Beyond Territorial Security
Abstract
Researchers from Defence Research and Development Canadas Centre for Security Science (CSS) provide analytical support to the Public Safety (PS) Canada-led All Hazards Risk Assessment (AHRA) initiative, and conduct periodic reviews of the methodology and tools in order to ensure the development of a robust and defensible product. The AHRA team at PS Canada receives comments on the federal AHRA methodology and process from key stakeholders during the implementation of the annual business cycle. This scientific letter (SL), which addresses feedback received from federal institutions, offers a critical reading of territorial security by assessing the extent to which it incorporates elements of sovereignty and security. According to the AHRA Methodology Guidelines: 2012-13, Territorial security is a core responsibility of the GC (Government of Canada) and provides the conditions permitting the free movement of Canadians, people, and legitimate goods within the country and across borders. It represents the effective functioning and control of international borders, and provides for the safety and security of Canadians to go about their lives in an ordinary fashion. "Although the territorial security impact category is theoretically inclusive of a broad range of threats and hazards to Canadian sovereignty, an increasing number of current and emerging threats and challenges cannot be properly understood or assessed through the narrow, largely geographic prism of territorial security as it is currently expressed in the AHRA methodology. In fact, some of these threats and challenges may have little, if any, impact on the countrys territorial integrity at all. This paper highlights several emerging trends in the strategic environment that present both a conceptual and, by extension, a methodological challenge to the existing AHRA framework in this regard.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 13, 2013
- Accession Number
- AD1016895
Entities
Organizations
- Defence Research and Development Canada