Canada and the World

[kEiThZ]

Why not buy from those shipyards directly and cut the Irvings out of it?

I don't necessarily disagree. You'll find a ton of sympathy for this view in the CAF.

But....

Till now, regional and industrial benefits is a major pillar of defence procurement. The military was not even given the choice of shopping outside Canada. This is not a military decision. It's a government decision.

 

[afransen]

I don't necessarily disagree. You'll find a ton of sympathy for this view in the CAF.

But....

Till now, regional and industrial benefits is a major pillar of defence procurement. The military was not even given the choice of shopping outside Canada. This is not a military decision. It's a government decision.

Understood that it is purely political (if not cronyism). I suspect it's a feature, not a bug, that we paid 10x what we should for ships. I expect the Irvings are generous with those who make beneficial decisions in their post-public service careers. It's kind of beyond the bounds of what can be attributed merely to incompetence.

 

[kEiThZ]

Great photo essay:

In Canada’s Arctic, armed forces face evolving challenges securing the critical – and contested – Northwest Passage

With Operation Nanook, the Canadian soldiers trying to protect the far north are also accelerating its transformation

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[Admiral Beez]

Great photo essay:

In Canada’s Arctic, armed forces face evolving challenges securing the critical – and contested – Northwest Passage

With Operation Nanook, the Canadian soldiers trying to protect the far north are also accelerating its transformation

www.theglobeandmail.com

Paywall free: https://archive.is/kIbjT

It's interesting to see the Canadian Coast Guard and its civilian crew involved in arctic military ops. Isn't that the job the RCN's four (so far) Harry DeWolf-class were built for?

 

[lenaitch]

Paywall free: https://archive.is/kIbjT

It's interesting to see the Canadian Coast Guard and its civilian crew involved in arctic military ops. Isn't that the job the RCN's four (so far) Harry DeWolf-class were built for?

The way I understand it, part of Op Nanook is a whole-of-government exercise for civilian incidents and disaster response. It also involves the Rangers, who are non-combatants.

 

[Bojaxs]

Any of you guys heard of the CANZUK proposal?

CANZUK - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I've known about this for some time, but it kind of fell of my radar for awhile. Recent comments by Trump, jokingly suggesting Canada should become the 51st state of America, got me thinking about it again.

 

[kEiThZ]

The map that shows Russia’s ‘secret war’ with the West has now begun

Bomb scares in London, a plane crash in Lithuania: they all form part of a web of suspected acts of sabotage, and may be just the beginning

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[lenaitch]

or

 

[jje1000]

Assad's Syrian state has collapsed.

Will it bring around the end of the Syrian Civil War? Perhaps, but Libyanization is another route.

It does make me wonder if some of the refugees Canada took in will return. Maybe not the children, who likely have experienced their entire lives in Canada, but I could imagine some of the older refugees going home.

 

[evandyk]

Will it bring around the end of the Syrian Civil War? Perhaps, but Libyanization is another route.

The civil war against the state is ending. The one between the various rebel factions is just beginning. I doubt it will settle into any sort of stable peace.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The civil war against the state is ending. The one between the various rebel factions is just beginning. I doubt it will settle into any sort of stable peace.

Is there any Arab (or Persian) state that has successfully removed a despot and become a stable, liberal democracy? I just don't think they have it in them. Instead they go from tyrant to tyrant, often with a ton of theocratic meddling.

 

[Richard White]

Is there any Arab (or Persian) state that has successfully removed a despot and become a stable, liberal democracy? I just don't think they have it in them. Instead they go from tyrant to tyrant, often with a ton of theocratic meddling.

It may be due to their past. Alot of these countries have not been stable since they were French or British Colonies. Think Sudan, Algeria, Yemen among others. Even Libya and Afghanistan were under British control at one point.

Alot of these countries hated it and wanted self-governance which they got but they had no idea what they were doing.

You then got populist leaders like the Ayatollahs, Saddam, the Taliban, etc coming into power to fill the void. Really, the only country that came out of this in the best of shape was the UAE. Dubai for all it's wealth has turned out pretty well.

Some of the issues are also religious. You have the Sunni and Shite divide which does not help things any.

I've said it before and I will say it again. The only way that the middle east will resolve their issues are by MAD. They will need to wipe themselves off the map before anything is resolved.

 

[jje1000]

Is there any Arab (or Persian) state that has successfully removed a despot and become a stable, liberal democracy? I just don't think they have it in them. Instead they go from tyrant to tyrant, often with a ton of theocratic meddling.

Tunisia came to mind, but I think even that democracy is backsliding.

Ultimately democracy works only when the people are culturally ready for it, which requires the careful cultivation of liberal institutions and beliefs over decades, if not centuries.

Ironically, uncontrollable mass immigration into the West from undemocratic states and the preposition of a 'post-national state' may actually make the West less democratic as people will not simply cease having identities, but identify with what is 'real'.

 

[lenaitch]

It may be due to their past. Alot of these countries have not been stable since they were French or British Colonies. Think Sudan, Algeria, Yemen among others. Even Libya and Afghanistan were under British control at one point.

Alot of these countries hated it and wanted self-governance which they got but they had no idea what they were doing.

You then got populist leaders like the Ayatollahs, Saddam, the Taliban, etc coming into power to fill the void. Really, the only country that came out of this in the best of shape was the UAE. Dubai for all it's wealth has turned out pretty well.

Some of the issues are also religious. You have the Sunni and Shite divide which does not help things any.

I've said it before and I will say it again. The only way that the middle east will resolve their issues are by MAD. They will need to wipe themselves off the map before anything is resolved.

While it's fashionable these days to blame everything on the British, Afghanistan might have considered a puppet state of British India for less than a decade in the mid-1800s, and Libya was under allied occupation (British/French) from 1943-1951 after the defeat of Italy which had colonized it in the early 1900s. Neither were ever British or French colonies.

The entire Middle East has a long history of cultural and religious based tribalism since long before 'the West' showed up. This area was the centre of knowledge, enlightenment and science while England and much of Europe was wallowing in the Dark Ages. One might wonder why things flipped

 

[Admiral Beez]

The entire Middle East has a long history of cultural and religious based tribalism since long before 'the West' showed up. This area was the centre of knowledge, enlightenment and science while England and much of Europe was wallowing in the Dark Ages. One might wonder why things flipped

Industrial Revolution, transatlantic slavery and colonialism bringing advanced tech and wealth to Europe.