CIAO DATE: 11/2012
Volume: 14, Issue: 2
2012
It is Time to Start Talking about Mitt: Mitt Romney and the Issue of Missile Defence (PDF)
Matt Trudgen
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.
The Terrorist Threat in North-West Africa: Part One (PDF)
Jeff Gilmour
After recently returning from the Republic of Mali in West Africa, it became clear that a security risk now exists in the Sahel region of this vast region. The Sahel is an arid belt of land on the Sahara Desert’s southern fringe that spans Africa from Senegal to the west, to parts of Ethiopia in the east. Its remoteness lends itself to the establishment of either fixed or temporary bases used by terrorist groups for the purposes of training, logistics or command and control functions.
The Security Dilemma in Northeast Mali: Part Two (PDF)
Jeff Gilmour
Prior to last March, Mali was deemed to be by most Western countries as one of the most democratic, stable and peaceful nations in Western Africa. The Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure had only another month of office before he stepped down and elections were to be held throughout the country.
An Analysis of Sexual Assault in the U.S. Military, 2004-2009 (PDF)
Adam Lankford
From 2004 to 2009, U.S. military reports of sexual assault increased by 90%. Whether this reflects a real increase in sexual assaults, or just an increase in reporting, the Department of Defense has committed to reducing the prevalence of these brutal crimes. In order to better understand the problem of sexual assault and how it can be addressed, it is important to put this criminal behavior in its proper context. Previous research has identified several key reasons why military personnel are more likely to commit sexual assault during periods of war than they are in peacetime, including heightened (1) desires for power, (2) desires for sexual fulfillment, and (3) beliefs that there will be no consequences. This paper reviews this literature and presents initial evidence that these same factors may be contributing to the U.S. military’s current problem with sexual assault. Preliminary findings suggest that in the post 9/11 world, service members have increasingly struggled with compensatory desires for power, sexual frustrations abroad, and overly permissive environments where swift and serious punishments for bad behavior are far too rare.
The Perception of the Legitmation of Violence: African Example (PDF)
Dickson Ogbonnaya Igwe
Violence in Africa for instance is pathological. Some forms of violence, particularly those perpetrated by the law enforcement agents of the state operate as an effective mechanism for order maintenance and stability. Some other forms of violence are usually in opposition to stability and calls for change. While the former is legitimate the letter is illegitimate. Violence plays an indispensable role in power acquisition and maintenance. Those who have the freedom which derives from the right to use legitimated violence are in a much better position to acquire or maintain power than are persons lacking this freedom to challenge it successfully. Any change which extends or restricts the boundaries of legitimated violence is likely to affect directly the distribution of power, thereby affecting the nature of social relations within and between groups. This relationship between power and violence is one major reason why it is important to understand the processes of legitimation and de-legitimation of violence. Legitimation and de-legitimation of violence having significant political and social consequences does not occur without advocates, justifications platform, and alteration of public reactions and conceptions. Using conflict and liberal perspectives to evaluate the occurrence of violence in social relation, this paper discusses peasantry/state power relations and power change in African context and the place of violence therein. It examined the quest to violently challenge the state authority and also the continuous push for order/stability and continuity by the state. Also, the paper attempts resolution to the contradictions arising from the use of violence either to ensure stability or change. Key words: Violence, Legitimation, De-legitimation, Law enforcement, Peasantry, State, Power relation.
Nobody Knows Anything: Canada's Cyber Insecurities (PDF)
John Ferris, Joerg Denziner
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.
Wild, Unsubstantiated Predictions: The Future of Computer and Network Security (PDF)
John Aycock
To predict the future is to join the ranks of august company indeed: the Oracle of Delphi, John the Baptist, Shakespeare’s Witches. It is also to entertain the very real possibility of being grievously, staggeringly wrong, although King Duncan may beg to differ. Undertaking such a task in a rapidly-changing area like computing technology is surely the epitome of foolishness, yet predicting the future in this area is precisely what this paper sets out to do. As this is a matter of sheer -- albeit somewhat informed -- speculation on my part, I will dispense with the traditional “academic we” throughout.
The Government of Canada and Cyber Security: Security Begins at Home (PDF)
John Adams
Computers and information systems have become a fundamental part of Canadian life. Life, commerce and statecraft have gone digital. The associated information technology underpins nearly all aspects of today’s society. They enable much of our commercial and industrial activity, support our military and national security operations and are essential to everyday social activities.
Shattered Boundaries: Whither the Cyber Future (PDF)
Harvey Rishikof, Bernard Horowitz
Under strain exerted by the internet boom of the early 2000’s, the legal framework of boundaries applied to commerce, communications, law enforcement and even some aspects of armed conflict began to groan and fracture. Obsolescence was temporarily postponed by buttressing; one key reform of the USA PATRIOT Act was that it characterized internet service companies as communications providers. Police access to voicemail was directed through wiretap warrants rather than physical searches. Old communications-related statutes were adapted and “duct-taped.” Over the past couple of years, however, these fractures have grown to such magnitude that the old framework may no longer be adjusted to keep pace; it finally may be shattering.
State of the Art: Attackers and Targets in Cyberspace (PDF)
John Sheldon
The remit of this article is broad, and so the themes explored here are necessarily broad-brush and are viewed from a strategic and policy perspective. The subject under consideration is that of cyber threats – what is it that we confront, and what dangers do they plausibly pose? Anyone even remotely familiar with the topic will know that cyber threats regularly receive extensive media coverage of varying quality, and are increasingly on the agenda of senior policy makers, military commanders, chief executive officers, and political leaders. More recently, cyber threats are becoming more well-known to members of the general public, whose lives are increasingly mediated through and dependent upon cyberspace in some form or another. The specter of criminality, such as theft of financial resources and personal identifying information, stalking, and the unwitting suborning of personal property (computers harnessed by botnets) for other criminal enterprises, is finally receiving the attention it deserves.
Distributed Security as Cyber Strategy: Outlining a Comprehensive Approach for Canada in Cyberspace (PDF)
Ron Deibert
Cyberspace has matured to become the information and communication ecosystem for the entire planet. Security of cyberspace has now become an urgent priority. Security is inherently political; not all actors share the same perspectives in terms of what is, or should be, the object of security and/or what constitutes a “threat.” These perspectives vary not only within countries, but also across the world. These different outlooks reflect deep divisions in the world today between democratic and authoritarian regimes. Cyberspace has become an object of intense contestation, not only between these different systems of rule, but between a multitude of private sector and civil society actors who all depend on and use the domain, and have an interest in shaping it to their strategic advantage. Canada recently issued a strategy for cyber security, but it was thin on both commitments and specifics and left many issues unaddressed. This paper begins by exploring the landscape of cyber security on a global level to give a “bird’s eye” view of the scope of the issues in global cyberspace security and governance. The second part of the paper lays out some recommendations for a comprehensive approach to Canadian cyber security following a “distributed security” model that is inspired and derived from liberal- democratic and traditional republican security traditions and thought.
A Middle Power on the World Stage: Canadian Grand Strategy in the Twentieth Century (PDF)
Michael S. Neiberg
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.
Rachael Bryson
In Military Adaptation in War: With Fear of Change Williamson Murray differentiates between innovation and adaptation. Innovation, the focus of a previous book (with Allan R. Millett, 1998), includes peacetime advancements and learning. In contrast, adaptation is comprised of wartime changes and battlefield lessons. Murray argues that militaries able to adapt to battle conditions have a higher probability of ending the conflict as the victor. He expands on this point, writing that the United States has demonstrated a lack of adaptability in recent conflicts, and therefore the purpose of this study is to glean lessons about adaptability that may be applied to the US military.
Bruce Stanley
James J. Schneider is Professor Emeritus of Military Theory formerly at the School of Advanced Military Studies, US Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Keith Hann
Millett, Allan R. and Williamson Murray, eds. Military Effectiveness, 3 volumes. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2010.