Geostrategy and Canadian Defence: From C.P. Stacey to a Twenty-First Century Arctic Threat Assessment

摘要

Geostrategy is the study of the importance of geography to strategy and militaryoperations. Strategist Bernard Loo explains that “it is the influence of geography ontactical and operational elements of the strategic calculus that underpins, albeitsubliminally, strategic calculations about the feasibility of the use of military forcebecause the geographical conditions will influence policy-makers’ and strategicplanners’ perceptions of strategic vulnerabilities or opportunities.”2 By extension, thegeographical size and location of a country are key determinants in shaping the waythat political decision-makers and military leaders think about strategy. 3Operationalizing this approach, however, is more complicated than it may appear.