On The Baltic Watch: The Past, Present, and Future of Canada’s Commitment to NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence in Latvia.
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Authors
Leuprecht, Christian
Sokolsky, Joel
Derow, Jayson
Date
2018-06
Type
other
Language
en
Keyword
Alternative Title
Abstract
A commitment to NATO has been central to Canada’s foreign and defence policy for almost 70 years. The Atlantic Alliance always entailed much more than providing a countervailing balance to Soviet power, and now to Russian aggression. The interdependence and interconnectedness of the modern world demand an alliance that stands and falls on its unity. The dissolution of the Soviet Union may have altered the rationale for NATO, but the fundamental principles that comprise the foundation of such a relationship remain intact: the defence of shared values and interests.
As part of that shared approach, Canada recently deployed 450 troops as the lead Framework Nation in the “enhanced Forward Presence” (eFP) mission in Latvia. This mission began one year ago and comes due for renewal in 2019. Yet renewal is hardly a foregone conclusion. The government has four basic options: (1) maintain its status quo as the eFP’s Framework Nation in Latvia, (2) draw down its commitment from Framework Nation to a mere NATO member-country contribution, (3) scale up its commitment, or (4) not renew at all.
As this paper demonstrates, Canada should renew its commitment to the eFP, both because it is in Canada’s strategic interest to do so, and because of the dilemma in which Canada, allies, and fellow NATO members would find themselves were Canada not to renew.
Description
Copyright © 2018 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. May be reproduced freely for non-profit and educational purposes.
Citation
Leuprecht, C, Sokolsky, J and Derow, J. On The Baltic Watch: The Past, Present, and Future of Canada’s Commitment to NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence in Latvia. Ottawa: Macdonald Laurier Institute.
Publisher
Macdonald-Laurier Institute