Canadians have long thought of themselves as peacekeepers. But can we still make that claim today? Amid all of the the outrage towards our government over its relationship with Israel, are any protesters calling on Trudeau to send peacekeeping troops over there to intervene? When the guns finally fall silent there will likely be a call for some sort of peacekeeping force. But will Canada still be ready, or even willing, to resume our traditional role?
There’s really just one statistic worth sharing here to illustrate that Canadians have lost nearly all capacity for peacekeeping. In the mid 1990s, there were over 3000 Canadian troops deployed as UN peacekeepers around the world. Today there are 60. That means we’re now at 2% of our former capability. What the hell happened?
We go looking for an answer for you today from Walter Dorn, professor of defense studies at the Royal Military College of Canada and the Canadian Forces College. Professor Dorn is an expert in arms control, international criminal law, just war theory, peace operations and the United Nations.
To learn more:
Front-page screencap from Dorn’s peacekeeping simulator.
Host: Jesse Brown
Credits: Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), André Proulx (Production Coordinator), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)
Additional music by Audio Network
Sponsors: Squarespace, AG1, Oxio, Better Help
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