The National Security Strategy issued by the Trump administration last Friday isn’t merely a restatement of “America First” principles; it is a codified assertion of unilateral American power within the Western Hemisphere, carrying serious implications for Canada. The strategic heart of this declaration lies in the commitment to “reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine ” in the Western Hemisphere. Although the doctrine’s historical association is with Latin American stability and stemming unwanted migration, its “Trump Corollary” expands the scope to explicitly include preventing “non-Hemispheric competitors” from controlling “strategically vital assets” and, crucially, ensuring America’s “continued access to key strategic locations.” To execute this mandate in the North American Arctic—an area of rapidly intensifying geopolitical and economic competition—the Trump administration is creating the national security justification to take another step towards formalizing C...
A discussion on political, economic and social issues in British Columbia, and Canada