March 6th, 2009
Whatever the real point of Ottawa’s mini-tiff with Moscow last week, one can’t help but conclude that Ottawa will regularly be turning to the Russian Bear to help get Canadians bullish on a new fleet of fighter aircraft. The last time Canada went shopping for fighter aircraft it settled on the CF-18 from McDonald Douglas […]
Read MoreFebruary 24th, 2009
This being February, Canadians have once again been treated to the annual paean to the Avro Arrow. It is a memorial that leaves a question: Why has the Avro Jetliner never received the same attention? A CBC web report had some Canadians in “mourning” this week over the demise of the Avro Arrow fifty years […]
Read MoreFebruary 18th, 2009
While Afghanistan will certainly dominate the talk at the 60th Anniversary NATO Summit in April, leaders are also scheduled to launch a process to review the Alliance’s Strategic Concept, a key element of which is a controversial and outdated nuclear doctrine.[i] The Strategic Concept – the current version of which was adopted in 1999 – […]
Read MoreFebruary 16th, 2009
By testimony of the Department of National Defence (DND), Canada has taken significant care in the transfer of 2,500 C7 automatic rifles from the Canadian Forces to the Afghan National Army. At the same time, a new US study shows that the security system into which those rifles have now gone is seriously deficient in […]
Read MoreJanuary 12th, 2009
Obama has promised it, his Defense Secretary isn’t convinced, but now you can vote on it. At Change.org you can help construct a list of priorities for the new American Administration that includes US leadership to abolish nuclear weapons in the top 10 (the direct link is below). Last fall President-elect Barack Obama told the […]
Read MoreJanuary 9th, 2009
Some critics of Israel’s military action in Gaza charge that its extensive use of American-origin weapons violates US arms transfer laws. Whatever the merits of that particular charge, it is the type of issue that an arms trade treaty would regularly be called on to settle. The proposed arms trade treaty (ATT), on which negotiations […]
Read MoreJanuary 5th, 2009
The Obama Administration’s promise of early action to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is shaping up to become a direct challenge to the prominently declared views of his Defense Secretary. President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign position on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was unambiguous:[i] “I will work with the U.S. Senate to secure ratification […]
Read MoreJanuary 2nd, 2009
It has long been blindingly obvious that the only sure way to prevent the use of nuclear weapons is to eliminate them, but the politics of arms control has never really been drawn to the obvious – until now, that is. This year could be a turning point for nuclear disarmament. That sounds like the […]
Read MoreDecember 18th, 2008
Despite widespread complaints about the sorry state of Canadian military spending, Canadian contributions to international peace and security are more heavily weighted toward the military than they are in key European middle power countries. Given the UN Security Council’s recent attention to Article 26 of the UN Charter,[i] it is worth asking whether the world’s […]
Read MoreDecember 10th, 2008
The postings in this space continue the IGLOO Expert Blog, “Disarming Conflict,” which has appeared at http://www.igloo.org/disarmingconflict since September 2006. The current site is temporary while a new blog site is constructed at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (roughly by March 09). Disarming Conflict is focused on initiatives, policies, regulations, and security cooperation measures […]
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