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1. The Origins of the Second US Civil War

Author:
Mark Southern
Publication Date:
02-2025
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
The paper, “The Origins of the Second U.S. Civil War”, provides a hypothetical assessment of what might follow a disputed 2024 American election, and outlines three factors that would facilitate a fall into civil violence in such a scenario. Donald Trump has expediated a deterioration of the American political environment, and has targeted a specific subset of American citizenry. This subset has a rich militaristic tradition, and this paper argues that they might be instrumental in the devolution of future US politics. The power of the American military establishment has greatly increased post-WWII, and this paper also argues that the increased institutional pull held by the armed forces might similarly contribute to the outbreak of civil violence.
Topic:
Civil War, Military, Risk Assessment, and Civil Violence
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

2. The LGBT Purge, its Demise, and the Aftermath: Retired Servicewomen Paving the Way

Author:
Charlotte Duval-Lantoine
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
In 1992, a court case lifted put an end to the persecution of 2SLGBTQI+ service members in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). To some researchers, the end of discriminatory policies translated into tolerance for and the welcoming of 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians in the rank of the military. However, scandals over sexual misconduct, gender-based violence, and homo- and transphobic incidents in the CAF is painting a drastically different picture. Instead of a history of burgeoning inclusion and diversity, the end of what became known as the LGBT Purge led to different types of violence and struggles for 2SLGBTQI+ members. This article provides a chronology of the last years of the LGBT Purge in the military and the aftermath of Douglas v. the Canadian Armed Forces. It recounts an history of an institution that did not live up to its duty of care obligations because of members’ sexual orientation and gender identity. But this piece also underlines the role that women, both serving and retired, in bringing the issues to light and drive change in the military.
Topic:
Armed Forces, Women, LGBT+, Indigenous, and Military
Political Geography:
Canada and North America

3. Servicewomen as Whistleblowers: Canadian Servicewomen and the Revelations of Military Sexual Violence

Author:
Claire Cookson-Hills
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
This article documents the history of revelations of sexual misconduct within the military, and places that history in the paradoxical context of the responses of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and the Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC). Starting in 1998 with the Maclean’s reporting, servicewomen have publicly shared their personal experiences of military sexual trauma. The history of these revelations has been written by journalists in conversation with servicewomen. Journalists have been supportive and ham-handed advocates of justice for survivors of military sexual violence. By contrast, both CAF and VAC have been reactionary in their responses to military sexual violence. Such focus on sexual violence stands in contrast to how servicewomen place the violence in the wider context of their career. After 2015, servicewomen have taken steps to advocate, organize, write their own stories publicly, and thereby put pressure on the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs to change.
Topic:
Armed Forces, Women, Sexual Violence, Whistle Blowing, and Military
Political Geography:
Canada and North America

4. Military Service and Serving the Community: How the Second World War Propelled Activism Forward for Indigenous and Native American Servicewomen

Author:
Isabella Sun
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
The Native Canadian Centre of Toronto (NCCT), originally named the Native American Indian Club of Toronto, was founded in 1950 by community volunteers – the majority of whom were Indigenous women.1 The club was founded to build a network and create an inclusive social space through shared culture, art, and language in Toronto. Indigenous women-led organizations such as the NCCT were not uncommon to find after the Second World War, since the wartime era empowered many Indigenous women to find and create their place in society. Today, the NCCT continues to prioritize Indigenous community building through promoting traditional knowledge and culture through language courses, art classes, and other events. Although this centre is unrelated to the war effort, it can be considered a by-product of Indigenous empowerment after the Second World War. Whether Indigenous women voluntarily enlisted or not, the war changed the daily realities of these many women. This article will explore similar themes of Indigenous servicewomen’s experiences throughout the Second World War and afterwards in Canada, and compare it with those of Native American servicewomen in the United States. It will highlight how their service affected post-war actions and activism for Indigenous rights in the latter twentieth century.
Topic:
Women, Indigenous, Activism, and Military
Political Geography:
Canada and North America

5. The Past, Present and Future of Canadian Military Air Power

Author:
John Ferris and Brad Gladman
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
In its centenary year, it is important for Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) leadership, as well as the academic community and the public, to look back critically over its hundred years with a view to understanding the factors driving the successes, failures, and state of the RCAF. This was the aim of the Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) Centre for Operational Research and Analysis (CORA) workshop with the University of Calgary’s Centre for Military, Security, and Strategic Studies in September 2023. The workshop featured keynote addresses from Professor David Bercuson and Lieutenant-General (ret’d) Al Meinzinger and brought together leading experts on air power. This collection brings together high-quality material on a topic that has not received due attention – RCAF history and what that means for the future. It also seeks to demonstrate the value of partnerships between the academic community and the civilian and military parts of the RCAF to the benefit of both. It hopefully will encourage the RCAF to be more mindful of its history and to use that history to shape discussions about the future and an appropriate role for the RCAF moving forward.
Topic:
Armed Forces, Air Force, and Military
Political Geography:
Canada and North America

6. Canada and Indo-Pacific cooperation: the Quadrilateral Military Dialogue (Quad)

Author:
Gavin Cameron
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Canada has traditionally pursued a policy of limited formal engagement within the Indo-Pacific region, preferring to focus on economics rather than security, and to prioritise other regions and pre-existing commitments. As the Indo-Pacific has become a region of increasing importance to Canada, this approach has become decreasingly viable, and Canada announced a new Indo-Pacific Strategy in late 2022. The Strategy has not alleviated concerns about Canada’s full participation in the formal regional institutions. This paper explores the potential for Canada to participate in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad), an arrangement between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. Such participation would enable Canada to balance its increased interest in the region with a less formal or extensive institutional commitment.
Topic:
Security, International Cooperation, Dialogue, and Military
Political Geography:
Canada, North America, and Indo-Pacific

7. Non-State-Actors and the Subterranean Dimension

Author:
Eran Zohar
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
This study explores the use of the subterranean dimension (tunnels, bunkers, shelters) by non-state-actors across time and place. The study reveals that from antiquity rebel groups have exploited below-ground structures, artificial and manmade, to preserve their force and to attack superior enemies. The decision of rebellious NSAs to exploit the subterranean dimension has been the result of their physical and social environment, their operational approach and ability to execute it, accessible technology, relationships with the civilian population, impact of culture and myths, and counter measures by the states. Control over territory allows present NSAs to construct elaborate subterranean facilities, but new uncovering technologies introduced by Israel are endangering the NSAs’ last secure channel.
Topic:
Non State Actors, Armed Forces, Subterranean, and Military
Political Geography:
Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

8. Military Culture 2.0: The Female Cadet’s Approach, Feminine Competencies, and Pan-Critical Feminism - Drawing examples from American and Norwegian Special Forces

Author:
Mariah Loukou
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Military values of honour, courage and loyalty are synonymous to male soldiers due to the association of the military with the alpha-male narrative. However, the everchanging nature of war urges for a new approach. One that is identified with female cadets and feminine competencies. The article explores examples from the U.S. and Norway to show practically how military training and education can benefit from the female soldiers’ approach. To back this argument, the author, explores feminist institutionalism and body politics. The author then suggests a new theoretical tool, pan-critical feminism, as the means to incorporate female values and competencies to represent the changing cohort of military institutions. The article finally discusses military culture through the lens of organisational culture to show that there is space for testing this idea, even though social perceptions create barriers to its implementation.
Topic:
Culture, Armed Forces, Feminism, and Military
Political Geography:
Europe, Norway, North America, and United States of America

9. Military Officers and the Design Gaze

Author:
Therese Heltberg
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
This paper investigates how design thinking and its appurtenant practices can be integrated into leadership practices in various military contexts. It addresses the findings of a qualitative research study that followed six Danish Defence officers as they worked. The paper investigates how these officers translate and enact design thinking amid efforts to handle specific, complex problems faced in their actual work-life, including the opportunities and barriers that they meet. The paper suggests the concept of a “design gaze” to understand and illuminate how design transforms military officers’ approaches and understandings of specific complex problems as well as their interactions with stakeholders and participants. At the institutional level, the paper points to three organisational problems that were rendered visible through the application of a design approach: “invisible” problems, “homeless” problems, and “transversal” problems. Finally, the paper discusses implications for organisational learning.
Topic:
Armed Forces, Leadership, and Military
Political Geography:
Europe and Denmark

10. Alone and Unafraid: Advisors and Risk Across the Spectrum of Conflict

Author:
Michael Anderson
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Military and Strategic Studies
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
The current structure and employment of the United States Army advisory formations is hindered by risk aversion and lacking organic organizational structure. The result negatively affects the readiness of other units, impacting training and use while failing to maximize their full contributions to defense strategies. Army combat brigade readiness remains negatively impacted by fulfilling out-of-design advisory missions even after the creation of advisory-specific formations and providing support to deployed Security Force Assistance Brigades. In an era of growing great power competition, the maximizing of building and holding readiness is paramount. The question of how to resolve the issue is encapsulated in a discussion of risk-to-force and risk-to-mission. Three solutions include accepting greater risk by not providing additional force protection and emphasizing reliance on partner force support and relationships; creating additional force structure designed to support advisory missions; or adding identified additional force structure to the advisor organizations addressing the risks.
Topic:
Armed Forces, Employment, Military, and Military Structure
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America