Canadian Forces Transformation and Canada's Way of War in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

Canada's unique "way of war" is a product of Canadian history, geography, and political traditions. By contributing forces to larger coalitions, Canada is able to achieve security for a lower cost by relying on others to underwrite its national security. This level of security makes it possible for the Government to look inward to higher priority domestic issues. Doing so requires less focus and funding for drastic military capability development. This fact, coupled with a reduction of forces, drives a common narrative of a declining Canadian Armed Forces. In reality, the reduction of military forces is a matter of deliberate political choice driven by current global and domestic contexts and entirely consistent with Canada's way of war. Throughout its history, the Canadian Armed Forces has consistently evolved in order to achieve assigned missions. Canadian Forces Transformation initiated in 2005 is the most recent example of this ongoing evolution, and has ensured the Canadian Armed Forces is prepared to succeed in the twenty-first century in a manner consistent with Canada's traditional way of war.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 23, 2019
Accession Number
AD1111451

Entities

People

  • Jonathan M. Cox

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Counter WMD
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Canada
  • Combat Operations
  • Command And Control
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Employment
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Geography
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • Law
  • Military Budgets
  • Military Capabilities
  • Military Equipment
  • Military History
  • Military Organizations
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Procurement
  • Second World War
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design