CIAO DATE: 10/2011
Volume: 13, Issue: 3
Spring 2011
Endings Of Eras (PDF)
James Keeley
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. Recently, the government of Canada has made known its intention to institute major funding changes in its Security and Defence Forum program. These both cut support funding very substantially and shift the model of the program from providing base funding for various centres around the country. Clearly, some SDF Centres will weather this change better than others.
Canada and 9/11: Ten Years On - Editorial Note (PDF)
Gavin Cameron
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.
The Canadian Intelligence Community After 9/11 (PDF)
Greg Fyffe
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.1
"In Considerable Doubt"? Canada and the Future of NATO (PDF)
David G. Haglund
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.
Military Responses and Capabilities in Canada's Domestic Context Post 9/11 (PDF)
Chris Madsen
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.1 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.
Terrorism in Canada (PDF)
Michael Zekulin
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.
Canada's Warlord: Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden's Leadership during the Great War (PDF)
Dr. Tim Cook
“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.”1 Boring Canadians to death seems more than a little harsh, but it would be fair to write that his service to country has never caught the imagination of Canadians in the same way that Sir John A. Macdonald or Sir Wilfrid Laurier have become political icons. Moreover, his reputation has slipped steadily from the war years. In a 1926 public opinion poll in MacLean’s magazine, Borden was one of Canada’s most popular and respected living Canadians, although this must be qualified that the voting was likely carried out by English Canadians.2
Facing the Future: Canada's Environmental Security Challenges in the 21st Century (PDF)
Isaac Caverhill-Godkewitsch
In 2007 the McClure strait in the Canadian Arctic, as visible from satellite photography, was free of ice for the first time.1 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?
A Race to the Top: Oil & Gas Exploration in the Canadian Arctic (PDF)
Michael Kuzik
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. 1 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.
Philip Martin
In the post Cold War era, the international community has found cause to intervene in extremely volatile environments in order to restore normalcy and order. These situations are characterized by failed states, civil wars, and ethnic extremism. When doing so, the principles of liberal democracy and inclusive governments are frequently invoked as necessary components of the conflict-to-peace transition. Indeed, the idea that elected governments must accompany the broader objectives of stabilization and statebuilding underpins much of what peacebuilders actually do.1
Notes from the Field: Editor's Note (PDF)
This issue features an unusual set of Notes From the Field. These consist of the email record sent by a Canadian member of the crew of the Bob Barker, one of the Sea Shepard vessels which worked against the Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic Ocean several months ago. His account is as interesting as the events which they narrate.
Sailing with the Sea Shepherds (PDF)
Teale Phelps Bondaroff
I am a Commonwealth Scholar and PhD researcher at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS). My PhD research in general looks at the strategies of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in international affairs, and specifically examines the strategy of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (Sea Shepherd). As part of my research into the strategy of Sea Shepherd, I undertook fieldwork where I engaged in participant observation on board the Sea Shepherd vessel the Bob Barker as it took part in ‘Operation No Compromise,’ from December 2, 2010 to March 6, 2011. The Bob Barker spent 95 days at sea, and was at the heart of an action-packed campaign, Sea Shepherd’s seventh campaign against Japanese Antarctic whaling and its most successful campaign to date.
Robert Mandel. Dark Logic: Transnational Criminal Tactics and Global Security. (PDF)
Hadleigh McAlister
The rapid collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 came as a great shock to the world. The cessation of hostilities, which had never been formally declared, between the United States and the USSR was a bittersweet moment in history. The demise of communism did not usher in an era of peace but rather one of terror. Amid the chaos of the 1990s, a host of transnational threats such as terrorism and organized crime thrived. Driven by fanatical religious devotion and an unquenchable lust for profit, these unconventional foes have emerged as global threats in the post-Cold War era.
Molly Dunigan. Victory for Hire: Private Security Companies' Impact on Military Effectiveness (PDF)
Amara Hunt
The topic of private security has become an increasingly popular subject in the context of international relations. Involvement of private security companies (PSCs) in contemporary military operations including Iraq and Afghanistan has often produced overtly negative public sentiment towards such actors. Nefarious terms including war profiteer, and the more commonly used mercenary, illustrate the stance of popular literature regarding PSCs.