During my time as the chief of the defence staff, the global security situation changed profoundly, and not for the better. The confluence of security stressors – geopolitical order, climate change, acceleration of technological change and societal dynamics – presented challenges perhaps unique in the long arc of human history. The international order established at the end of the Second World War was eroding. Climate change was spurring conflict, human migration and natural disasters. Rapid technological advance was not only changing the character of war, but also how countries pursue national objectives. Social order was becoming fraught with division. By 2022, especially after Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, I came to believe that we were undergoing a turning point in global security affairs.
I fought for investment in Canada’s defence as international order eroded
