2010 - 2011
Mission Statement
As a centre of national excellence, the mission of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies (CDSS) is to advance knowledge, understanding and debate in Canada on defence and security issues through an active research, teaching and outreach program. To meet this mission, the CDSS targets four primary communities – academia, government, the Canadian Forces and the general public – and employs a variety of mechanisms:
● an active, focused research agenda with the dissemination of research
findings through internal and external publications;
● a multi-disciplinary, collaborative approach to research with institutions in and outside of Canada;
● the provision of expert commentary on Canadian defence and security issues to Parliamentary committees and the media;
● the sponsorship of regular conferences, workshops and seminars;
● direct engagement with National Defence and the Canadian Forces, and with a variety of organizations concerned with national defence and international security issues;
● the exposure of students to defence and security issues through a dynamic university-level teaching and high school outreach programme;
● and support to a range of community activities that are germane to the Centre’s mission and its expertise
As detailed in this report, the Centre’s mission statement continues to guide all of its activities, adjusted as a function of available resources and circumstances. Arguably the most inter-disciplinary centre within the SDF community, its research fellows are drawn from Economics, English, History, Political Studies and Sociology working on defence and security issues, as well as retired government/Canadian Forces members. In total, this community produced 36 publications, attended 36 conference/workshops, sponsored 11 events, supervised 11 graduate students, taught 331 students in defence and security related courses, interacted with the CF and DND on fifteen occasions, provided more than 36 interviews to the media, was directly involved with 8 NGOS, and spoke to the public on 23 occasions. This level of contribution by a relatively small Centre with a core of 4 scholars is consistent with its level of activities throughout its history.
Over the previous four years, the Centre met all of its commitment as outlined in its five year plan, including its proposed Northern/Aboriginal Outreach program and the development of a graduate degree in conjunction with the Canadian Air Force establishment in Winnipeg. As part of the continuing outreach efforts of the Centre, including the high school program and the willingness of members of the Centre to meet any and all requests for speakers, the Northern/Aboriginal Outreach initiative was implemented. In keeping with its emphasis on outreach to schools, members of the Centre established contacts with several northern reserves, and spoke on eight occasions with student groups and school administrators, with the objective of establishing a foundation for expanding the Centre’s footprint in the North and amongst the aboriginal community. In addition, the Centre held discussions with the First Nations University on a range of outreach and exchange programs, including participation in the Prairie Defence and Security Consortium and the Annual Graduate Students Conference. While this relationship has been delayed due to the difficulties faced by the First Nations University, we expect the relationship to bear fruit in the forthcoming year.
Initiated in the summer of 2009, the Centre spearheaded the effort to establish a graduate degree for Air Force students in the Aerospace Systems Course at the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Studies. In conjunction with the Department of Political Studies, the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Management and the Faculty of Graduate Studies, the proposal to offer a Masters of Public Administration with a defence focus was successful. A MOU will be signed shortly to offer a pilot program this fall, with members of the Centre directly involved in developing and offering the courses for the degree. This will serve as the basis for a long term MOU to be completed by the end of the year, which will include the establishment of funded Defence Coordinator position with administrative support to be located within the Centre, working towards the development and implementation of not only the specific MPA degree for the ASC, but also towards expanding opportunities for Air Force personnel to obtain a range of degrees at the University of Manitoba.
With regard to research, the Centre proposed to concentrate its research activities into two areas, reflective of its core membership – aerospace defence and the Middle East. With regard to the former, the Centre sponsored the second workshop on the Future of Nuclear Strategy in conjunction with the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies (Dalhousie University) and the Canadian International Council. The publication of the results from this workshop will be released in the forthcoming year. Unfortunately, the planned 4th Biennial Aerospace Power Forum originally planned for November was put on hold due to a range of fiscal/contracting issues emanating from the Air Force and the Canadian Forces Aerospace Warfare Centre (CFAWC) entirely beyond the control of the Centre. Discussions with CFAWC over the year indicates their commitment to mounting the Forum this fall. In addition, the CDSS continued to be actively engaged with the Air Force and the broader aerospace community in examining aerospace defence and security issues.
The Middle East research stream remains active, although the multi-year project with the Harry S. Truman Institute has been completed. In particular, the two scholars actively engaged in this area of research have begun a major research study on the politics of victimhood in the Middle East conflicts, which will provide a new perspective on defence and security politics.
In addition to these research areas, members of the CDSS continued to undertake a range of research in other areas of defence and security studies. Of note, the Centre established contact with research institutes in the southern Caucuses area, focused upon Georgia and Azerbaijan, and participated in three conferences within the region, and is also in discussion with the Mauro Centre and the Global College to participate in studies on conflict within this region.
The Prairie Defence and Security Consortium 4th annual workshop was held on the topic of US International Security Policy in the Obama Administration, which included presentations from Dr. Alex Moens (Simon Fraser University) and Nigel Thalakada (DSTRATA) and the participation of scholars from the University of Saskatchewan, Regina, Winnipeg, and Lakehead, as well as members of the Centre, students and the public. A report of the findings of the workshop will be released shortly.
Unfortunately, the Annual Student Briefing Program to Ottawa was canceled for the first and only time due to fiscal constraints (see attached letter for details), but it will be mounted in the forthcoming year. Nonetheless, the Centre remain directly engaged in exposing students to Canadian defence and security issues, as evident in its continued long term support to the Graduate Students Conference on International Relations in its 26th year. In examining Manitoba as an International Actor, the conference looked directly at the defence and security element in Manitoba, exposing over 70 students to this overlooked and little understood element. In addition, the Centre exposed students to briefings from CF members on every occasion that arose through its close working relationship with the Public Affairs office located at the 1st Canadian Air Division.
On the curriculum front, the Centre established the first true inter-disciplinary course within the SDF community in cooperation with Film Studies – War and Film – which was delivered through two half courses and examined the evolution of warfare from the 18th century to the present, and included the screening and discussion of two Canadian films. The course exposed a large number of English/Film Studies students to defence and security issues, and will be offered this fall as well.
Regarding the other elements of the Centre’s five year plan, members of the Centre continued to respond to any and all requests from the media on a range of topics. Naturally, Centre activity is a function of the ebb and flow of media requests. Finally, the CDSS remain committed to engaging National Defence, the Canadian Forces and the public at large whenever the opportunity arises.
While much of planned activity of the Centre will continue to reflect the five year plan, there will be some deviation in response to emerging opportunities in other defence and security areas relative to existing resources. With regard to the former, significant resources will be devoted to delivering the Masters of Public Administration pilot degree for students of the Aerospace Systems Course (ASC) at the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Studies (CFSAS). Alongside the implementation of the degree program by members of the Centre, the CDSS will be directly involved in developing new curriculum, and evaluating and amending the program as it unfolds in the process of revisions as necessary, the expansion of degree opportunities with the inclusion of a pilot Masters in Engineering for the fall of 2011, and the establishment of the Defence Coordinator position as part of developing a long term relationship. This will entail direct regular discussions with ASC officials, CFSAS, the new Flight Training Centre, and the 2nd Canadian Air Division.
It is our hope that the fiscal and contractual issues facing CFAWC will be resolved in order to mount the Aerospace Power Forum this fall. It should be noted, however, that with the creation of the 2nd Air Division responsible for Air Force training, education and doctrine, the question of the Forum may move from CFAWC to the Air Division. Initial limited discussions have already been held with the commanding officer of the Air Division regarding the future role of the CDSS in support of Air Force training and education, and as part of the ongoing education developments noted above, it is our intent to raise the issue of the Forum, which was originally an Air Force initiative. Given the value of the Forum, we will also consider the short term option to move ahead with the Forum on our own, seeking funding from a variety of outside sources, along with the Air Force. The CDSS is determined to ensure the future viability of the Aerospace Power Forum, and is directly related to our continued focus upon aerospace defence research.
Although the Middle East peace support operations project has now concluded, the Middle East will remain a major research focus, reflecting the expertise of one of the core members of the Centre. To this end, the major research project on the Politics of Victimhood in Middle East conflicts should be completed in the coming year and published.
In response to the request from ADM-POL last year for work on the New NATO Strategic Concept, a one day workshop in conjunction with the Queen’s Centre for International Relations will be held in Kingston on April 23. The CDSS will be responsible for editing the proceedings of the workshop, which will be released shortly after the completion of the workshop.
Related to this NATO effort, the CDSS has become engaged with international security institutes in Georgia and Azerbaijan. In particular, the Director will be meeting shortly with the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to discuss possible areas of research and education cooperation. With one of the core members of the CDSS Canada’s only true expert on this region of the world, which includes Russia with implications for NATO, this represents a potential new direction for the CDSS and will be explored over the coming year. It holds the potential for expanding exposure on Canadian defence and security thinking into a new area of significance for Canada.
In addition, discussions are underway with the Mauro Centre and the Global College to participate on conflict and conflict resolution studies in this region.
It has long been the practice of the CDSS to provide support to defence and security research initiatives from its body of research fellows, regardless of whether the initiative is directly related to its two core areas of concentration. Without detailing the wide range of research underway or planned by its Fellows, which include Canada and Western hemispheric security, the effect of conflict on economic growth, and international law on the use of force by non-state actors, the CDSS has responded to an initiative from one of its new Fellows regarding Arctic security from a whole of government perspective, which includes a proposal to establish a national inter-disciplinary panel of experts to examine Arctic defence, security and development issues. This is in its initial formative stages, but will include direct engagement with the government of Canada and key non-governmental organizations.
As regards the Centre’s interaction with National Defence, the Canadian Forces, other government departments, students, the media, NGOs and the public at large, the CDSS will continue its efforts in responding to every, and any request, and opportunities that arise. The CDSS has developed a close relationship with Public Affairs at the base in Winnipeg, and is included as a speaking venue on every occasion that a CF speaker is available, expanding the exposure of students in particular to Canadian defence and security issues. The CDSS will continue to support the Annual Graduate Students Conference, with the planned topic for next year on the debate on US decline. The CDSS will resume the briefing programme to NDHQ. Alongside the other elements of its highly successful outreach program, the CDSS will seek to expand upon the initial success of its Northern/Aboriginal outreach effort, and hopefully will develop a formal relationship with the First Nations University in the coming year. Finally with regard to curriculum developments, the well-received inter-disciplinary War and Film course will be offered again this fall, and we expect that the size of the course will grow significantly in its second year, thereby expanding student exposure to defence and security issues. In addition, initial discussions have been held with the CDSS English research fellow on developing another inter-disciplinary course on war and literature, with a focus on Canadian literature as a venue to expose an even larger body of students to defence and security issues as central to the CDSS’ mission.