By: Sean Palter Ligang Chen, Consul General (Ambassadorial Rank) of the People’s Republic of China in Toronto, spoke to members of The NATO Council of Canada on February 16 about Sino-Canadian relations in the 21st Century. Chen, a lifelong diplomat, holding positions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China since 1976, has served in Read More…
Sean Palter
Admiral James Stavridis discusses his role as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe
By: Sean Palter Depending on the orbit of the moon, the distance from the earth to the lunar surface is roughly 240,000 miles. While that may seem far to most, to Admiral James Stavridis that distance does not even amount to a year’s travel. The current NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) logged over 300,000 Read More…
Maxed Out: NATO and the Growing Debt Crisis
NATO is the most powerful military alliance the world has ever known. But that power, at its core, is a reflection of the economic might of the nations in the Alliance. In times of dire economic circumstances, the capacity and the motivation to maintain strong armed forces and project military might around the world is Read More…
Lisbon Summit for our NCC delegate
From November 17-20, on the margins of the NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Lisbon, the Atlantic Treaty Association, with the NATO Council of the United States and the Portuguese Atlantic Committee, hosted the Young Atlanticist Summit for young leaders and the future of NATO. Working with the NATO Council of Canada, I Read More…
NATO’s new Strategic Concept
The Heads of State and Government of all NATO member nations met last week in Lisbon, Portugal, along with those of partner nations to discuss a myriad of issues, including missile defense, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Russia-NATO relations and the Alliance’s new Strategic Concept. The Strategic Concept was perhaps the most defining aspect Read More…
The Runaway General Retires
General Stanley McChrystal went gently into that good night Friday, retiring after 30-plus years of military service. There was no ticker-tape parade for McChrystal, who at one time looked to be heading for military and public stardom for his handling of the Afghan war. What occurred instead was a somber ceremony at Ft. McNair, Washington, Read More…
Joint Strike Fighter to replace the Hornet
The next generation of Canadian fighter jets is scheduled to begin arriving in 2016. Canada will be purchasing 65 F-35 Lightning II jets, better known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), from Lockheed Martin to replace Canada’s aging fleet of CF-18 Hornet’s, which are expected to be put out of service by 2020. “The F-35 Read More…