How should we define the priorities of the Canadian Forces? Steve Saideman raises this question in his latest post. In my view, the CF should have two overriding missions: first, the protection of Canada’s coastlines and airspace (along with assistance to civil authorities in emergencies); and second, the ability to contribute contingents of highly cap… Read More
Author Archives: Roland Paris
Foreign Policy Is Not Just Defence
I welcome the opportunity to kick off this series on the future of the Canadian Forces (CF), not least because the series invites a broader discussion of the role of the military and the Department of National Defence (DND) in Canadian foreign policy. Too often, media coverage and expert debates about the military end up focusing on its capabilities: the tec… Read More
Tags: Canadian defence policy, Canadian foreign policy, Roland Paris
R2P Is Not a License for Military Recklessness
In the New York Times last week, Tufts University’s Alex de Waal penned an op-ed that scathingly criticized the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine and a group of people he calls “idealists.” In the article, he identified only two members of this group: Gareth Evans (a former Australian foreign minister who co-chaired the commission that first propo… Read More
Tags: Alex de Waal, Gareth Evans, humanitarian intervention, Responsibility to Protect, Roland Paris, Samantha Power, Syria
The Cockeyed Case for Preemptive War on Iran
I was invited to talk about fragile states at the annual meeting of the Conference of Defence Associations in Ottawa on Thursday. As it turned out, however, I spent most of my time speaking about Iran. I couldn’t help myself. I arrived at the conference an hour before my panel was to begin and settled into a chair with a cup of coffee to watch the… Read More
Tags: Conference of Defence Associations, Iran, Israel, Middle East, nuclear proliferation, Roland Paris
The New Canada: Fomenting Fear at Home and Abroad
Why base policy on facts and evidence when you can exploit fear instead? It doesn’t take a psychologist to know that fear is a much more powerful motivator than boring old rational argument. Political scientists have long studied the use of fear-based appeals as techniques that “entrepreneurial” politicians may use to mobilize support. The Harper govern… Read More
Tags: Canadian foreign policy, Iran, Israel, John Baird, Roland Paris, Stephen Harper, United States, Vic Toews
Stephen Harper’s Worrying Words on Iran
Is Prime Minister Stephen Harper preparing the Canadian public for a possible conflict with Iran? In two recent interviews (here and here), he has “raised the alarm” about the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran, which he views as the “world’s most serious threat to international peace.” Mr. Harper is right to be concerned about the possibility of Tehran acqu… Read More
Tags: Canadian foreign policy, deterrence, George W. Bush, Hamas, Hezbollah, international security, Iran, nuclear weapons, Roland Paris, Stephen Harper
Libya Intervention of 2011: A Victory With Asterisks
This article first appeared in the Winter 2011 issue of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute Quarterly Review. The grotesque display of Muammar Qaddafi’s bloodied corpse in Sirte, Libya, where he was captured and killed, and later in a Misrata meat locker, did little to build confidence in the commitment of Libya’s rebels to due process and t… Read More
Tags: David Cameron, LIbya, NATO, Nicolas Sarkozy, Responsibility to Protect, Roland Paris, UN Security Council, United Nations
The Total Surveillance Society Approaches
This commentary appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on December 22, 2011. We will soon reach the point where governments will have the capacity, should they wish it, to monitor, record, and permanently archive the communications and activities of their citizens from birth to death. That’s the sobering message of a new Brookings Institution report by Jo… Read More
Tags: civil liberties, national security, privacy, Roland Paris, surveillance
Canada-U.S. Perimeter Plan: From Aspiration to Action?
Yesterday, Canada and the United States announced a security and economic cooperation plan similar in style and substance to the 2005 Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). It’s worth recalling, therefore, that the SPP died of neglect shortly after it was launched. Unless political champions at the highest levels in both countries… Read More
Tags: Barack Obama, Canada-US relations, Canadian foreign policy, international trade, North America, Roland Paris, Stephen Harper, U.S. foreign policy
A Pivotal Moment? U.S. Policy Towards Asia
This post first appeared on the CIC’s Roundtable blog at opencanada.org. Is the United States “pivoting” its foreign policy towards the Asia-Pacific region, as prominent Obama administration officials, news reports, and commentators have claimed? Daniel Drezner, a Fletcher School professor and Foreign Policy blogger, isn’t convinced. For one thin… Read More
Tags: Asia, Barack Obama, China, Daniel Drezner, drones, Hillary Clinton, Philippines, Roland Paris, U.S. foreign policy, Vietnam
