Canada and Ballistic Missile Defence, 1954-2009: Déjà Vu All Over Again

by James G. Fergusson

Overview

Since the mid-1950s, successive Canadian governments have responded to US ballistic missile defence initiatives with fear and uncertainty. Officials have endlessly debated the implications – at home and abroad – of participation. Drawing on previously classified government documents and interviews with senior officials, James Fergusson offers the first full account of Canada’s unsure response to US initiatives. He reveals that factors such as weak leadership and a tendency to place uncertain and ill-defined notions of international peace and security before national defence have resulted in indecision. In the end, policy-makers have failed to transform the ballistic missile defence issue into an opportunity to define Canada’s strategic interests at home and on the world stage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780774817509
Publisher:	University of British Columbia Press
Publication date:	05/18/2010
Series:	Studies in Canadian Military History
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

Preface

Prologue – What’s with Defence?

Act 1 – Anti-Ballistic Missiles: Don’t Worry, Be Happy (1954-71)

Act 2 – The Strategic Defence Initiative: Much Ado About Very Little (1972-85)

Act 3 – Global Protection Against Limited Strikes: Too Close for Comfort (1986-92)

Act 4 – National Missile Defense: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (1993-2000)

Act 5 – Ground-Based Mid-Course Defense: Is this the End? (2001-05)

Epilogue – Forward to the Past (2005 and Beyond)

Notes

Bibliography

Index

What People are Saying About This

Danford Middlemiss

This is the first attempt to tell the full story of Canada's policy regarding ballistic missile defence. Fergusson lives and breathes this topic and, in this book, he demonstrates an unsurpassed personal experience and knowledge of all the relevant government documents and academic literature, from Canada, the US, and elsewhere. He is 'Mr. BMD' in Canada, and few can approach his expertise. His book is a much-need corrective to the biased and often ideologically based accounts dealing with different aspects of Canadian policy-making in this area.

Joseph Jockel

This is important scholarship. It is the first history of Canada and ballistic missile defence, placing the most recent debates in the context of more than fifty years of developments and revealing recurring (and lamentable) patterns of Canadian decision making. Moreover, it also sheds needed light on Canadian involvement in NORAD, Canada-US relations more broadly, and how important defence decisions are made in Canada.

From the Publisher

"This is the first attempt to tell the full story of Canada's policy regarding ballistic missile defence. Fergusson lives and breathes this topic and, in this book, he demonstrates an unsurpassed personal experience and knowledge of all the relevant government documents and academic literature, from Canada, the US, and elsewhere. He is 'Mr. BMD' in Canada, and few can approach his expertise. His book is a much-need corrective to the biased and often ideologically based accounts dealing with different aspects of Canadian policy-making in this area."—Danford Middlemiss, co-author of Canadian Defence: Decisions and Determinants

"This is important scholarship. It is the first history of Canada and ballistic missile defence, placing the most recent debates in the context of more than fifty years of developments and revealing recurring (and lamentable) patterns of Canadian decision making. Moreover, it also sheds needed light on Canadian involvement in NORAD, Canada-US relations more broadly, and how important defence decisions are made in Canada."—Joseph Jockel, author of Canada in NORAD, 1957-2007: A History

Editorial Reviews

This is the first attempt to tell the full story of Canada's policy regarding ballistic missile defence. Fergusson lives and breathes this topic and, in this book, he demonstrates an unsurpassed personal experience and knowledge of all the relevant government documents and academic literature, from Canada, the US, and elsewhere. He is 'Mr. BMD' in Canada, and few can approach his expertise. His book is a much-need corrective to the biased and often ideologically based accounts dealing with different aspects of Canadian policy-making in this area.
- Danford Middlemiss, co-author of Canadian Defence: Decisions and Determinants

This is important scholarship. It is the first history of Canada and ballistic missile defence, placing the most recent debates in the context of more than fifty years of developments and revealing recurring (and lamentable) patterns of Canadian decision making. Moreover, it also sheds needed light on Canadian involvement in NORAD, Canada-US relations more broadly, and how important defence decisions are made in Canada.
- Joseph Jockel, author of Canada in NORAD, 1957-2007: A History

From the Publisher