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Canada and the World

Just a reminder. Participation in the Arctic is not defined by geography or climate. If China starts regular SSBN patrols and starts running shipping convoys through with their own icebreakers, that makes them a concern in the Arctic, irrespective of the fact that they aren't an Arctic nation.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
I am not super concerned about stuff like this, relative to our more or less lackadaisical investment in our arctic in general.

AoD
Click to expand...

I understand the need for a certain amount of 'hard power'; but I am more an advocate of soft power.

In that context, making nice w/the neighbours is a worthwhile investment in general.

I'd be open to hearing a convincing agreement that retrenchment here does no harm; but my instinct is otherwise.

I'd certainly agree that hard investments at home are more important, but I don't expect any modest saving here are being so redirected (but I am open to any evidence to the contrary)
 
Northern Light said:
I understand the need for a certain amount of 'hard power'; but I am more an advocate of soft power.

In that context, making nice w/the neighbours is a worthwhile investment in general.

I'd be open to hearing a convincing agreement that retrenchment here does no harm; but my instinct is otherwise.

I'd certainly agree that hard investments at home are more important, but I don't expect any modest saving here are being so redirected (but I am open to any evidence to the contrary)
Click to expand...

Soft power is backed by actions - not empty rhetoric - which we have a huge surplus of.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Soft power is backed by actions - not empty rhetoric - which we have a huge surplus of.

AoD
Click to expand...

People really forget how hard power and soft power interact. Your diplomacy and aid policies will be a lot more effective if you have a strong intelligence network to inform them. And quite often the best soft power tool is the military. Like when an American carrier or amphib shows up after a natural disaster with a full hospital, power plant, water purification plant, command centre and air mobility service, all in one platform. Ask Sri Lankans living through the Indian Ocean Tsunami how much they care about sweet words over delivered services.

But more to the point with the Arctic, soft power is useless on regimes that don't share our values. We aren't going to convince the Russians or Chinese not to abuse the environment in the Arctic with words. Park some SSNs near the North Pole and their calculus on where they drill for oil will change.
 
Lengthy Federal news release out yesterday about Canada's on-going military presence in Latvia.

This appears to be our largest European deployment in a generation or more; but I would leave it to those of you follow these things more closely to offer analysis.

Roadmap - Scaling the EFP Latvia Battle Group to Brigade - Canada.ca

We, the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Latvia and the Minister of National Defence of Canada, recognize our common interests in international peace and security, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to our shared values, the rules-based international order, and international cooperation.
www.canada.ca www.canada.ca

I won't copy/paste all of it. But here are some big chunks:

1689164804431.png

1689164838192.png


1689164862558.png
 
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It's kinda sad (and telling) that it's so difficult for Canada to provide half a brigade, and that we have to rely on countries like Latvia to provide air defence. Internally, there's a lot of trepidation whether this level of commitment can be sustained and what this might do to retention because of family impacts.

The video above lays out the sad state of the CAF and the broader issues with Canada's somewhat broken strategic culture. Watch that and you'll read the official announcement in a different light.
 
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kEiThZ said:
It's kinda sad (and telling) that it's so difficult for Canada to provide half a brigade, and that we have to rely on countries like Latvia to provide air defence. Internally, there's a lot of trepidation whether this level of commitment can be sustained and what this might do to retention because of family impacts.

The video above lays out the sad state of the CAF and the broader issues with Canada's somewhat broken strategic culture. Watch that and you'll read the official announcement in a different light.
Click to expand...
A country with far less people than the 416 is being relied upon to supply air defense for our troops 😆
 
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