David B. Dewitt

Building a new global order : emerging trends in international security

The end of the Cold War era has not brought greater security to the world community. Although the likelihood of a global strategic nuclear war has been reduced significantly, we have already witnessed the impact of other challenges to international peace. The Gulf War raised the spectre of expanding regional conflicts adopting the means and methods of the previous superpower confrontation. The disintegration of the Horn of Africa, the Civil War in the Balkans, and the resurgence of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia all reveal the continuing power of historic ethnic, religious, and national rivalries, and the seeming inability of the international community to deal effectively with these tragedies. Weapons technologies, modern telecommunications and transportation, demographic changes and resource imbalances, and the globalization of production together raise enormous challenges as we move into the 21st century. Are the international institutions with which we have lived since the end of the Second World War up to the task? This book addresses many of these basic and profound issues.

Confidence- and Security-Building Measures in the Third World: Is There a Role?

I Can confidence-and security-building measures (CSBMs) be introduced into the Third World as an aid to controlling interstate hostilities? My underlying premise is that much of the hostility within regions of active, profound, and often radical socioeconomic and political change and development will not perhaps cannot be resolved, at least in the near future. Protracted conflict, whether intraor inter-state, is likely to remain a dominant characteristic. Hence, while conflict resolution and nonhostile interstate relations may be desirable goals in such regions, to speak of them as likely in the near term is to bend reality to suit preferred norms. However, a world of enmity need not be either unstable or extraordinarily destructive. A variety of political, socio-economic, and military instruments can still be employed to enhance domestic well-being, to pursue vital interests, and to ensure security while reducing tension, perceived threat, and uncertainty in the proximate external environment. One such subset CSBMS is meant to impart confidence that un-

AWOL: Canada’s defence policy and presence in the Asia Pacific:

Our focus is on Canadian defence and security activities in the Asia Pacific arena between 1990 and 2015. While governments have asserted the growing primacy of the Asia Pacific, we ask the following: What does Canada’s recent military and security record tell us about the policies and operational aspects of Canadian engagement? How might we assess these in comparison with Ottawa’s declared importance of the Asia Pacific? What might this tell us about the near-term future of Canada’s role and pursuit of interests and opportunities in this complex region? We present and analyze empirical materials drawn from primary sources that inform an assessment of Canada’s presence in the defence and security agenda of the Asia Pacific, during the period that saw Canadian governments declare a deep interest in relations with the Asia Pacific, yet fail to make Canada a full partner with sustained commitments.