Four policy comments examine the capabilities Canada possesses, the dependencies that constrain it and the relationships through which it can build room to act.
Analysis of Canadian strategy, defence, international partnerships and the conversion of national assets into public value.
Policy comments
Canada’s new national security strategy connects defence, resilience and strategic autonomy. The test is whether its military and civilian commitments become an integrated system.
Canada cannot escape geography or its alliance with the United States. It can reduce the number of vital choices for which it has no credible alternative.
Canada’s wider partnerships are advancing through technology, minerals and minilateral cooperation, but diplomatic openings will remain thin without infrastructure and follow-through at home.
Canada possesses a broad base of resources, geography, institutions and knowledge, but its recurring strategic weakness is the ability to convert those assets into timely leverage.