A twenty-first century foreign policy for Canada in the Middle East and North Africa.

Ahmad, Aisha

The security crises facing the Middle East and North Africa are among the most complex and volatile in the world today. These protracted conflicts are shaped by a range of catalysts, including state failure, environmental stress, entrenched criminal war economies, ethnic and tribal hostilities, and ideological extremism. Not only are these highly fragmented conflicts, but the multiple actors in each of these theatres also have transnational linkages that trigger contagion effects across state borders. To understand these new twenty-first century security crises, scholars and policy practitioners alike require modern analytical tools. Gone are the days when Canadian foreign policy experts could rely on classic state-based models to explain and predict global violence. To address these contemporary challenges, Canada must adopt a forward-looking approach to the Middle East and North Africa, which does not shy away from the compound and multidimensional challenges that these complex environments present.

MIDDLE East; AFRICA; CANADIAN foreign relations

International Journal, 2017, Vol 72, Issue 3, p413

0020-7020

Academic Journal

10.1177/0020702017725040