Bessma Momani

Thomas Juneau

The Middle East has not, historically, been a first-order priority for Canadian foreign and defence policy. Most major Canadian decisions on the Middle East have come about through ad hoc decision-making rather than strategic necessity. Balancing international obligations with domestic goals, Canadian relations with this region try to find a balance between meeting alliance obligations and keeping domestic constituents content. Middle Power in the Middle East delves into some of Canada’s key bilateral relations with the Middle East and explores the main themes in Canada’s regional presence: arms sales, human rights, defence capacity-building, and mediation. Contributors analyse the key drivers of Canada’s foreign and defence policies in the Middle East, including diplomatic relations with the United States, ideology, and domestic politics. Bringing together many of Canada’s foremost experts on Canada–Middle East relations, this collection provides a fresh perspective that is particularly timely and important following the Arab uprisings.

Canada’s Foreign and Defence Policies in a Changing Region

Middle Power in the Middle East

The book aims to improve our understanding of what it means to create high-quality analytical products by focusing on the concept of relevance for policy-makers. Despite variations in context, strategic analysts in different sectors (in both intelligence and non-intelligence government organizations, private consultancies, think tanks, and academia) face similar problems in identifying the needs of their clients and setting up organizations with the mandates, structures, and personnel necessary to address those needs. The objective is therefore to identify these common challenges, compare solutions, and share lessons learned. To do so, broader thematic reflections on strategic analysis are combined with innovative case studies of how organizations have worked to successfully produce relevant analysis. The first section explores challenges to achieving relevance at the level of the analyst, while the remainder of the book analyses cases at the level of organizations.

Case Studies in Achieving Analytical Relevance

Strategic Analysis in Support of International Policy Making

Stephanie Carvin

Craig Forcese

National security in the interest of preserving the well-being of a country is arguably the first and most important responsibility of any democratic government. Yet, despite the centrality of national security, the study of the intelligence community in Canada has been largely neglected by scholars. Motivated by some of the pressing questions and concerns of citizens, Top Secret Canada is the first book to offer a comprehensive study of the Canadian intelligence community, its different parts, and how it functions as a whole. In taking up this important task, the editors and contributors aim to identify the key players, explain their mandates and functions, and assess their interactions. how they interact with each other. Top Secret Canada features fills a large gap in the literature on Canadian foreign policy, defence, and security. Featuring essays by the country’s foremost experts on law, foreign policy, intelligence, and national security, and will become the it will be a go-to resource for those seeking to understand Canada’s intelligence community and the challenges it faces both now and into the future.

Thomas Juneau

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