Towards A Grand Strategy for Canada, Part 2

Last week, I started to talk about Canadian grand strategy, with a consideration of the threats facing Canada. I guess I should have started by being clearer about what I mean by “grand strategy.” Essentially, a country’s grand strategy is the way in which it tries to maintain – and perhaps enhance – its position in the world, given the threats, opportunities, and constraints it faces. How does one match capabilities with commitments and interests to secure the country and achieve whatever it seeks to achieve? I started with a discussion ...More

Is War Obsolete?

The debate that Roland Paris and Steve Saideman have initiated about the future of the Canadian Forces is a crucial one, particularly when military expenditures need to compete for scarce taxpayers dollars. I’d also largely agree that one of the key priorities for the Canadian military must be the security of Canada’s sovereign territory (including coastlines and airspace) and the potential for assisting in domestic emergencies. One of the key shifts of the past 10 years, explicitly acknowledged in the Liberal government’s 2005 International ...More