North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network (NAADSN) / Réseau sur la defense et la sécurité nord-américaines et arctiques (RDSNAA)

Visit our website at: https://www.naadsn.ca/

 

NAADSN/RDSNAA addresses core policy challenges – the Defence role in the Arctic, NORAD modernization and the future of North American defence, the evolving role of major powers in global strategic competition, and climate change and security – and their many intersection points by:

  • conducting leading-edge research with students, emerging scholars, and Northern stakeholders/rightsholders that tests core assumptions and prompts policy innovation;
  • convening conferences, workshops, and symposia that bring together diverse stakeholders on issues of core interest to the Defence Team; and
  • educating the next generation of policy thinkers and analysts.

Researchers work in multi-/inter-disciplinary research clusters organized across three scales (circumpolar and international security, defence of North America, and defence of Canada) and specific topic areas. Our network structure is deliberately elastic so that we can respond efficiently to emerging issues and mobilize small expert teams to present relevant and timely advice to the Defence Team.

 

Lackenbauer’s NAADSN Publications

NAADSN Monograph Series

This peer-reviewed series publishes original monographs and edited volumes on Arctic and North American defence and security themes in both English and French in open-access, e-book format.

NAADSN Engage Series

This peer-reviewed series publishes short monographs and edited volumes on timely topics related to North American and Arctic defence, security, and safety issues.

Special Reports

Strategic Perspectives

Policy Briefs

Short briefings that provide information, succinct analysis, and policy suggestions on specific topics for policy-making and expert audiences.

Policy Primers

NAADSN Policy Primers offer overviews on a specific topic to serve as foundations for further research and/or policy development.

Event Reports

Activity Reports

Network Objective

The objective of this network is to provide timely, relevant, and reliable expert advice on North American and Arctic defence and security topics. We address three core policy challenges:

Defending the Arctic and North

Arctic geopolitics and security continue to rise in profile on the Canadian political agenda. Our North, Strong and Free places an unprecedented focus on the Arctic, emphasizing that “the most urgent and important task we face is asserting Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic and northern regions.” Growing Russian and Chinese activity, climate change opening new threat vectors for competitors to exploit, hybrid and information warfare, and technological change bring new defence requirements. What is the nature of the threats through, to, and in the Arctic that imperil Canadian sovereignty and security? When is the military the best instrument to mitigate and counter these threats? When are illegal activities better countered and prosecuted using law enforcement and diplomatic tools, and what role does the CAF play in these scenarios? NAADSN helps to discern ways to implement and operationalize this policy direction as concrete action, to provide immediate access to leading-edge research, and to test assumptions about the changing security environment on all scales: international, regional, national, and local. Our work on Arctic defence will focus on partnerships with the United States/Alaska, the Kingdom of Denmark/Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and other NATO Arctic Allies, including enhanced sharing of strategic and operational best practices/lessons learned. Adopting a nuanced and multifaceted definition of security, we will help DND/CAF and Northern partners to plan and prepare for search and rescue, major disasters and emergencies, and foreign influence or intelligence gathering activities. Our work will promote system-wide, multifaceted solutions to complex security challenges, improved Whole-of-Government coordination, and comprehensive approaches that leverage private sector and community-level capacity to achieve Whole-of-Society effects.

Defending North America

NAADSN critically examines and anticipates emerging threats to North America, across all domains, in the context of deterring and defeating threats to the continent. We systematically assess how Canada does, can, and should contribute to defence alongside its US and Danish/Greenlandic Allies; how Canadian investments in NORAD modernization can address all-domain threats and close gaps and seams in existing defence systems; and how we can increase public literacy about North American defence amongst Canadians. Our work will focus on all-domain situational awareness, deterrence, and effective strategic communications with Allies and Northern partners. We will critically analyze NORAD’s current and future roles in light of renewed strategic competition, emerging technologies, and shifting US defence priorities. We will carefully monitor and analyze the capabilities and intentions of revisionist powers (including their changing interpretations of international laws and norms) and suggest how Canada and its allies can best deter aggression across all domains.

Strategic Competition, Alliances, and Global Issues

Global stability upon which Canada depends for its peace and prosperity is increasingly precarious in the face of disruptive powers, a changing climate, and rapid technological change. NAADSN’s work nests its assessments in careful analysis of challenges to the rules-based international order, hybrid or below-the-threshold threats and the changing nature of deterrence, and the growing interconnections between Euro-Atlantic, Indo-Pacific, and Arctic security dynamics that affect Canada and its Allies. With Canada’s December 2024 Arctic Foreign Policy emphasizing that “climate change is both the most pressing and the most proximate threat to Canada’s security in the Arctic and the people who live there,” we will systematically analyze and anticipate how climate change impacts national and North American security environments, with a particular focus on Arctic and Northern regions. We will work closely with international partners to better understand how our Allies and partners are responding to climate-related shifts to discern how DND/CAF might balance its strategic and operational priorities. We will work with the NATO Centre of Excellence on Climate and Security to identify best practices associated with whole-of-government and Allied initiatives. Specific lines of effort will include climate-related emergency/disaster response, critical infrastructure resilience, and comprehensive approaches to leverage private and Indigenous sector capacity.

Key Network Outcomes

  • SSE has committed to “increase CAF presence in the Arctic over the long-term and work cooperatively with Arctic partners.” While SSE provides a road-map for many Arctic initiatives, NAADSN will help discern the best ways to implement and operationalize this policy direction as concrete action, provide immediate access to leading-edge research, and test assumptions about the changing security environment.
  • NAADSN will critically examine and anticipate emerging threats to North America, across all domains (including integrated assessments of new ones associated with emerging science and technology), in the context of continental defence and the CAN-US defence relationship. Building upon our extensive expertise, we will systematically assess how Canada does, can, and should contribute to continental defence; where Canada can best invest to modernize NORAD and facilitate the evolution of North American defence; and how we can increase public literacy about continental defence.
  • Homeland defence is inextricably linked to changes in the global security environment. Our work on the return of major power competition, focusing particularly on Russia and China, will assess implications for Canadian defence relationships and partnerships (particularly with the United States and NATO). Themes include nuclear and non-nuclear deterrence, competition within the gray zone, and Canada’s role in the changing world order.

We engage with and communicate NAADSN/RDSNAA research to a wide range of contacts within the Defence Team. Formats include:

  • small expert teams that DND/CAF can call upon to provide context, ideas, and advice on emerging issues within 48 hours of a request for information
  • an academic sub-working group of the government-wide Arctic Security Working Group (ASWG), as incorporated in their revised terms of reference
  • regularly updated summaries of academic, think-tank, and news media literature on topics of relevance to DND/CAF policy-makers (eg. Russia, China, NATO in the Arctic, Indigenous peoples’ perspectives on security, Arctic shipping trends, search and rescue)
  • contributions to DND’s Expert Briefing Series, briefings to senior officials (ie. commander JTFN and deputy commander NORAD), and ad hoc meetings (in-person and virtual) with individuals or small teams and Defence Team members

Students and other emerging scholars and practitioners work closely with other NAADSN members to produce accessible “briefing notes” and short podcasts on threats to North America, Arctic security issues, and continental defence that can serve a public education function and, by extension, can broaden and enhance public dialogue.

Our Network

NAADSN’s network structure is a series of relationships – of nodes and ties extending from coast to coast to coast within Canada, while also reaching outside to security partners in the United States and Europe.

Our established network connects through the NAADSN Lead, Dr. P. Whitney Lackenbauer and the Network Administrator, Nicholas Glesby at a main hub (Trent University) and NAADSN Co-Leads at four coordinating hubs (Dr. Andrea Charron at University of Manitoba, Dr. Peter Kikkert at St. Francis Xavier University, Dr. Suzanne Lalonde at University of Montreal, and Dr. Kari Roberts at Mount Royal University.

Our Network Team is comprised of a core group of Network Coordinators, Fellows, Postdoctoral Fellows, and Research Fellows (students). Researchers work in multi-/inter-disciplinary research clusters organized across three scales (circumpolar and international, North America, and Canada) and around specific topic areas. We have developed an agile network structure so that our team responds efficiently to emerging issues and presents relevant and timely advice to the Defence Team.

Our Northern Advisors, comprised of a diverse group of Northern Canadian stakeholders from across Canada’s three northern territories, will ensure that GBA+, Indigenous reconciliation, Indigenous knowledge, and youth considerations inform our research and activities. Furthermore, the next generation of experts and scholars (including students and recent postgraduates) are involved substantively in all NAADSN activities, from research to preparing briefing materials for the Defence Team to public outreach. We continuously engage with Northern Canadians of diverse backgrounds and ages to ensure that they are involved substantively in NAADSN’s Arctic-related projects and activities.

For more on individual network members, please see the NAADSN website.

Supporting the Next Generation of Defence Thinkers

The military’s strength comes from its people. Through NAADSN activities, the next generation of defence thinkers have opportunities to gain exposure to different disciplinary methods and perspectives, work in a supportive team environment, and expand their academic and professional networks.

Students and postdoctoral fellows are directly involved in planning workshops and other events (thus developing their financial management and administrative skills), co-creating and presenting research ideas, and receiving feedback from established NAADSN experts. All of the established scholars in our proposed network have proven experience in mentoring students in advance research and publishing for diverse audiences.

Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars monitor and analyze Canadian and international academic, think-tank, and news media literature so that we can provide up-to-date information on topics of interest to DND/CAF clients in a timely and relevant manner.

NAADSN / RDSNAA funds a one-year (non-renewable) postdoctoral fellowship in each year. In addition to working on projects and events specified in the network overview, postdoctoral fellows are expected to propose, conduct research, and share findings on their own projects that contribute to our understanding of Canadian defence and security, the defence of North America, and emerging major power challenges or threats to Canada’s interests. In turn, they are further mentored by NAADSN / RDSNAA members on research for the purpose of acquiring the professional skills needed to pursue a career path of his/her/their choosing.

The network also supports student research assistant (RA) positions each year, thus directly supporting the MINDS mandate to foster the next generation of defence and security experts by funding  students to conduct policy-relevant research on contemporary defence and security topics. To facilitate their intellectual growth and professional training, RAs associated with the NAADSN / RDSNAA are exposed to advanced research techniques, methods and theories (from various disciplines) in a mutually-supportive, team setting. We see NAADSN / RDSNAA activities as a way to support graduate students in their completion of degree requirements through the acquisition of research training and skills, as well as preparing them for subsequent careers in the Canadian Armed Forces, public service, private sector, or not-for-profit sector. RA responsibilities and training opportunities include:

  • preparing briefing notes and producing succinct summaries of leading-edge ideas and debates in academia, think-tanks, and policy communities
  • gathering relevant data from published primary sources, such as newspapers, parliamentary/congressional debates, committee meetings, and government policy documents
  • managing data to ensure its availability to all of the research team, thus enhancing the students’ digital literacy and teamwork skills
  • preparing and presenting or co-presenting research findings at a conference or workshop
  • producing website content, podcasts, opinion editorials, and other forms of information sharing for public audiences
  • authoring or co-authoring research findings in academic articles or book chapters
  • assisting the research team in setting research agendas and timelines

RAs associated with the NAADSN / RDSNAA have opportunities to develop robust research and communication skills essential for academic and non-academic careers, including applied knowledge of advanced methodological and theoretical tools and interdisciplinary approaches, experience in supporting and/or directly contributing to the publication and dissemination of research, digital literacy, data management and analysis, project management, and workshop and conference presentations. All of these activities take place within a supportive team environment.

Conferences and Workshops

For upcoming conferences and workshops, please see the NAADSN website.