Book Review: Canada: Stand on Guard
| Published date | 01 June 1966 |
| Date | 01 June 1966 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206602100227 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REvEws
243
Canada
STAND
ON
GuAIW.
The
Search
for
a
Canadian
Defence
Policy
By
Andrew
Brewin.
1965.
(Toronto:
McClelland
&
Stewart.
140pp.
$3.95)
In
recent
years
there
has
been
a
small
but
growing
number
of
important
studies
of
Canadian
defence
and
this
volume
by
Mr.
Brewin
is
to
be
counted
among
them.
A
principal
spokesman
for
the
New
Democratic
Party
on
foreign affairs and
defence,
and a member
of
the
House
of Commons
Special
Committee
on Defence,
Mr.
Brewin
came
apparently
recently
to
his
interest
in
Canadian
military
affairs.
His book
is
an
eminently
straightforward
and
lucid
exposition
of
what
he
sees
as
of
first
importance
to
Canadian
national
interests
in
the
field
of
defence.
In
addition to his
trenchant
discussion
of
defence
issues,
a
significant
part
of his
text
is
devoted
usefully
to
the
work
of
the
House
Special
Committee
on
Defence
and to extensive
criticism
of
the
White
Paper
on
Defence
(1964).
It
remains
to
be
seen
whether
the
positions he
advocates
in
this
book
will
be
those
of
his
party.
The
significance
of
his
study
however,
is
not
to
be
judged
only in
the
light
of
this
possibility
but
as
a
particularly
useful contribution
by
a
well
known
Canadian
on
matters
of
common
and
not
partisan
concern.
The
principal
focus
of
Mr.
Brewm's
book
is
the
role
of
Canadian
forces
in
the light
of
his
assessment
of
contemporary
military
writings
on
strategy
in
this nuclear
age.
He
has
brought
to
this
effort
an
obviously
inquiring
mind, cautious
of
the
pronouncements
of
experts,
and
ever nundful
of
the
need
for
Canada
to
perform
a
meaningful
role
with
modest resources.
Mr.
Brewin
argues
that
while
there
is
a nuclear
stalemate
between
the intercontinental
strategic
forces of
the
United
States
and
the
U.S.S.R.,
there
remains a
prime
danger
of
sudden,
accidental
war
be-
tween
the
superpowers
as
a consequence
of
the
vulnerable
air
strike
nuclear
forces
now
positioned in
Europe.
He
proposes
that
Canada
should
emphasize
its
concern
over
this danger.
While
remaining
in
NATO,
Canada
should
abandon
its
own
contribution
to
these European
air
strike
forces (and
also
abandon
its
forward
brigade)
and
con-
centrate
on
the
development
of
a
truly
effective
tn-service
mobile
force
available
for
peace-keeping
purposes
in
Europe
or
elsewhere.
In
addition,
Mr.
Brewin
dismisses
the
threat
of
attack
upon
North
America
by
aircraft.
He
asks
that
Canada
divest
itself
now
of
its assistance
in
"active"
air
defences
and
concentrate
its
continental
defence effort
on
helping
maintain warning
systems.
These
recommendations
would be
sound
and
persuasive
to
a
reader
if
he
accepted
other
propositions
of
Mr.
Brewin.
One
can
argue
over
the
context
in
which
Mr.
Brewin
sees
Canada's
defence
contribution:
is
it
actually
a
fact
that
"Canada
has
an independent,
worthwhile
and
perhaps
decisive
role
to
play"
in
the
process
of
preventing
nuclear
war
9
Are we
prudent
in
accepting
his
basic
and
key
assumption
of
a
nuclear
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