Canada and conflict: A hard-hitting look at Canadian security post-9/11, from the Afghanistan war to US relations and Arctic sovereignty by Patrick James

Abstract

Patrick James Canada and conflict: A hard-hitting look at Canadian security post-9/11, from Afghanistan war to US relations and Arctic sovereignty Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2012. I56pp, $16.95 (paper) ISBN 978-0-19543220-6Did 10 years following 9/11 do more to shape Canada's security policy than any previous decade in country's history? And has there been a fundamental transformation of Canadian security policy in that time? To argue yes, as Patrick James does, is a bold move (118). Even if questions remain for some readers, this short volume could serve as a jumping-off point for compelling discussions in right seminar at senior undergraduate or junior graduate level.Despite broad title, Canada and Conflict is centred on five specific issues of Canadian security policy (narrowly defined), asking how each changed as a result of 9/11 Al-Qaeda attacks on US and war in Afghanistan that followed. Analyzed through lens of Canada-US relations, topics are a mix of continental and global issues: border management, Arctic, ballistic missile defence (BMD), and international interventions in Iraq and Libya. In each case, James accounts for policy decisions in terms of four forces: realism, liberalism, the world of ideas, and domestic politics. An empiricist, James concludes that a different mix of factors is determining for each issue. Nevertheless, he sticks to his thesis that Canadian security policy in decade after 9/11 has been fundamentally different from before, and presents his arguments in this light.As a teaching tool, Canada and Conflict is a work of synthesis, based on existing, predominantly Canadian, scholarship and memoirs. Before getting to Canada- US issues, James spends chapters 2-4 reviewing war in Afghanistan from a Canadian perspective. Some of this material is narrative, and at times argument recedes. James' claim, though, at book's halfway point, is that kinetic war in Afghanistan was an influential force that moved Canadian security policy away from a pre-9/11 focus exclusively on peacekeeping and human security, and back to a more balanced position where realist national security considerations are again equally important (64). The author is aware that development assistance agenda came to define Canada's purpose as war went on, with Afghan security needs in a supporting role, but his primary point is simply that Afghanistan reopened within at least some Canadians an acceptance of proactive forceful engagement as a means to advance national interests.James introduces and presents his five Canada-US cases in chapters 5 and 6. Despite book's brevity (seven chapters in 137 pages) and avowed selective focus, a few extraneous points make their way in, such as explanatory material about United Empire Loyalists after War of 1812 (68), and about how Colonel Gadhafi came to power in 1969 (71). James' basic assessment is that Canada-US relations during twentieth century were largely driven by liberal cooperation, with legacy realist forces emerging where interests actually diverged (the Arctic) and Canadian domestic politics intervening on sensitive issues like BMD (85). James recounts political theatre over BMD in Chretien and Martin eras, albeit without delving too deeply into BMD's technical merits as a security policy issue.The crux of Canada and Conflict is question of whether 9/11 transformed Canada's approach to each of issues dealt with in five cases. No one can doubt that 9/11 had a tremendous impact on Canada's security policy environment. James is on solid ground in pointing to urgent need to keep US border open and functioning post-9/11, and steps that had to be taken to achieve this, culminating in current bilateral Beyond Border initiative. One might note, though, that for Canada, this is above all an economic imperative, demonstrating that it is not easy to maintain a narrow focus on issues that are primarily about security, as James sets out to do (1). …