Review: Canada: The Canadian Defence Industry in a New Global Environment
| Date | 01 March 1997 |
| Author | James J. Norminton |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070209705200109 |
| Published date | 01 March 1997 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
REVIEWS/CANADA
161
THE
CANADIAN
DEFENCE
INDUSTRY
IN
A
NEW
GLOBAL
ENVIRONMENT
Alistair
D.
Edgar
and
David
G.
Haglund
Montreal
and
Kingston:
McGill-Queen's
University
Press,
1995,
xvi,
229pp
In
this
book,
Edgar
and
Haglund
attempt
to
enlighten
readers
with
regard
to
'problems
and
prospects'
in
our
changing
times.
The
issue
deserves
much
more
than the
145
pages
of
text
that the
authors
give
it.
A
scant
84
pages,
comprising the
second
section,
are
devoted
specifically
to
the
domestic
context.
Considering
the
number
of
issues,
such
as
the
move
away
from
domestic
development
and
production
of major
sys-
tems,
the
licensed
production
of
foreign
developed
systems,
or
the
strategic
implications
of
dependence
upon
foreign suppliers
and
devel-
opers,
one
would
expect
the book
to
be
larger
and
to
devote
more
space
to
the domestic
defence
industry.
While
the
book
may
be
viewed
as
an
acceptable
overview
of
defence
procurement
and production
in
the
North
Atlantic
triangle, it
encoun-
ters serious
problems
in
its
first
section,
'The
international
context.'
Of
key
concern
is
the
authors'
approach
to
the
current international
secu-
rity system.
It
would
appear
that
they
are
content
to
state
that
the major
change
in
global
security
was
the
end
of
the
Cold
War
and
the concomi-
tant
significant
reduction
of
the likelihood
of
a
major
conventional
war
in
Western
Europe. There
is
insufficient examination
of
the
destabiliz-
ing
effects
that
this
event
had
upon
the
world.
This
conception of
the
impact
of
the
end of
the
Cold
War
appears
to
influence
their
view
that
the
threats
to
security
come
primarily
from
con-
ventional/traditional
sources.
There
is
only
passing
reference
to
'non-
traditional'
security
issues
and
no
discussion
of
the
necessity
to
re-orient
strategy
and
equipment
to
deal
with
the
smaller
scale wars
that
some
believe
will
dominate
the
near
future.
One
would
also
expect
that
in
a
book
on
the
Canadian defence industry
in
a
changing
global
environ-
ment,
more
attention
would
be
paid
to
producers and
markets
outside
of
the
North
Atlantic
triangle.
The
second
section
addresses
issues
within
the
domestic
defence
industry
and
adequately addresses
Department
of
National
Defence
pro-
curement.
Within
a
short
space,
the authors
explain
the
shift
from
major
systems
development
and
production
to
component
production
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