On Defence and Security

"To sharpen NATO’s technological edge and provide decisive defence and security effects, DIANA (Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic) works innovators, end users and Allied nations to find, accelerate and promote the adoption of emerging and disruptive technologies." CIDP Director and host of today's podcast Michael Murphy sits down with Acting Managing Director of NATO DIANA Jyoti Hirani-Driver to discuss more on the program as well as Canada's participation in it.

Jyoti Hirani-Driver has been the Chief Operating Officer of NATO DIANA since January 2024, and is responsible for overseeing the Accelerator Programme, establishing business performance and risk management, and identifying and implementing improvements across the organisation. She is also responsible for the HR function and establishing the DIANA Regional Hub in Estonia and the DIANA Regional Office in Canada.

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Is all this AI talk making us (in)secure? Our host Amarnath Amarasingam sits down with Yannick Veilleux-Lepage (Royal Military College of Canada) and David Wells to discuss the security challenges that Artificial Intelligence poses, and how might it be something we need to worry about.

Dr. Yannick Veilleux-Lepage is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the Royal Military College of Canada. His research explores the intersection of technology, ideology, and political violence, with particular focus on terrorist innovation, online propaganda, and the use of emerging technologies by violent extremist organizations. He has published extensively on topics including the adoption of 3D-printed firearms by extremist actors, the role of technological convergence in terrorist threat evolution, and the use of evolutionary theory in understanding terrorist behavior.

David Wells is an independent global security expert, who was most recently Head of Research and Analysis at the UN Counter-Terrorism Directorate in New York, managing the team who monitor global security and geopolitical trends for the Security Council. Prior to joining the UN in 2017, David worked in a variety of policy and research roles in Australia and the United Kingdom, and began his career working for UK intelligence agency GCHQ between 2005 and 2013, including two years as a UK counter-terrorism liaison officer to Australia. David was a Research Associate at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in 2016.

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Alberta and separation, it’s not the first time we hear about it, so why does it matter now? Our host Amarnath Amarasingam sits down with Amy Mack (University of Lethbridge) and Robert Currie (Dalhousie University) to discuss today’s topic, as they check the temperature in the room whether Alberta really does want to separate, and what it would mean for Canada?

Amy Mack is Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Digital Extremism and Assistant Professor in New Media at the University of Lethbridge.

Robert Currie is a specialist in the area of international and transnational criminal law, and he teaches a seminar course in this subject. His 2010 book, International and Transnational Criminal Law, was shortlisted for the Walter Owen Book Prize for Outstanding Legal Literature in 2011 and the fourth edition will be published in 2026. He has authored and co-authored numerous articles and comments in this field and his work is regularly cited by Canadian courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada.

Robert's article: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2026/02/alberta-separation-illegal/

Project mentioned: https://www.commongroundpolitics.ca/focus-groups

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CIDP Director and host of today's episode Michael Murphy is joined by Anessa Kimball, Professor of political science in international relations at Université Laval. They sit down to discuss Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy through its new budgetary pledge of 5% total defence spending, the challenges it faces, and if it's even possible to achieve.

Anessa L. Kimball (prof/they/iel) is a professor of political science in international relations at Université Laval, Québec, Canada, where they have been on faculty for nearly two decades. Since 2019, Kimball has directed the Canadian Defence and Security Network, a federally funded partnership research network. Their research combines rational institutional design and collective action approaches with different statistical methods and machine-coded (interview and international agreement) content analysis to examine how states resolve strategic problems (distribution, commitment, uncertainty) through the design of informal defence and security arrangements alongside NATO and issues of defence burden sharing, procurement, and international cooperation.

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US Army War College Visiting Defence Fellow and host of today's episode LTC Nicholas Currie is joined by today's guest MGen Chris McKenna (Commander of 1 Canadian Air Division). They will discuss joint operations in Canada and abroad, defending the homeland, and defence modernization. Major-General (MGen) McKenna joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1994, initially as an Army Reservist, and then attended the Royal Military College of Canada receiving his degree in Chemical and Materials Engineering in 1999. He also holds a Master’s degree in Defence Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada (2013). MGen McKenna earned his RCAF Pilot wings in 2002 and served as a Rotary Wing Tactical Aviation and Special Operations Aviation pilot in the RCAF. He has commanded at the Flight, Squadron, Wing, and Task Force level and has served in a variety of command and staff positions including postings in CANSOFCOM units, RCAF HQ and in the Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC) HQ.

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Host Michael P.A. Murphy is joined by our guest Philippe Lagassé, Associate Professor, Barton Chair in International Affairs, Carleton University. Phillipe is co-editor of the CFPJ.

Canadian Foreign Policy Journal ( CFPJ ) is a fully peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal published three times a year by the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University, in Ottawa, Canada. Established in 1992, CFPJ is now one of Canada’s leading journal of international affairs.

Canadian Foreign Policy Journal: https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rcfp20

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Host Michael P.A. Murphy is joined by our guest Ori Swed, Associate Professor, Texas Tech University. Ori is Editor-in-Chief of the Armed Forces & Society Journal.

Armed Forces & Society: an interdisciplinary journal publishes articles quarterly on civil-military relations, veterans, force effectiveness and diversity, military culture, officer education and training, military institutions, ethics, unit cohesion, military families, peacemaking, privatization, public opinion, and conflict management. The journal is international in scope with a focus on interdisciplinary and policy discourse. The editors and contributors include political scientists, sociologists, psychologists, legal scholars, historians, and economists, as well as specialists in military organization and strategy, and peacekeeping.

Armed Forces & Society Journal: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/AFS

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CIDP Associate Director and host of today's episode Amarnath Amarasingam is discussing Genocide, the crime of crimes, with guest Mark Kersten, assistant Professor in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia.

Mark Kersten is an Assistant Professor in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, and a Senior Consultant at the Wayamo Foundation in Berlin, Germany. He has a law degree from McGill University (2022) and a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics (2014). Mark is the author of numerous academic articles and the book, Justice in Conflict. He runs a blog by the same name. From 2023-2024, Mark worked as a legal researcher for the Office of the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools, focusing on the application of international criminal law and human rights law, the primary areas of his expertise and research.

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Host Michael P.A. Murphy is joined by our guests Asa McKercher, Steven K. Hudson Research Chair at St Francis Xavier University, and Leah Sarson, Director, Centre for the Study of Security and Development, Dalhousie University. Both Asa and Leah are editors at International Journal.

Founded in 1946, International Journal (IJ) is Canada’s pre-eminent journal of global policy analysis. Published in conjunction with the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History (CCIH), it combines brief, policy-relevant articles with longer, peer-reviewed, scholarly assessments of interest to foreign policy makers, analysts and academics in Canada and around the world. 

International Journal: https://thecic.org/research-publications/ij/

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CIDP Fellow and host of today's episode H. Christian Breede is joined by our guest Commander Peter MacNeil (Commanding Officer, HMCS Ville de Québec) to discuss his experience on the sea, what leadership means to him, and the influence technology has on strategy and planning.

Commander Peter MacNeil grew up in a small town in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces as a Naval Warfare Officer in August 2001. Upon completion of the Fleet Navigating Officer(FNO) course, Commander MacNeil served as Navigating Officer in HMCS Montréal, Weapons Officer and Combat Officer in HMCS Halifax, and Combat Officer in HMCS Iroquois for her final Tiered Readiness Programme to High Readiness, including Iroquois' final Standard Missile firing in 2012. In 2018 Commander MacNeil received his first command, in HMCS Glace Bay. This was followed by an appointment as Executive Officer and then Commanding Officer of HMCS Charlottetown, and in 2024, he was appointed Commanding Officer of HMCS Ville de Québec, a position he still holds today.

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