Welcome to this double issue (Issue 1 and 2 of Volume 11) of The Journal of Military and Strategic Studies.

Its first part is a special issue which examines one of the most important matters in the world today, the internal politics, foreign policy and strategic policy, of the United States, at the moment of the inauguration of President Barack Obama, and his administration, in January 2009. These works are written by several leading authorities on those topics, Frank Towers, Stephen Randall and Terry Terriff, all, incidentally, members of faculty at The University of Calgary and of The Institute for United States Policy Research. This collection demonstrates the depth of the bench strength in military, international and strategic studies at The University of Calgary.

The second part of this double issue includes studies which range across the world, including an examination of Chinese martial arts and strategy by the preeminent authority on Chinese strategic thought, Ralph Sawyer, and examinations of the role of the Canadian military during the Oka crisis of 1990 by Timothy C. Winegard, of the involvement of the Nigerian military in internal policing by Emmanuel O. Ojo and an original treatment by Richard C. Thornton of the Grenada crisis of 1982 as a clash between American and Soviet policies. It also includes three book reviews.

This section of The Journal of Military and Strategic Studies includes a new feature, which will become a regular part of our periodical. In “Commentary”, Rear Admiral Davidson of the Royal Canadian Navy discusses in detail, his recent experiences as the Commander in Chief of western naval forces in the northern Indian Ocean, an area and topic which constantly reaches the front pages of the world’s newspapers. His piece illuminates matters such as multinational command and the role of navies in peacetime operations, including issues such as work against pirates. The Journal of Military and Strategic Studies extends an open invitation to readers across the world, whether students, soldiers, workers in NGOs, to contribute to its new sections, Commentary, and (for more brief reports) Notes From the Field. These sections will increase the range of the voices and experiences which we represent, and our ability to illuminate events as they happen across the earth.

This issue of The Journal of Military and Strategic Studies also features the start of a campaign to expand its book review section, under the editorship of Laurel Halladay.

The Journal of Military and Strategic Studies will announce further and significant changes to its policy and mandate with the next issue, of spring 2009. That issue also will feature a special series on Canada and the Arctic, guest edited by Dr Whitney Lackenbauer, one of the few authorities on that topic.

By James F. Keeley and John R. Ferris, Co-Editors, JMSS