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"Has neo-conservatism failed?" by William Watson In the 1990s all Canadian governments experienced a fiscal crisis. In the government sector as a whole, taxes were raised to all-time record levels and the rate of growth of spending was cut in order to eliminate deficits and stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio. It would be wrong, however, to interpret this period of retrenchment as having represented the triumph of neo-conservatism. Canadians have not converted to the small-government philosophy that is at the heart of that political doctrine. How money that formerly went to debt service is allocated will be the true test of current Canadian ideology. There is every chance it will be spent. "Multilateral intervention forces" by Brigadier-Général Robin Gagnon What a military commander wants in an intervention is easy to state but sometimes hard to deliver: a clear mandate, political guidance, a clear end-state, means compatible with expectations, joint military-civilian planning, unity of purpose (including with NGOs and UN agencies), robust intelligence and robust rules of engagement. Establishing this framework for engagement sometimes requires improvisation, as in the UN’s intervention in Hait’s transition in the mid-1990s. "La gouvernance en opérations militaires : nouvelles considérations" by Major-général J.O. Michel Maisonneuve Decentralization and subsidiarity were the watchwords of the 1990s in the military world just as much as in civilian life. The new and difficult peace-keeping situations in which Canada’s Forces find themselves require an officer corps capable of flexible, creative and independent-minded leadership. In fact, these days, officers that have to deal with a number of new constituencies in a non-hierarchical manner are often as not called on to be animators rather than leaders in the traditional sense. "Will Canada's forces have what they need when they need it?" by Brian MacDonald Canada’s military needs are being shaped by rapid changes in both military technology and military strategy. Like most of the rest of the world, our weapons’ sophistication is falling far behind the standard set by the Americans. And yet the budgets available to the military are not sufficient to maintain existing equipment, let alone upgrade it. Public support for military purchases is minimal. It is therefore no exaggeration to talk in terms of the possible death of the Canadian Forces. "Military needs and perspectives" by John Marteinson At the November conference, the discussant for the three preceding papers was John Marteinson, retired colonel and current editor of The Canadian Military Journal. Here is an edited transcript of his comments. "Defence and security: the next generation" by Douglas L. Bland The jobs Canada’s armed forces traditionally were called upon to do have often been difficult, but were at least reasonably straightforward administratively. Since the Cold War, however, the number of individuals and agencies, both governmental and non-governmental, involved in the average mission has increased dramatically. Each case needs to be looked at on its own merits, but neither a completely ad hoc approach nor a permanent national security council would work. What may be needed is an enhanced Department of National Defence. "Que doit-on faire ? Les gouvernements, les médias et l'appui du public" by Jocelyn Coulon The wars in the Gulf and in Kosovo show that, despite what is often thought, democracies can successfully manage difficult military interventions. Among the lessons these two episodes teach are that governments need to be vigorous, resolute and internally united in their leadership, and that they should seek out support in the political opposition and pay careful attention to the media, even if the media’s influence is not as decisive as is usually believed. "Responding to crises: are current policies and practices the answer?" by Julian Harston Doubt is widely expressed whether the United Nations can cope with the large increase in peace-keeping demands that have been made on it in recent years. Experience shows there is every reason to believe that it can. But assuring that it does will require both administrative reforms and a new commitment of resources and purpose from member countries, including some of those now expressing doubts. "The military should get involved in the debate" by Hugh Segal The discussant for the final three papers of last November’s conference was Hugh Segal, President of the IRPP and formerly Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada. Here is an edited transcript of his remarks. "Why do highly-skilled Canadians stay in Canada?" by Don J. DeVoretz and Chona Iturralde In view of the large income gains that highly-skilled Canadians can make by moving to the United States, the real question is not why they move but why so many stay. Econometric analysis suggests, not surprisingly, that the desire to stay increases with age but can be offset when the income gain from moving reaches a critical value that appears to have fallen in the 1990s. The appropriate policy response is to target tax breaks and subsidies on young, highly-skilled Canadians. "Has rising inequality hurt the middle class?" by Robert Frank In January, IRPP and the Centre for the Study of Living Standards co-sponsored a two-day conference on inequality and growth. Most of the papers are available on the CSLS website (www.csls.ca). The luncheon speaker on the first day was Robert Frank, Goldwin Smith Professor of Economics at Cornell University. With Philip Cook, Professor Frank advanced the concept of the “winner-take-all society,” which they developed in their 1995 book of the same name. His latest book is Luxury Fever, which provides an almost Veblenesque analysis of the foibles of the conspicuous consumers of the 1990s. His extremely well received lunchtime talk touched on many of the issues raised in his new book—and also showcased his ability to talk about complex economic problems in an entertaining and enlightening way. He has kindly allowed Policy Options to reproduce his text. "Is the International Space Station really worth it?" by Denis Legacey The ISS is the most ambitious engineering project ever undertaken in history, and is unique in its multi-national cooperation, but at a total cost that is approaching $100 billion it is also one of the most questionable investments ever. Other space exploration and development activities exist whose economic and social benefits to the planet and the country would far exceed those of the space station and they need to be more adequately funded than they have been in the past. "Want a flat tax that might actually might work? Try (gulp!) Russia" by Michael Taube Sorry, the summary of this article is not available. |
