The evolution and development of the strategic thinking at the Canadian Department of National Defence, 1950-1963

The central focus of this study is to investigate the extent to which Canadian defence officials articulated strategic interests during the early phase of the Cold War, the period from 1950-1963. It demonstrates that such officials not only approached the defence and security issues of the day from a distinctly Canadian point of view, but that they also made important conceptual contributions to the larger field of post-war strategy. The study further demonstrates that Canadian strategic thought was influenced by a range of non-US based factors, including the Western alliance, technological change, the international environment, the Canadian defence policy community, and domestic political considerations. The project has implications not only for the study of Canadian security, but also for Canadian foreign policy, as it contends that the peripheral dependence perspective is poorly suited to explain the reality of Canadian policy choices made during this period. Lastly, the study asserts that policy debates in Canada can be best understood by examining the interaction between state and societal concerns, as a defence policy community emerged that influenced the manner in which defence officials approached certain issues.