Under Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, from 1968 to 1979, the government’s international fiscal envelope skewed spending heavily towards development at the expense of defence. Peacekeeping – or at least support for “Collective Measures for maintenance of peace and security embodied in the Charter of the United Nations”3 – that rated first mention in the 1964 White Paper on Defence – dropped to last in the foreign policy priorities articulated in the 1970 foreign policy overhaul, Foreign Policy for Canadians,4 and the subsequent 1971 White Paper on Defence. Military training assistance efforts shrank to a care and maintenance basis in the 1970s, totalling less than 0.25% of Canada’s growing annual foreign aid budget.5 Kilford concludes his chapter on the winding down of military assistance in the early 1970s with the observation that it took thirty years (until the early 2000s) “before the funds allocated for military assistance even came close to the amount spent in the 1960s.”6 These periodic shifts that privileged defence/security over development, or development over defence/security (to use two of the “3Ds” of diplomacy, defence, and development now in regular use), have represented a somewhat regular thematic influence in Canadian relations with Africa. At times, especially during the “human security” era of the late 1990s, development and security were seen as complementary. In the mid-2010s, however, there is wide consensus that security, development, and governance are the three crucial interlocking pillars required to underpin Africa’s economic prosperity, human empowerment, and regional stability. In other words, one cannot be prioritized at the expense of the others if any kind of long-term stability is the goal of local and international stakeholders. Over fifty years of pursuing development and conflict-management in Africa and fifteen years of doing the same in Afghanistan have produced agreement on the three pillars but no consensus about how to go about cultivating them concurrently. Many good intentions around state-building, poverty alleviation, humanitarian intervention, and conflict amelioration have foundered on the shoals of the hard reality of political and economic complexity and vested interests, both local and international. This is the conundrum which lies behind this “African security” themed issue of the Journal of Military and Strategic Studies. It follows a workshop the editors co-chaired, in June 2016 at the University of Calgary, on the precise theme of “Revisiting Africa in Canadian security planning and assessment,” an initiative which grew out of that conundrum.7 As Canada signals it will again increase its involvement in addressing African security and development challenges,8 the workshop examined the difficulties in mobilizing consensus around what Canada and other external actors can and should do, as well as some of the multifaceted security challenges facing contemporary Africa, from terrorism and transnational criminal networks to political elites who are not that interested in deepening constitutionalism. This collection of essays showcases the research and insights of a handful of the over thirty participants at the June workshop.9
Topic:: Security, Military Strategy, and Military Affairs
Political Geography:: Africa, Canada, and North America

18. Networked security between “restraint” and “responsibility”? Germany’s security policy towards Africa

Author:: Ulf Engel
Publication Date:: 10-2016
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Ulf Engel assesses the recent evolution of German security policy towards and engagement in Africa which should serve as a useful comparative model for Canada. Notably, in 2014 the German government adopted a comprehensive and networked approach through its Africa Policy Guidelines which is something completely lacking in Canada.
Topic:: Security, International Cooperation, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, Canada, Germany, and North America

19. Maritime Non-state Actors: A Challenge for the Royal Canadian Navy?

Author:: David Rudd
Publication Date:: 12-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Global security and prosperity depends in part on good order at sea, with its attendant flow of licit maritime commerce. While challenges to that order have existed since the earliest sea-farers, new players have emerged in recent decades that inhibit the ability of nation-states to regulate domestic and international maritime activity. This paper is intended to provide a brief exploration of the nature of maritime non-state actors (MNSAs) and the challenge they pose to national and international maritime security. It will examine the types and motivations of MNSAs and identify some of the ways in which a navy may interact with them. In doing so it will help to shape decision-making on how allied navies in general and the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in particular might theoretically align their capability-development efforts with these trends. As the paper is intended to be an overview of a complex and evolving phenomenon, it proceeds from the premise that the strategic/policy, doctrinal, and tactical questions raised herein will require more study.
Topic:: Military Strategy, Non State Actors, Navy, and Maritime
Political Geography:: Canada and North America

20. Preparing for Peace in Time of War: Canada and the Post-Hostilities Planning Committees, 1943-1945

Author:: Monique Dolak
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: During the Second World War, as the likelihood of Allied success grew, the Canadian Department of External Affairs (DEA) looked towards the post-war world. The increasingly international posture of the Canadian government, coupled with concerns over the shape of the post-war international structure, and Canada's role within it, inspired the Department of External Affairs (DEA) to focus its efforts on post-war planning. For the first time in the DEA's short history, it began to vigorously "plan for the future". This took the form of Post-Hostilities Planning (PHP) Committees. The PHP framework was not only an exercise in post-war planning, but inter-service and interdepartmental relations. While the three Canadian military services were active participants in the work done, it was dominated by the DEA. Considerations of the military often tended toward more immediate wartime concerns. The PHP committees also served as a means of bringing the services into closer contact and communication with one another. However, political and diplomatic considerations dominated and the services were often sidelined during meetings. Thus, while the Canadian Chiefs of Staff and their representatives sat on the Committees, their ability to shape policy proved limited.
Topic:: War
Political Geography:: Canada

21. Strategic Influence Reconsidered: Defence Research and Combat Development in Canada's Early Cold War Army

Author:: Andrew Godefroy
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Throughout the twentieth century, even when not at war, professionally-minded citizen armies continued to think about future conflicts; in particular what they might be like, where they might take place, against whom, and if possible, why. As well, armies that were smart enough to think ahead did what they could to be ready for the next conflict through engagement in strategic foresight activities, the investigation of new ideas and concepts, the examination and assessment of emerging trends, the creation of new doctrines, and the development of robust physical, intellectual, and social capital within their standing armies. Finally, commanders would often seek to train their soldiers for tasks both probable and possible, knowing all the while that despite the best efforts and preparations it would be impossible to fully anticipate every possibility, and therefore, mitigate all future risk.
Political Geography:: Canada

22. Preparing for the War of the Future in the Wake of Defeat: The Evolution of German Strategic Thought, 1919-1935

Author:: Mark Shannon
Publication Date:: 06-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Germany's defeat in the First World War came as a profound shock. While the nation was stunned by the peace settlement that followed, the military was faced with the inescapable reality that their approach to fighting a prolonged industrialized conflict was flawed. The years following Germany's defeat found the army in search of reasons for its failure. The officer corps sought to analyze its experience with "total war" and to draw the correct lessons from it. In this way, the army could prepare for the war of the future, secure in the knowledge that any repetition of the First World War could be avoided. In short, the German armed forces began the detailed process of distilling relevant military lessons from the conflict and applying them to their perception of a future war. While many of the lessons learned and studied had to do with tactics and technology, it is the purpose of this analysis to examine the strategic debate that ensued. Regardless of how strategy would be formulated in the coming years, it maintained at its heart one simple objective that is best summarized in a conversation between General Walther Reinhardt and Colonel Albrecht von Thaer in January 1919. Thaer expressed his pessimism for the coming years but Reinhardt, a liberal officer who was about to assume command of the War Ministry disagreed. He openly stated that "the goal is and remains a free Germany, hopefully restored to its former borders, with [the] strongest, most modern army with [the] newest weapons. One must not let this goal recede from view for even one moment." Rearmament and conscription would return, he declared, but when Thaer suggested this might be possible in the distant future, Reinhardt assured him that "We must and will be in position to do so in 15 years." Clearly, planning for the next war began at the moment defeat in the First World War was realized.
Political Geography:: Canada and Germany

23. Arctic Security - An Equation with Multiple Unknowns

Author:: Rear Admiral Nils Wang
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: In May 2008, the five Arctic coastal states - the United States, Russia, Canada, Norway and the Kingdom of Denmark, including Greenland and the Faroe Islands - signed the Illulissat Declaration. The declaration established that the 'Arctic Five' will lay claim to the sea territorial rights awarded to them by the 1982. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and that they will settle disputes within the framework of existing international law. This was a very strong message to NGOs and external state actors, arguing that a protective treaty should govern the Arctic, just like the Antarctic.
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, Japan, China, Canada, India, Norway, Denmark, United Nations, and Italy

24. Understanding The Arctic Council: A 'Sub-Regional' Perspective

Author:: Alyson J. K. Bailes
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: The international architecture of the circumpolar Arctic region is unusual in several ways. All countries directly involved – Canada, the USA, Russia and the five Nordic nations, who are also the states members of the Arctic Council – are regarded in other contexts as part of a 'Euro-Atlantic' nexus, and all belong to bodies like the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Yet the classic Euro-Atlantic institutions have so far barely engaged with the new issues created by the opening up of the region though ice melting. NATO does not have an Arctic policy as such, while the OSCE itself and the Council of Europe have been only marginally involved. The European Union has a de facto presence in several dimensions (climate management, the energy market, shipping, research and monitoring etc), but has so far failed to secure the status of an observer at the Arctic Council.
Political Geography:: Russia, America, Europe, Canada, and Nordic Nations

25. Canadian Defence Spending – A Case Study of Mismanagement

Author:: Jeffrey Gilmour
Publication Date:: 03-2014
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: In 2010, the Harper Government announced the "Canada First Defence Strategy" whereby a list of required equipment was listed for our military. This included orders for support vehicles, search and rescue helicopters, a new fighter jet to replace the F-18 Hornet, support ships and Arctic patrol vessels plus a polar ice breaker for the Coast Guard. The replacement contract for the CH124 Sea King helicopter was already in the works with Sikorsky as the prime contractor.
Political Geography:: Canada

26. It is Time to Start Talking about Mitt: Mitt Romney and the Issue of Missile Defence

Author:: Dr. Matthew Trudgen
Publication Date:: 10-2012
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: In the weeks since he has secured the Republican Presidential Nomination, Mitt Romney has gone from being a long shot challenger for the presidency to being a legitimate contender. The result is that it is now time to discuss what a Romney presidency could mean for the Canada, and one issue that could surface as flash point in the bilateral relationship is ballistic missile defence (BMD). Consequently, it is important to ask the question of what level of interest will a President Romney have in this issue. This article argues that Romney will be a strong supporter of expanding America's missile defences for a number of reasons.
Topic:: Security
Political Geography:: United States, America, and Canada

27. Nobody Knows Anything: Canada's Cyber Insecurities

Author:: John Ferris
Publication Date:: 10-2012
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: This special issue of The Journal of Military and Strategic Studies stems from papers presented to the conference, “Nobody Knows Anything: Canada's Cyber Insecurities”, held in Calgary during May 2012. The conference focused on Canada, but tackled problems, solutions, conditions and dilemmas which are international. It was hosted by The Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute; The Centre for Military and Strategic Studies and The School of Public Policy, at The University of Calgary; and The Journal of Military and Strategic Studies. The organising committee was Cam Ross, Major-General ( retired) and Dr. Jack Mintz, of The School for Public Policy; Dr Jörg Denzinger, from The Department of Computer Science, The University of Calgary; and Dr. David Bercuson, Dr. John Ferris and Nancy Pearson Mackie, from The Centre for Military and Strategic Studies. A list of the speakers is attached in Appendix A.
Political Geography:: Canada

28. A Middle Power on the World Stage: Canadian Grand Strategy in the Twentieth Century

Author:: Michael S. Neiberg
Publication Date:: 10-2012
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming. Before I say another word, I'd like to thank David Bercuson for this great honor to be here today and Nancy Pearson Mackey for all the hard work that she has done to help me get here. I'd like to begin with three quick caveats. The first, as I reminded David when he invited me to give this lecture, is that I am not an historian of Canada. David seemed to think that my lack of formal training in this field would not pose an insurmountable obstacle to my delivering such a distinguished lecture in Canadian history, and I am putting my faith and trust in him that this is in fact so. It is not my intention here today to tell Canadians anything about their own history that they do not know. It is instead to perform the task David has given me: to place the history of Canada at war in the 20th century into a wider context and to train an outsider's eye onto the problems of Canada and its approach to war and strategy.
Political Geography:: Canada

29. Editorial

Author:: Terry Terriff, James Keeley, and John Ferris
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: The May election brought substantial change to Canada, with both a majority Conservative government and the emergence of the New Democratic Party as the Official Opposition. Whether the Liberals can, over the longer term, recover from their historic defeat remains to be seen. For the time being, however, barring a major misstep from either the Conservatives or the NDP, the Liberals, necessarily focused on rebuilding, will be less of a factor in defence policy.
Political Geography:: Canada

30. The Patrol: Seven Days in the Life of a Canadian Soldier in Afghanistan

Author:: Ryan Flavelle
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Nothing can prepare a person for the reality of bloody, concussive warfare. . . . Those who like war are aptly named warriors. Some, like me, are fated never to be warriors, as we are more afraid of war than fascinated by it. But I have the consolation that I have walked with warriors, and know what kind of men they are. I will never be a warrior, but I have known war.
Topic:: War
Political Geography:: Afghanistan and Canada

31. Endings Of Eras

Author:: James Keeley
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Two significant periods seem to be coming to an end for students of security in Canada – one local, relatively brief and certain, while the other is somewhat longer, world-historical in nature, and somewhat less certain.
Topic:: Security
Political Geography:: Canada

32. Canada and 9/11: Ten Years On - Editorial Note

Author:: Gavin Cameron
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Did, as was frequently claimed in the following months and years, everything change on September 11, 2001? The following four articles focus on parts of Canada's security environment in the ten years since 2001. Each describe significant developments in that time, whether in perceptions of threat or in the responses that were pursued in reply but, for the most part, these changes are best characterized as evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The changes occurred and may have reflected radical shifts in emphasis, but they often represented dynamics that were present before September 2001.
Topic:: Security and Climate Change
Political Geography:: Canada

33. The Canadian Intelligence Community After 9/11

Author:: Greg Fyffe
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: After September 2001, the Canadian intelligence community gained substantial new resources and revised mandates. Institutional structures were modified to focus on new threats and improve coordination. Agencies gained in impact because they had more capacity to deal with potential terrorists and gather information in a world which was more chaotic, more threatening, and more unpredictable.
Political Geography:: Canada

34. "In Considerable Doubt"? Canada and the Future of NATO

Author:: David G. Haglund
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: In so many ways, the attacks on New York and Washington of 11 September 2001 might have been expected to result in a diminution of NATO's importance to Canadian grand strategy. At the very least, the onset of what would be billed, alternatively, as the ‚Global War on Terror‛ (the GWOT) and the "Long War," heralded the beginning of a new strategic era, one in which Europe would become of even less strategic significance to Canada than during either the so-called "post-Cold War" era, which spanned the decade between the demise of the Soviet Union and 9/11, or the earlier, and long, Cold War era. And it followed that if the familiar cynosure of Canadian security and defence policy during that earlier era, namely Europe, was going to go on losing importance at an accelerated clip, then so too must the organization whose primary function had been, from its inception in 1949, the safeguarding of Western European security, and with it, of transatlantic security. That organization, of course, was and remains the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is an organization that, for two decades now, has continued to defy expectations that it must soon fade into obscurity as a vehicle for advancing Canada's strategic interests.
Topic:: NATO and War
Political Geography:: New York, Europe, Washington, and Canada

35. Military Responses and Capabilities in Canada's Domestic Context Post 9/11

Author:: Chris Madsen
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: If the terrorist attacks of 9/11 on New York City and Washington D.C. were a rude wake-up call for potential security threats to continental North America, the reaction on part of Canada has been measured and typically cautious. The acts were of course immediately condemned and temporary refuge given to thousands of travellers stranded by closure of airspace over the United States until declared safe. The federal government and most Canadians extended sympathy and offers of assistance to their closest neighbour and main trading partner. Close cultural and economic ties between the two countries ensured as much. Unease, however, set in about the tough talk and next progression characterized by President George Bush's now famous “You're either with us or against us” speech. Canada's then Liberal prime minister decided not to send the Canadian military wholeheartedly into the invasion of Iraq, though deployment of Canadian troops in Afghanistan duly became a major commitment. Reassuring the United States of Canada's reliability and loyalty as a partner was imperative. To this end, the federal government tightened up financial restrictions on potential fund-raising by identified terrorist groups, introduced new legislation and bureaucratic structures focused on security issues, and better coordinated intelligence gathering and information sharing activities across government agencies and with principal allies. Canadians convinced themselves that any possibility of a 9/11 scale terrorist attack on Canada was unlikely, and even if one was planned or happened, the effect would be minimized by the pro-active measures of authorities. Selected use of security certificates and arrest of home grown Islamic terrorists, the so-called Toronto 18, apparently showed that the police and intelligence agents were up to the task. The threat of terrorism, if not eliminated, could at least be managed and thwarted when required to provide a reasonable level of safety to the Canadian state and society. Ten years on, the course of events has shown the chosen policy decisions to have been mostly sound. Though the highest leadership of Al Qaeda remain at large and defiant as ever in their stated resolve to attack the West, Canada has not yet experienced a major terrorist incident since 9/11.
Topic:: Economics and Government
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, New York, Washington, Canada, and North America

36. Terrorism in Canada

Author:: Michael Zekulin
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: September 11th 2011 will mark the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks which toppled the World Trade Center buildings in New York City and killed approximately three thousand people. These attacks marked the beginning of an escalation of global Islamic terrorism which shows no signs of fading in the near future. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether Islamic terrorism has seen a marked increase in Canada since 9/11 and further identify what this might mean for Canadians and policymakers moving forward. Investigating the terrorist incidents which have unfolded in Canada over the past ten years not only provides valuable information about the threats and challenges Canada has experienced since 9/11, it also provides clues about what we might expect moving forward. This paper argues that an analysis of terrorist incidents in Canada from 9/11 until today reveals a disturbing trend. However, it also provides a clear indication of several areas which need to be investigated and addressed in order to mitigate this threat moving forward.
Topic:: Islam and Terrorism
Political Geography:: New York and Canada

37. Canada's Warlord: Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden's Leadership during the Great War

Author:: Dr. Tim Cook
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: “Sir Robert Borden may have been an outstanding figure in Canadian public life, being even a leader in Imperial councils during the war, but he seems to have lacked the arts which most appeal to the popular imagination,” wrote one journalist after Borden's retirement in 1920. “For example, one never hears and never will hear a personal anecdote about Borden. His biography, when written, will be dull. It will . . . bore the people to death.”
Topic:: War
Political Geography:: Canada

38. Facing the Future: Canada's Environmental Security Challenges in the 21st Century

Author:: Isaac Caverhill-Godkewitsch
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: In 2007 the McClure strait in the Canadian Arctic, as visible from satellite photography, was free of ice for the first time.The legendary Northwest Passage is open; a long lost dream of explorers has finally become reality – the very geography of Canada is experiencing environmental change. In the 21st Century the planet is facing many such changes on scales unseen in human history. But what will such changes have on human society? More importantly, what do these changes mean for the nation-state and its security?
Topic:: Security and Climate Change
Political Geography:: Canada

39. A Race to the Top: Oil Gas Exploration in the Canadian Arctic

Author:: Michael Kuzik
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Economic forces will ultimately determine the destiny of the Canadian Arctic, not displays of military force. Economic opportunity will prove far more cost effective and longer lasting than increasing the visibility, or even effectiveness, of Canada's military in the Arctic. Some observers expect the mounting evidence of a treasure trove of hydrocarbons on land and under the sea in Canada's Arctic to act as the economic catalyst. However crude oil and natural gas exploitation in Canada's North is fraught with a myriad of challenges. This paper will shed light on the harsh climactic, economic and political realities of oil and gas exploration and development in the Canadian Arctic. Climatic conditions, even in the wake of evidence of climate change, will still be extreme as will the distances and the topography. First and foremost the economics have to make sense; a profit has to be available to entice the capital needed for developing the north's vast hydrocarbon potential. Additionally, the political realities include pollution mitigation and outstanding native land claims.
Topic:: Economics and Environment
Political Geography:: Canada

40. Politics by other means: Canadian "Strategy" and the Italian Campaign, 1943

Author:: Christine Leppard
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: In 1939 Canada entered World War Two with a tiny military and obsolete kit. Four years later, Canada had raised a five division, two corps army that was defending the shores of Dover, although the immediate threat of German invasion had long since passed. Instead of joining the Allied war in North Africa the Canadian army remained, in the words of Army Commander Andrew McNaughton, the “dagger pointed at the heart of Berlin,” ready and waiting to go ashore in North-West Europe whenever the long-awaited invasion finally came. This posture pleased the Canadian public, who well versed in the laurels won by Arthur Currie and the Canadian Corps in the Great War, anticipated a similar role for the entire Canadian army in the liberation of Europe. Plus, Canada's expected role in the main invasion would bolster its esteem among its more powerful allies, Britain and the United States. Although Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King was speaking about Canadian public opinion when he told one of his cabinet minister's that “he laughed best who laughed last,” it surely also applied to Mackenzie King's view of what Canada's post-war role would be: one with a newly minted role for Canada as an independent ally, neither wholly British nor wholly American, standing independent and tall within the British Commonwealth and the United Nations.
Political Geography:: United States, Europe, Canada, Germany, and United Nations

41. Grand Strategy, Culture, and Strategic Choice: A Review

Author:: David S. McDonough
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: The Canadian debate on security matters has rarely been discussed as a matter of grand strategy. Indeed, John Gellner once bluntly remarked that there is “no tradition of independent Canadian strategic thought,” while Colin Gray would go even further with his memorable term “strategic theoretical parasitism” to describe Canada's penchant for relying on the strategic thinking of its erstwhile allies. Others pessimistically conclude that “recourse to grand strategies” is largely “the prerogatives of the greater states.” Yet these views have also come under increasing challenge. For example, Andrew Richter and Sean Maloney provide a strong defence of Canada's military strategy in the early Cold War, though both authors remain less sanguine on the strategic acumen displayed by later governments.3 Another prominent voice has been former Minister of National Defence David Pratt, who was less shy in describing such behaviour as an example of grand strategy but remained in general agreement that Canada's once vigorous strategy had by the 1960s “appeared to wither on the vine.
Topic:: Cold War
Political Geography:: Canada

42. Lackenbauer, Whitney P. and Peter Kikkert, eds. The Canadian Forces and Arctic Sovereignty: Debating Roles, Interests, and Requirements, 1968-1974. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2010

Author:: Adam Lajeunesse
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: The Canadian Forces and Arctic Sovereignty begins with Stephen Harper's December 2005 speech in Winnipeg. "You don't defend national sovereignty with flags, cheap election rhetoric or advertising campaigns" proclaimed the future Prime Minister, "you need forces on the ground, ships in the sea and proper surveillance"(3). This speech set the scene for a renewed government focus on Arctic sovereignty. It also foreshadowed how the issue was to be dealt with. In the years to follow, the government announced a series of significant plans for new Arctic defence programs: a new icebreaker, new patrol craft, a deep water port and a military base - to name only the most expensive.
Topic:: Security and Politics
Political Geography:: Canada

43. Mark Osborne Humphries and John Maker, eds. Germany's Western Front, 1915: Translations from the German Official History of the Great War, Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2010

Author:: Matt Bucholtz
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Germany's Western Front, 1915, translated and edited by Mark Osborne Humphries and John Maker, is the second volume in a series of translations of Der Weltkrieg, the official German history of the First World War. Mark Osborne Humphries teaches Canadian and military history at Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta and has published several works on the First World War in both Canadian and international journals. John Maker is a PhD Candidate at the University of Ottawa, working on a dissertation entitled ‚Shiner, Shindigs, and Shenanigans: Canadian Soldiers in Britain during the Second World War.‛ Composed of selections from volumes VII, VIII and IX of Der Weltkrieg, Germany's Western Front, 1915 dutifully presents one of the last triumphs of German Wilhelmine era operational level military history. Originally published from 1925 to 1944, Der Weltkrieg stands as the culmination of the von Rankean tradition of ‚wie es eigentlich gewesen” or 'how it actually happened' in the Great German General Staff. Humphries and Maker produced this translated work in an attempt to provide a German counterpart to the narrative of the Great War in English, which has been traditionally, and understandably, dominated by sources from England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America. In an ironic post-modern twist, the editors have sought to end the ‚othering‛ of German interpretations by translating the official (one might be tempted to say master narrative) German history of the war into English, and thus simply adding one master narrative to another. Nevertheless, both the foreword by Hew Strachan and the introduction written by the editors do an excellent job of not only situating Der Weltkrieg within the historiography, but also critically examining the creation and creators of the series. Throughout the volume, the editors consistently provide useful footnotes, not only to clarify various points in the text, but also to elaborate on the relationships between the subject matter and the authors of Der Weltkrieg (the most notable example being von Haeften's consistently negative critique of Feldmarschall von Falkenhayn's conduct throughout 1915, which directly stemmed from von Haeften's personal loyalty to his former commanding officer, Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, who was replaced by Falkenhayn). Although the usefulness of Der Weltkrieg is limited by its high level focus (the series does not focus on any military unit smaller than a division and is mainly concerned with the leadership coterie of Germany's war effort), it nevertheless remains an important resource for historians as the series was produced from sources which were destroyed during the Second World War by a wayward British bomber, and thus denied to current researchers. Although this official history was finished during the Nazi era, it remains remarkably free of National Socialist ideological overtones. Most of the politically motivated interpretations in the series are an expression of Imperial or Weimar era internal military intrigues, not those of the Third Reich.
Topic:: Intelligence
Political Geography:: United States, America, Canada, Germany, Australia, England, and New Zealand

44. Cold Front: Hillary, Ottawa, and the Inuit:A Year after the Inuit Re-Assert their Sovereignty, Washington Takes Their Side

Author:: Barry Zellen
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: On April 28, 2009, a delegation of Inuit leaders from Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Russia presented the Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Arctic Sovereignty in Tromsø, Norway, where the Arctic Council was meeting. This historic declaration represented the Inuit response to their exclusion eleven months earlier at the May 2008 Ilulissat Summit of top foreign policymakers among the Arctic rim states, and reflects a formal, if not aggressively forceful, rejection of the modern state's latest effort to shape the destiny of Arctic without the participation of the Inuit.
Political Geography:: Russia, Canada, Alaska, and Greenland

45. Canada and Missile Defence: Saying No to Mr. Bush

Author:: Donald Barry
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: On 24 February 2005, Prime Minister Paul Martin ended months of speculation by rejecting President George W. Bush's invitation to participate in his administration's ballistic missile defence (BMD) program. Martin had come to power in December 2003, intent on joining as a means of improving defence cooperation with the United States in the wake of Canada's decision not to endorse the US-led war in Iraq that had strained relations between Bush's administration and Jean Chrétien's government.2 But his plan was thwarted by several factors: public disapproval of the war, which by the time Martin took office had hardened into opposition to Bush's foreign policy; the June 2004 general election that reduced Martin's government from majority to minority status; opposition within Martin's Liberal party and among Liberal, New Democratic Party (NDP) and Bloc Québécois (BQ) members of parliament (MPs); and the ambiguous stance of the Conservatives, who had previously supported Canada's involvement. Also contributing to the decision were the Bush administration's non-committal approach to the negotiation, its failure to respond to Canadian concerns about US protectionism, and the president's ill-advised public intervention in the missile defence debate during his visit to Canada in late 2004.
Topic:: Government
Political Geography:: United States and Canada

46. Terrorism in Canada: Victims and Perpetrators

Author:: Alex Wilner
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: “Our imagined terrorist cell was initiated by an overseas source,” explains Major-General Edward S. Fitch, recently retired from the Canadian Forces (CF), in discussing preparations for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games (V2010). “They sent one man to Vancouver circa 2004,” he continues, “about one year after it was announced the city would host the 2010 Games.” After settling in, the foreign operative found “an apartment and a simple, low profile job” in the city and began to “plan, recruit, train, conduct reconnaissance, surveillance, and build improvised explosive devices (IED).” Over time, the operative assembled a terrorist cell of local Canadians, each recruit bringing “useful skills” to the operation, familiarity with Vancouver, Whistler, and surrounding areas, and an ability to blend into Canadian society. Over the subsequent months and years, the cell began acquiring weapons and other materials “through legal means” to use in their attacks. They remained discreet, followed the law, and avoided detection. The group's strategy, Major-General Fitch suggests, was to “force the cessation of the Games by breaking the Canadian public's will by causing casualties and demonstrating the impotence of the security forces.” Tactically, the imagined cell avoids targeting Olympic venues directly, which are deemed too heavily guarded, in favour of attacking “soft targets in public areas.” They do so using explosives in order to “leverage the strengths of the small cell” against Canada's much larger and better equipped security apparatus. Operationally, the fictional adversary is equipped, capable, and motivated to conduct any number of attacks, including mass-casualty bombings against Canadians and visiting foreigners.
Topic:: Security
Political Geography:: Canada

47. Contemporary Threats to Canada and the Canadian Forces

Author:: Scott Fitzsimmons
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Over and above the widely acknowledged threats of international terrorism and the Afghan insurgency, Canada and the Canadian Forces face a number of pressing threats from state and non-state actors, which range from the physical to the fiscal. This paper highlights threats posed by private security contractors in Afghanistan, pirates off the Horn of Africa, foreign states in disputed areas of the Arctic, and the current economic downturn within Canada. Each section of the paper highlights one or more specific threats posed to Canada and/or the Canadian Forces and discusses existing and proposed attempts to address these threats.
Topic:: Government
Political Geography:: Afghanistan, Africa, and Canada

48. Editorial

Author:: Terry Terriff, James Keeley, and John Ferris
Publication Date:: 01-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Welcome to the Winter 2010 issue of The Journal of Military and Strategic Studies (JMSS). You have been specifically selected to join our forum and to receive quarterly issues of this Journal. (To be removed from the list, please refer to the instructions at the end of this email.) You may link to the JMSS at http://www.jmss.org As one of the few electronic journals dedicated to the study of security related issues in Canada, we are pleased to provide a forum in which security issues can be examined and discussed.
Topic:: Cold War
Political Geography:: United States and Canada

49. The Past as Prologue: Sustaining Canadian Capacity for Defence, Diplomacy and Development

Author:: Colin Robertson
Publication Date:: 01-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Drive down Wellington Street, past the Parliament Buildings and, almost directly across from the Supreme Court are a pair of buildings buttressing both sides of Lyon Street. Built in the aftermath of World War II, the East and West Memorial Buildings once housed the Department of Veterans Affairs. Their architect had a sense of both history and the neighborhood. It is reflected in their chateau style, copper roofs and stone facing – not the usual cinder-block approach of later government buildings. Spanning the street and connecting the two buildings is an Arch.
Political Geography:: Canada, Germany, and Netherlands

50. Inexpensive Leadership: On Canada's Global Normative Position and Its Potentials

Author:: Amir Mirtaheri
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: On the global stage, Canada holds a special status in many ways. This comes from a peculiar combination of Canada's geography, population and history on the one hand and its position vis - à - vis the rest of the world and especially the rest of the West on the other. It is the second largest country in the world and yet has a relatively low population of about 34 million based on the 2009 UN estimation. This latter characteristic can be seen as one of Canada's main strategic challenges in the path of becoming a major player in global affairs. A country with significant reservoirs of natural resources, Canada has been trying to add to its pool of human resources by admitting over six million migrants based on United Nations (UN) 2006 estimations. Although there have been vigorous debates in the country about immigration and the notion of multiculturalism, Canada has been relatively more successful compared to most (if not all) European countries in enriching its social tapestry through embracing more tolerant policies towards immigration. This has rendered Canada better - positioned to address inherent challenges in opening the doors to people of various cultures and ethnic backgrounds. Despite the lack of a major or urgent security threat, Canada is an integral part of NATO, one of the most enduring security organizations in recent history. Still, it has not come under fire, by and large, for being an arrogant power. It is an important part of global economy as according to the World Trade Organization: in 2007 Canada was the tenth largest exporter and the tenth largest importer of merchandise in the world. The same report estimates that excluding the intra - EU trade; yet, in the same year, Canada was the fifth largest exporter and the fifth largest importer of merchandise in the world. Despite this high profile in global trade, Canada's external image does not severely suffer from a record of colonialism (in contrast to Europe or Japan), neither has it been accused of neo - colonialism (in contrast to the United States or China.
Topic:: NATO and Population
Political Geography:: United States, Japan, China, Europe, and Canada

51. Domestic Operations: Air Reserves

Author:: Eldren Thuen
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: An Air Reserve integral to the capability of Canada's Air Force - ready to serve when and where most needed, at home and abroad. To provide a flexible, responsive and reliable contribution to Air Force capabilities where and when required.
Political Geography:: Canada

52. Domestic Ops in the Arctic

Author:: Robert Huebert
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Canada is still learning how to conduct Ops in the Arctic – both regular and reserves. All Ops must be “Whole - of - Canada” by virtue of the Arctic Reality. The role played by Canadian Rangers is both unique and essential. The Arctic is in a state of massive transformation – need for CF in Arctic will be increasing.
Political Geography:: Canada and Arctic

53. Stewarding Engagement, Harnessing Knowledge: Lessons Learned from the Future, Keeping the Future in Reserves

Author:: John Verdon
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:: Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:: Aim: Lessons learned from the future The Future is less about its discovery and more about its invention Key trends of importance for people and organizations Demographic Technology -pace frontiers Techno-Economic Techno-Socio/Cultural Some Implications and Recommendation.
Political Geography:: Canada

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS