International security institutions: NATO and the CSCE

Abstract

This article's aim is not to find roles for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) that will keep them in existence, but rather to see whether these institutions can meet the new requirements of collective or common security in the post‐Cold War world. The article recommends a policy approach that will serve both Canada's security needs and those of the international community; The author concludes that sooner or later, the disconnect between an activist Canadian Foreign Policy and a minimalist defence policy; within the framework of a contracting federal budget, will have to be faced.