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61. 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

62. 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

63. The Future of NATO

Author:
Whitney Shepardson
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
If the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) did not exist today, the United States would not seek to create it. In 1949, it made sense in the face of a potential Soviet invasion to forge a bond in the North Atlantic area among the United States, Canada, and the west European states. Today, if the United States were starting from scratch in a world of transnational threats, the debate would be over whether to follow liberal and neoconservative calls for an alliance of democracies without regard to geography or to develop a great power concert envisioned by the realists to uphold the current order.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, NATO, International Cooperation, International Organization, and International Security
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, Canada, and Soviet Union

64. 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

65. Juggling the New Triad--Energy, Environment and Security: A Case Study of the Canadian Oil Sands

Author:
Hendrik Spruyt
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Peace and Security Studies
Abstract:
The desire to acquire reliable and cheap sources of energy has long been linked to security objectives. When the British fleet transferred from coal to oil, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill saw to it that the British government acquired a controlling interest in the Anglo-Persian oil company (the forerunner of today's BP). In more recent years President Nixon argued for energy independence in the face of the Arab oil embargo and skyrocketing oil prices that increased twenty fold in less than a decade. And if the U.S. Department of Defense today were considered as an independent energy consumer similar to sovereign states it would outrank more than 100 countries, including such states as Sweden. Among the great powers, China in particular has linked geostrategic calculations with acquiring secure and affordable energy sources. Acquiring such sources is thus for most states a desirable objective which enhances a state's autonomy and security. Similarly, further development of such supplies is expected to correlate with enhanced security. Both objectives, however, stand in uneasy tension with new environmental concerns. Pending dramatic advances in renewable energy production, fossil fuels, such as oil and natural gas, remain key sources of energy. Indeed, in the United States 95% of the energy used in the transportation sector derives from oil. Consequently, the desire to become more energy independent or acquire reliable supplies of such energy will for the foreseeable future lead to the continued use and even further exploitation of fossil fuels. Yet, the consumption and production of fossil fuels has been one of the key sources of greenhouse gases.And if, environmental degradation in turn leads to conflict, as, for example, the work of Homer Dixon has suggested, then environmental concerns must also enter into the agenda that is usually reserved for traditional security calculations (Homer Dixon 1999).
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Environment
Political Geography:
United States, Canada, Arabia, Sweden, and Persia

66. The Canadian Oil Sands: Energy Security vs. Climate Change

Author:
Michael A. Levi
Publication Date:
05-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Half a decade of high and volatile oil prices alongside increasingly dire warnings of climatic disaster have pushed energy security and climate change steadily up the U.S. policy agenda. Rhetoric in Washington has emphasized opportunities to deal with both challenges at once. But energy security and climate change do not always align: many important decisions in areas including unconventional oil, biofuels, natural gas, coal, and nuclear power will involve complex trade-offs and force policymakers to carefully navigate the two goals. Ongoing and heated debates in the United States and Canada over the future of the Canadian oil sands—touted at once as an energy security godsend and a climate change disaster—highlight that tension and emphasize the need to intelligently address it.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Oil
Political Geography:
United States, Washington, and Canada

67. Space Weaponization and Canada-U.S. Relations: Lessons from Australia

Author:
Steve Buchta
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Public and International Affairs (JPIA)
Institution:
School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Princeton University
Abstract:
Since the end of World War II, Canadian security policy has maintained a highly adaptive quality. New circumstances and emerging threats have continually challenged the evolutionary capacity of the Canadian military. The repeated success of Canada's defense can be attributed to a sound capacity to anticipate security needs, generate appropriate approaches to combat and foster strategic partnerships with close allies. Now more than ever Canada must modernize its security policy. Major players in global politics have largely finished reshaping the post-Cold War geo-strategic environment. Most notably, the United States has taken an assertive role in the fight against terrorism. In this stasis of new global order, Canada has aligned itself with NATO members to combat the Taliban in Afghanistan and has been committed to implementing the Canada-U.S. 2001 Smart Border Declaration. Clearly, Canada has demonstrated a sovereign interest in building closer security relations with the United States.
Topic:
Security, NATO, Climate Change, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Canada, Taliban, and Australia

68. Editorial

Author:
James F. Keeley and John R. Ferris
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Welcome to the Winter 2008 edition of the Journal of Military and Strategic Studies (JMSS). 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:
Security, Politics, and War
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Canada

69. Conceived in Law: The Legal Foundations of Resolution 242

Author:
Michael Lynk
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Palestine Studies
Institution:
Institute for Palestine Studies
Abstract:
UN Security Council Resolution 242 endorsed the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war" and called for "withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied" in the June 1967 war. Since then, a debate has raged over whether these provisions call for a complete Israeli withdrawal, a minor revision of borders, or license for Israel to retain sovereignty over some of the conquered lands. This article argues that the resolution must be read through the lens of international law. A principled legal interpretation clarifies 242's ambiguities on withdrawal and re-establishes the importance of universal rights to a just and durable peace in the Middle East.
Topic:
Security and Law
Political Geography:
Middle East, Canada, and Israel

70. Shaping Commitment: Resolving Canada's Strategy Gap in Afghanistan and Beyond

Author:
Craig Hilton
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Abstract:
Release of Canada's first-ever National Security Policy (NSP) in 2004, followed by the International (Foreign) Policy Statement and Defence Policy Review in 2005, has publicly articulated Canada's principal security interests for the post-September 11, 2001 (9/11), world. Nevertheless, the realities of Canada's present engagement in Afghanistan have highlighted a gap between stated national security and foreign policy goals on one hand, and the Canadian military, diplomatic, and development effort in theater, on the other. National interests and values, articulated within the NSP and the International Policy Statement, are insufficient to frame the context for such a complex endeavor. Only a clearly defined strategy based upon rigorous analysis of ends, ways, and means and assessment of risk can enable informed national and political debate, provide the required guidance for campaign planning among government departments, and determine Canada's preferred stake in the wider international arena, including the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). Recommendations are provided with respect to resolving Canada's strategy gap in both the immediate and longer term.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Canada