Making Canada’s Role in NATO More Effective /

As the American world-burden becomes more onerous and the US relationship with NATO more tenuous, and as Europe itself teeters on the edge of deep insecurity and instability, the security and defence choices Canada will make matter not just to the people of Canada but to citizens across the Euro-Atlantic community. [...] The Canada First Defence Strategy (CFDS), first released in 2008, envisions three major roles for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF): sufficient capabilities to meet the security challenges facing Canadian citizens and Canadian territory; cooperation with the United States in pursuit of shared defence and civil objectives; and the fulfilment of Canada’s multilateral objectives through the United Nati [...] The strategic aim of the mission will be simple: to demonstrate to Americans and Canadians alike that Britain is a strategic power, values the transatlantic strategic relationship, and through NATO is invested in North American security and defence as much as North Americans are invested in European security and defence. [...] A century on from when Canadian forces played a pivotal role in the freedom of Europe, then the epicentre of 20th century ‘globalization,’ Canada must prepare for an equally strategic and pivotal role in stabilizing and securing the world of the 21st century. [...] The CFDS states that the Canadian Armed Forces must defend Canadians and Canadian sovereignty, contribute to the defence of North America with the United States, and contribute to international peace and security.