What are reasons countries go to war?

Political revolutionGain natural resourcesReligious ideologyTo annex or protect territoryRacism or xenophobiaFor defense reasonsFor money or lucrative gain – weapons,

industry, etc

Lets start by looking at our participation on Afghanistan

Afghanistan- a country used to crisis

USSR invades 1979-89, fails and leaves1989-92 civil war, Najibullah vs. Mujahideen1992- 96 civil war, The Islamic State of

Afghanistan vs. the Islamic PartyTaliban gets involved and rules country 1996-

2001

September 11th, 2001

October 7th, 2001- Bush Attacks

“Operation Enduring Freedom”USA & UK invadeStated goal- Remove Taliban from power,

disband terrorist group Al Qaeda and install democracy

Canada joins efforts in Jan, 2002Increases role in 2006 when we redeployed

to Kandahar province2500-2850 Canadian troops serving in Afghanistan 2011

Canada joins USA & NATO - Cost of war

$100 billion/year for the USA $18 billion/year for Canada ($1500

per household) CBC- 10 Feb 2009 1648 American dead (June 2011) 158 Canadian dead (Aug 2013) and 4

civilians Capt Goddard first female killed in

combat since WW2

WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON CANADA’S ROLE IN

AFGHANISTAN?

DO YOU FEEL MOST CANADIANS HAVE BEEN IN SUPPORT OF THE MISSION?

What do you think?

Canadian public opinion on Afghanistan… changes across time

At the end of 2001, a poll quoted by the Washington Post showed that 74% of Canadians supported the US-led war in Afghanistan

In 2006, as Canada was expanding its presence in the country, a Strategic Counsel poll conducted for CTV News and The Globe and Mail, 54% opposed the war. In Quebec, as much as 70% opposed the war.

A poll conducted on 1570 Canadians in July 2011 for QMI Agency and Sun Media showed 30% of respondents felt the sacrifice was worthwhile, and 58% did not.

Canada’s 4 new roles in Afghanistan

Canada’s engagement in Afghanistan post-2011 is centered on Kabul and will focus on four key areas:

investing in the future of Afghan children and youth through development programming in education and health;

advancing security, the rule of law and human rights, including through the provision of up to 950 trainers for Afghan security forces;

promoting regional diplomacy; helping deliver humanitarian assistance.

Which do you think is most important moving forward?Can you predict any future

consequences?

What do you think?

CRITICAL QUESTION:

Is it important to have allies? Do we have to support them militarily? Explain.

Imagine…

… if a group of protesters held a demonstration in Kingston calling for the resignation of our Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Now imagine that the government dispatched the army to quell the protest and the soldiers fired on the crowd, killing some of the protesters.

How do you think the Canadian public would react? Describe the reaction and the reasons for the type of reaction you described.

How do you think our allies would respond to this kind of incident?

And now Syria

Bashar al-Assad

Became president after his father died following 30 years in charge

‘Arab spring’ spreads to Syria in 2011

Brutal crackdown on “rebels” = civil war

100 000 dead, 2 million refugees

Accused of using chemical weapons on civilians in 2013

CBC News in Review - October 2012“Crisis in Syria”

The same street in Syria

– 3 years apart.

Syria in Crisis

Population

22,457,336 (July 2013 estimate)

Religion74% Sunni Muslim, 16% other Muslim (includes Alawite

and Druze), 10% Christian

Age22.7 median age. One-third of the population is under 15, while 3.9% is over 65.

EthnicityArab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians and other 9.7%

Suspected Chemical Weapons Sites

Interactive Refugee Sites

Photo: A man wears face paint and carries the Syrian flag in 2011. (Mohammad Hannon/AP)

UN intervention?

UN security council (15 countries): 5 permanent- USA, Russia, UK, France, China 10 rotating

5 permanent members get a veto vote

UN intervention?

Russia won’t allow intervention

UN can’t actShould the US act alone?

May 2013

What is Canada saying?

“Since the start of the Syrian uprising in March of 2011, Canada has worked to support the Syrian people. We have been active in calling on the international community to come together and defend the rights of the Syrian people to determine their own future”. Canada has also given generously to the various international

efforts :-Canada has provided $316.8 million in humanitarian,

development and security assistance in response to the Syria crisis

-$158.5 million to address the urgent needs of up to 6.8 million conflict - affected people (including 3.1 million children)

-$4.75 million to address threats related to chemical or biological weapons arising from Syria

-Canada is providing Jordan with $100 million over the next three years in development and security assistance, including $12.5 M to mitigate the threat posed by Syria's stockpile of weapons of mass destruction

Canadian Foreign Affaris website- http://www.international.gc.ca/international/syria-syrie.aspx (5 Sept 2013)

What do you think?

Let’s consider Cause and Consequence again; should everyone just leave everyone else alone?

Canada as Peacekeepers

1956, Suez Crisis Lester B. Pearson (Minister of External Affairs) 1957 Nobel Peace Prize, “Saved the world”

Continued heavy involvement through the 60’s and 70’s

Is Canada Still a Peacekeeping Nation?

Most recently (2000-2009) Canada has had limited involvement in Darfur, Sudan, Haiti, and Timor. Taking a lead role in none of these operations.

Read article “From Peacekeeper to War Fighter”What are the causes of our shifting role? What could the consequences be?

HOW MUCH DOES CANADA GIVE IN FOREIGN /

HUMANITARIAN AID?

What about Foreign Aid instead of military

intervention?

What are pros and cons of Foreign Aid?

For Against

Emergency aid in times of disaster saves lives.Aid can increase the dependency of LEDCs on donor

countries. Sometimes aid is not a gift, but a loan, and poor countries may struggle to repay.

Aid helps rebuild livelihoods and housing after a disaster.

Aid may not reach the people who need it most. Corruption may lead to local politicians using aid for their

own means or for political gain.

Provision of medical training, medicines and equipment can improve health and standards of living.

Aid can be used to put political or economic pressure on the receiving country. The country may end up owing

a donor country or organization a favour.

Aid for agriculture can help increase food production and

so improve the quality and quantity of food available.

Sometimes projects do not benefit smaller farmers and projects are often large scale.

Encouraging aid industrial development can create jobs and improve transport infrastructure.

Infrastructure projects may end up benefiting employers more than employees.

Aid can support countries in developing their natural resources and power supplies.

It may be a condition of the investment that the projects are run by foreign companies or that a proportion of

the resources or profits will be sent abroad.

Projects that develop clean water and sanitation can lead to improved health and living standards.

Some development projects may lead to food and water costing more.

(Less Economically Developed Countries)

In summary…

READING

MACLEANS MAGAZINE APRIL 2012 – CANADA’S DECLINING AID

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF OUR DECLINING AID? WHAT MIGHT THE

CONSEQUENCES BE?

Total Canadian International Aid 2011-2012

LINK:Check out details on Canada's Foreign Aid

Humanitarian Aid 2011-2012