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Military preparedness in a new security environment : the Canadian army reserve’s contribution to public safety and domestic security

University of British Columbia

Military Preparedness in a New Security Environment: The Canadian Army Reserve's Contribution to Public Safety and Domestic Security addresses the Reserve's response to Canada's domestic security needs in the current security environment. The security environment is evolving, which has led to increasing constraints and the search for evolving security solutions for Western national governments, including a greater use of the Reserve. However, certain tensions inhibit the twin-track contributions of the Reserve to both domestic and international operations, arising from issues such as role definition, buy-in, and resource commitment. The "Canadian solution" o f having the Reserve "muddle through" these issues and follow both roles will inevitably need to change if the Reserve is to effectively serve Canadians in the future, be that internationally or domestically. The methods employed include the analysis of existing literature addressing the evolving security environment, concepts of civil-military relations, and recent Canadian national security policies, combined with a presentation of the Army Reserve, and a comparative study with key Commonwealth counterparts. Thus, at a conceptual level, at the Canadian level, and at the level of Canada's international partners, it became apparent that there are tensions between a domestic and international role for the Reserve which could create problems for the Reserve's future. In practice, the methodology consisted of the analysis of academic and government primary and secondary sources as well as drawing upon the author's interviews with individuals of relevant expertise or experience.

Thesis/Dissertation

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0092198

Master of Arts - MA

Arts, Faculty of; Political Science, Department of

2005-11

Graduate