James Fergusson

University of Manitoba | UMN

The North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) is being “modernized” but what does that mean and what are the challenges ahead? This chapter traces NORAD’s past, present and future to provide context to the current “modernization”, the structural and political implications and the likely pitfalls, especially for Canada.

The chapter revisits Nils Ørvik’s 1973 trope “defence against help”: the idea that the provision of defence in Canada is fundamentally motivated by the fear of a United States take-over of sorts. The authors argue that defence against help is not now, nor was it ever, the right theory for Canada-US defence relations. Future developments, starting w...

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is insulated politically from tensions between Canada and the United States (U.S.). We argue the reasons why are three-fold. First North American defence is a low priority generally speaking and so NORAD is also low on the political radar. Second, NORAD is defended and challenged by misplaced pol...

While most attention on NORAD and North American defense cooperation is focused on the modernization of the North Warning System (NWS), significant developments have occurred that suggest modernization will be accompanied by evolutionary changes to the Command. The new threat environment, centered upon Russian behaviour in Crimea, Ukraine and Syria...

Concerns about the future of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) have forever dominated Canadian policy considerations regarding participation in the US missile defence program. Yet, fears that a Canadian decision not to participate could lead to the “demise” or marginalization of NORAD appear entirely unfounded in the wake of the...

The public debate on the government's decision to purchase the F-35 joint strike fighter (JSF) has been dominated by process and cost considerations. Secondary in this debate has been the utility of the F-35 for Canadian sovereignty missions and the F-35's capabilities relative to a range of alternatives, which include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV...

The author analyses the combat capability of the Canadian Forces and argues that the most expedient use of limited investment dollars provided by the Department of National Defence would be to overcome the psychological anathema of specialization. Using the United States as an exemplar of the kind of force structure that Canada and others could pur...

The current challenges faced by defence firms within the Western industrialized nations take on a unique form in the case of Canada, largely as a result of the evolution of Canada’s defence industry since the mid-1950s. With the signing of the Defence Production Sharing Agreement, and symbolized by the cancelation of the Avro ARROW project1, Canadi...