Editor’s introduction
| Author | W. Andy Knight |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00207020221118079 |
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Editorߣs introduction |
Introduction
International Journal
2022, Vol. 77(1) 3–6
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/00207020221118079
journals.sagepub.com/home/ijx
Editor’s introduction
This issue of the journal contains five major scholarly essays, one “Lessons of History”
essay, two very timely policy briefs, and seven critical book reviews.
Matthew Wiseman kicks off the scholarly essays with a reveal ing unfolding of the
establishment, after World War II, of a scientific intelligence bureau in Canada which
was placed within the Defence Research Board of Canada and helped to augment the
overall Canadian intelligence structure. This essay draws on the archival work of
individuals like Donald Goodspeed, Jonathan Turner, Kurt Jensen, Alan Burnes, and
Dan Middlemiss, all of whom were observational pioneers of Canada’s efforts to
improve the country’s postwar military preparedness to deal with the emergence of new
biological, chemical, and atomic weapons that could be used by the Soviet Union
against Canada and its allies during the Cold War. The importance of this scholarly
work is the author’s presentation of information taken from recently made available
government and military documents that reveal how the Canadian government utilized
top Canadian scientists and engineers in developing an independent threat assessment
capability within the Canadian Defence Department during a time of great risks to the
security of the West stemming from military technological changes occurring behind
the Iron Curtain during the early days of the Cold War.
Wiseman’s narrative sets the stage for the essay by Wilner, Beach-Vaive, Car-
bonneau, Hopkins, and Leblanc which examines how foreign governments that are in
geopolitical competition with Canada and its allies try to exploit the inherently open
nature of Canadian research institutions in order to gain access to cutting-edge research
and intellectual property. “Research at risk: Global challenges, allied perspectives, and
Canadian solutions,”essentially reveals the fact that the high-profile instances of data
theft and foreign espionage on research institutes are becoming so commonplace that
“research security (RS)”—a distinct sub-study of national security—is being drawn on
to provide measures aimed at protecting the inputs, processes, and products of scientific
research, inquiry, and discovery so that Canada and its allies can thwart attempts by
foreign governments to steal military technological secrets. However, as the authors
point out, RS has to undergo significant adjustment as dual-use technology and societal
shifts towards digitization, nano-technology and robotics, and even the recent COVID-
19 pandemic, are challenging the way RS has traditionally been conducted. The authors
recommend that the Canadian government should provide direct cybersecurity support
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