North America Archive

Canada sent forces from the Canadian Special Operations Regiment earlier this month to train Mali’s military to fight against al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. In an email interview, Joel Sokolsky, principal and professor of political science at the Royal Military College of Canada, discussed Canada’s overseas military deployments. WPR: In addition to Iraq and Afghanistan, where has the Canadian military deployed over the past decade, and how have its deployments impacted both the Canadian armed forces and the civilian leadership? Joel Sokolsky: Notwithstanding a Canada First Defense Strategy that suggested a focus on the direct defense of Canada and domestic […]

In the Nov. 22 Republican presidential debate, several candidates argued that the U.S. can no longer afford its foreign aid budget. In previous debates, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney went even one step further, explaining that the United States should not borrow money from China just to give it to other countries as aid. Instead, he argued, we should let the Chinese give aid directly to foreign countries if that is what they want to do. Romney is right to mention China, but he draws the wrong conclusion. China already provides large amounts of aid to countries throughout the developing […]

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has strongly criticized US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for encouraging and supporting Russians protesting election fraud, and warned of a wider crackdown on dissent. Video News by NewsLook

Recent moves by Russia, Norway and even China have put a spotlight on the High North, where warming temperatures have led to greater seasonal ice melt and access. With increased future activity in the Arctic inevitable, the United States must begin to address some of the potential security challenges that could result. As part of this effort, the European Command (EUCOM) — the U.S. military command responsible for the Arctic — must leverage the progress made by the Arctic Council in nonsecurity matters to facilitate expanded security cooperation efforts in the region. The Arctic Council has successfully raised awareness of […]

The recent formalization of a new regional cooperation bloc that includes every country in the Americas except Canada and the United States has been largely dismissed in the English-language media as little more than a new soap-box from which the region’s more flamboyant leftists, namely Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, will now spew anti-American rhetoric. To some extent, the potential for such an outcome exists. But it is also worth noting that the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, or CELAC by its Spanish acronym, has now been given an official stamp of approval from not just left-leaning heads of […]

During a recent visit to Ottawa, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and his Canadian counterpart, Defense Minister Peter MacKay, announced that military cooperation agreements between Israel and Canada would be forthcoming by end of the year. In an email interview, Rex Brynen, a professor of political science at McGill University, discussed Canada-Israel relations. WPR: What is the recent history of Canada-Israel diplomatic, economic and security relations? Rex Brynen: While Canadian-Israeli ties have long been very friendly, there has been a marked shift to even closer relations under Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and recent Conservative governments. This has been manifest […]

It was an ignominious start for a potentially profound technological revolution. On June 21, 2011, a U.S. Navy MQ-8 Fire Scout robotic reconnaissance helicopter was shot down near Tripoli by forces loyal to then-Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The 24-foot-long, gray-painted drone was one of two launched from the frigate USS Halyburton and remotely controlled by operators aboard the vessel. Carrying classified sensors, the Fire Scouts likely helped detect targets for NATO forces flying top cover for Libyan rebels. The Fire Scouts’ Libyan missions represent the major combat debut for the U.S. Navy’s growing arsenal of unmanned vehicles. In coming years, […]

The United States is on the verge of an industrial renaissance, according to energy experts enthusiastic about technological advances surrounding the “fracking” of shale gas and the processing of “tight oil.” America is sitting on a century-worth of natural gas, and the Western hemisphere boasts five times the reserves in unconventional oil as the Middle East claims in the conventional category. Suddenly, all our fears of resource wars with China and never-ending quagmires in Southwest Asia seem to melt away, heralding with great certainty another American century based on the promise of energy independence. As “deus ex machina” moments go, […]

Pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi’s meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been hailed as a major milestone for Burma.

A tunnel connecting warehouses in Mexico and United States was reportedly used to move drugs worth 53 million dollars.

A recently filed legal petition claiming that the United Nations acted negligently and recklessly in Haiti is raising difficult questions about U.N. accountability — and its legal immunity. The petition (.pdf), submitted Nov. 3, is already raising the possibility that a legally mandated, but rarely implemented, judicial procedure for civilians living in countries with U.N. peacekeeping missions will be enforced. As a result, the petition’s implications go far beyond the particulars of the Haiti case, in which more than 5,000 Haitians argue that the U.N. has so far failed to provide them with a means of remedy after cholera was […]