Contemporary Threats to Canada and the Canadian Forces

Abstract

This paper draws attention to a number of pressing threats faced by Canada and the Canadian Forces, which range from the physical to the fiscal, and discusses existing and proposed attempts to address these threats. These threats include those posed by private security contractors in Afghanistan, pirates off the Horn of Africa, foreign states in disputed areas of the Arctic, and the current economic downturn within Canada. The paper concludes that Canadian defence planners must expand the scope of their threat analysis to focus greater attention on non-traditional actors and factors.