Back in 2002 and into 2003, a tempest swirled in an Ottawa teapot over the combat fatigues Canadian troops were wearing to a war 10,600 kilometres away. Here were our soldiers, God forbid, wearing green in the arid climes of Afghanistan. The uniforms were an embarrassment, declared the pundits and politicians, none of whom had set foot in Afghanistan or anyplace remotely like it. Their case, countered one Afghanistan veteran, “was more political than it was tactical.” The fact was, at least half the armies of the coalition—Middle East included—were wearing green. And, in a stroke of serendipity, the Canucks’ crisp new fatigues faded after a couple of washings. The diluted green, combined with the powdery desert dust, proved ideal camouflage in much of the Afghan terrain, with its li...

Historian Matthew White estimates that 123 million people died in wars in the 20th century, and just 37 million of them were military. The rest were collateral civilian deaths (27 million), genocide and other mass murder (41 million) and consequential famines (18 million). Surely if there must be war at all in the 21st century, there has to be a better way. It is unlikely that robots will ever totally replace soldiers in war but, to the degree that they can, they should. Why send troops to clear landmines when a robot could do the job? Why not dispatch a remote vehicle or a drone rather than reconnaissance troops to scrutinize enemy positions? Or unmanned fighter and bomber aircraft to take out hostile assets? Robots can conceivably carry packs, deliver resupply, even spearhead assaul...

  Early 1942 was a dark period for the Allies in the Second World War. The United States was by now a belligerent, but the situation was bleak. The Soviet Army was hard pressed to withstand the German onslaught that threatened Moscow, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin appealed for—or, to be correct, demanded—an immediate second front in Western Europe. Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who, concerned that Russia might make peace with Germany, promised a second front in 1942. That promise was irresponsible because there were insufficient troops and landing craft. Still, something had to be done, and Roosevelt wrote to Prime Minister Winston Churchill to demand action. Churchill’s reaction was to direct Chief of Comb...

The thing about Canada and peacekeeping is that while 7 in 10 Canadians consider it one of the country’s signature characteristics, the reality has always been something quite different from the fantasy. Sure, Canada helped revolutionize third-party roles in bringing conflicts to an end—decades ago. But those days are long past. Times have changed. The nature of warfare, and defence spending, have changed with them. Peacekeeping as it used to be was a costly, thankless and sometimes ineffectual task. Canadian soldiers, who in 1991 comprised more than 10 per cent of United Nations troops, were cursed by the prevailing idea that peacekeeping was, well, a peaceful pursuit. The perception of Canada as “good guy” was something of an albatross to a post-Korean War military that was ...