November 18th, 2010
The New START agreement between the US and Russia may have only two signatories, but in truth it is a global Treaty that is at the core of the struggle to stop the uncontrollable spread of nuclear weapons. Why then is the rest of the world, including Canada, so reticent to press the American Senate […]
Read MoreNovember 18th, 2010
If Canada’s newly announced post-2011 military mission in Afghanistan is to amount to more than training Afghan forces for perpetual war, it needs to be Add the right supplement to enhance the nitric production in the blood vessels and blood flow into the levitra sales online supplementprofessors.com tissues, the organ gets denser and gains volume. […]
Read MoreNovember 12th, 2010
In an enviable display of political maturity, Afghans express overwhelming support for negotiations with insurgent groups, even as public sympathy for the insurgents and their aims and methods is in significant decline. This is one conclusion to be drawn from the 2010 survey of Afghans conducted by The Asia Foundation.[1] The survey addresses, as it […]
Read MoreNovember 6th, 2010
In his post-election press conference, President Barak Obama acknowledged – in the context of recalling health care reform – that getting things done in Washington can be “an ugly mess when it comes to process.” True to form, the effort to get the new US-Russia nuclear arms deal through the US Senate has accumulated a […]
Read MoreNovember 1st, 2010
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is said to be planning to set out his Government’s plans for the post-2011 Afghanistan Mission in advance of the Summit Meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government in Lisbon on 19-20 November 2010.[i] The context for setting future priorities for Canada’s Afghan mission is not only Canada’s impending military […]
Read MoreOctober 26th, 2010
“I told you so” is an unbecoming political posture, but NDP leader Jack Layton could certainly be forgiven such thoughts when the subject turns to negotiating with the Taliban. Prime Minister Harper and his Government once thought it clever to ridicule Mr. Layton’s early call for talks. He didn’t understand the real world they said […]
Read MoreOctober 23rd, 2010
The Globe and Mail’s feature on the role and make-up of Canada’s post-Afghanistan military[i] is premised largely on the claim that Canada’s Afghan-tested army is what the world now needs more of. The following, submitted to the Globe as a letter to the editor, offers a brief counterpoint. It is true that “security needs have […]
Read MoreOctober 20th, 2010
While global military spending seemed recession proof as it continued its upward climb in 2009 (see previous post), fiscal reality has finally closed in on the UK in 2010 – and the Ministry of Defence will not escape the consequences. Military spending is to be cut by 8 per cent (well short of the average of a […]
Read MoreOctober 19th, 2010
It seems the military is one economic sector that is pretty much recession proof. While global government spending generally fell in 2009 in the wake of the great recession, and while budgetary deficits soared, there was little interruption to the steady post 9-11 growth in global military spending. Global military spending reached $1.5 trillion in […]
Read MoreOctober 14th, 2010
That Canada needs a credible air defence capability is not in dispute; the challenge is to balance that with the other urgent needs on a rather long list. Canada needs a fleet of fast, long-range aircraft with a capacity to respond effectively to unidentified and unauthorized intrusions into Canadian airspace. That much seems pretty clear […]
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