Canada

North America is secure when we are not caught by surprise. We are best able to protect ourselves when we understand our adversaries’ capabilities and intent, and Canada and the U.S. have long done so with great success. Yet, the interception of a growing number of unidentified objects of various shapes and sizes in Canadian and U.S. airspace – some of which are believed to be of Chinese or Russian origin – shows that we are, in fact, vulnerable. And this is a game-changer.

Recent events have shown America’s foes becoming more brazen in their penetration of the Western Hemisphere; the answer to this challenge lies in our past.

“200 years ago, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars and during the Latin American revolutions, President James Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams promulgated the idea that would come to be known as the Monroe Doctrine. In his seventh annual address to Congress, Monroe declared that “the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.” This message, which also decried the puppet monarchs of European states, was a sea change in how America conducted its foreign policy, asserting a strong stance against foreign interlopers in the Western Hemisphere. For the most part, the doctrine was successful, despite America being far weaker than the European states it sought to constrain.”