By Charles Davies (Originally published by the CDA Institute in March 2016. Re-printed with permission.)
Introduction
A government’s defence policy is not about what it does with its military forces during its tenure; that is a matter of foreign policy or national security policy. Rather, defence policy defines the military capabilities the nation intends to acquire, maintain, or divest and aligns those ends with the necessary ways and means, principally money, over a long time horizon. Consequently, defence policy – unlike many others – has by definition a very long-term focus. Acquiring new capabilities or undertaking major upgrades to existing ones typically takes years,1 meaning that the defence policy decisions of previous governments will largely define the military options the new Liberal government has at its disposal. Similarly, this government’s decisions will define the options available to future governments.
For this reason, it is of critical importance that defence policy development be done well. With the new government embarking upon a comprehensive defence review, a high-level scan of recent comparable exercises in other nations is a worthwhile contribution. While the experiences of others may not translate perfectly into the current Canadian context, they provide insights that are important to consider.
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