Security Aid Canada And The Development Regime Of Security

Canada is actively involved through various agencies in the domestic affairs of countries in the Global South. Over time, these practices – rationalized as a form of humanitarian assistance − have become increasingly focused on enhancing regimes of surveillance, policing, prisons, border control, and security governance. Drawing on an array of previously classified materials and interviews with security experts, Security Aid presents a critical analysis of the securitization of humanitarian aid. Jeffrey Monaghan demonstrates that, while Canadian humanitarian assistance may be framed around altruistic ideals, these ideals are subordinate to two overlapping objectives: the advancement of Canada’s strategic interests and the development of security states in the “underdeveloped” world. Through case studies of the major aid programs in Haiti, Libya, and Southeast Asia, Security Aid provides a comprehensive analysis and reinterpretation of Canada’s foreign policy agenda and its role in global affairs.

Drawing on an array of previously classified materials and interviews with security experts, Security Aid presents a critical analysis of the securitization of humanitarian aid.

'A compelling contribution to our evolving understanding of the links between trade, aid and security and what the international community needs to do to ensure peace and development in the world.' Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme 'For far too long the international community ahs stood by while countries around the world descend into conflict and anarchy. We need to understand how we can engage more effectively with fragile and failing states. Trade, Aid and Security is an important step in this direction.' Jan Pronk, Special Representative of the UN General Secretary in Sudan and Former Minister of Development and the Environment, The Netherlands. 'As we begin to contemplate what the post-Iraq world will look like it is vital that we reflect on the limits of the utility of hard power and the importance that development can play in avoiding failed states before they fail, preventing conflicts and more successfully re-building states. This timely book makes a most important contribution to that process.' Lord Paddy Ashdown, UN High Representative for Boznia and Herzegovina, 2002 2006 Leader of UK Liberal Democrat Party, 1988 1999 'As UN Special Representative to the Great Lakes Region of Africa I have seen the devastating impact of the trade in conflict resources with my own eyes. Amongst much else, this book shows how different trade and aid politics can tackle the trade in conflict resources and make a real contribution to secure societies. It is essential reading.' Mohamed Sahnoun, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Central and East Africa. Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur. All resonate loudly on the international stage, exposing and illustrating the intractable links between global security, control over naturals resources be it oil, water, timber or 'conflict diamonds' and the manipulation of foreign aid and international trade policy. This volume, written by leading authorities from across the globe, introduces the linkages between trade, aid and security, and exposes how inappropriate or misused trade and aid policy can and do undermine security and contribute to violence and the disintegration of national states. On a practical level they demonstrate how six key areas of trade and aid policy can be used to help forge stability and security, reduce the likelihood of armed conflict, and assist economic and political recovery in our war-torn world.

An analysis of the ever-evolving nexus of ethics, security and international relations. Organized thematically, the chapters include theoretical and policy-relevant commentaries on Canadian nuclear policy, democratization, human rights, economic development, peacekeeping, and more.

‘In this comprehensive and wide-ranging analysis, McConnon demonstrates the extent to which security concerns have come to pervade the development policies of the three major donor countries.’ —Rita Abrahamsen, University of Ottawa, Canada ‘An original and compelling analysis of the security-development nexus of three donor countries here combined with a closer look at how their policies play out in two recipient countries, Kenya and Ethiopia, which are actually more representative than the usual high-profile cases of Afghanistan and Iraq. McConnon’s application of the risk-management lens is theoretically innovative and insightful. A most welcome contribution to the growing literature in this area.’ —Stephen Brown, University of Ottawa, Canada ‘The argument that security has been brought in to mainstream development policy partly, but not solely, because of the War on Terror is here meticulously detailed. The implication of this is that the security-development nexus is not an abstract idea, but a risk management strategy by the West. Using extensive documentary evidence McConnon provides a very clear discussion of policy that has big implications for theoretical approaches to development and security.’ —Paul Jackson, University of Birmingham, UK This book explores the security-development nexus through a study of the merging of security and development in the policies of the US, the UK and Canada. It argues that instead of framing this relationship as a ‘securitisation’ of development, it is best understood as a form of security risk management where development aid is expected to address possible security risks before they emerge. Rather than a single entity, the security-development nexus is instead a complex web of multiple interactions and possibilities. The work at hand is motivated by the increasingly close relationship between security and development actors, which was a consequence of a number of protracted civil conflicts in the 1990s. These cooperations were presented by donors as a common sense solution to conflict resolution and prevention, with the roots of many conflicts being seen to lie in development problems, and security being considered a necessary condition to allow development projects to take place. However, McConnon concludes that the merging of security and development is still largely driven by conventional hard security concerns.

Security concerns increasingly influence foreign aid: how Western countries give aid, to whom and why. With contributions from experts in the field, this book examines the impact of security issues on six of the world's largest aid donors, as well as on key crosscutting issues such as gender equality and climate change.

Although ODA was for several decades a critical factor in international politics and has been essential in its own right, with the initiation of the WOT, the determinants for the disbursement of ODA are being made secondary to the prerequisites of this war. [...] Even though the traditional development criteria for the disbursement of ODA was sometimes undermined by Cold War competition and the geo-strategic calculations of donors, the end of the Cold War gave way to the emergence of an ODA architecture fundamentally geared toward the eradication of poverty. [...] Following the formation of the "Coalition of the Willing" to garner support for the WOT, there has been a politicization of aid similar to that which surrounded the Gulf War. [...] In the US particularly the argument emerged that, since the anti-communist objective of US ODA benefitted the entire free world, other stakeholders in the free world should share the burden. [...] This culminated in the formation of the Development Assistance Group in 1960, which in 1961 became the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, which targeted the heart of financial and military power in the United States, Canada once again proved its credentials as a key American ally. With the imminent end of its combat role in Afghanistan, however, it is time to take stock of how Canada has adapted to the exigencies of the post-9/11 world and to consider the future directions for its foreign, defence, and security policies. This timely exploration and re-assessment of Canada's approach to strategic affairs offers a diverse set of nuanced, sometimes controversial, and always insightful perspectives on the most pressing security challenges that Canada currently faces. Bringing together noted experts on these issues – including a Canadian Senator, a past Minister of National Defence, former high-level military officers, and top scholars - this collection provides powerful ideas and guidance for the difficult task of formulating an overarching national security strategy.