The Houthis are a non-state Shia Islamist politically and military movement, and they have controlled key parts of western Yemen since the Yemenis Civil War broke out in 2014. In response to the recent Israeli attacks on Gaza the Houthis began launching missile and drone strikes at cargo ships entering the Red Sea (shipping destined for the Suez Canal). The Houthis claim to be aiming their strikes at Israeli shipping as a show of support for the Palestinians, but as it’s turned out they seem to be targeting a variety of shipping actors. This threat to global shipping prompted a significant response form the international community, including Canada. Yet, Canada’s contribution (or lack thereof) has highlighted some serious flaws in our current naval capabilities, and frankly in our general military capabilities. Today on the show, we have brought on Christopher Roberts from the University of Calgary to talk about the history of Canada’s involvement in Africa, with a particular focus on our naval contributions in the post 9-11 era. This is a fantastic discussion where we spend quite a bit of time talking about the current state of Canada’ s military in an increasingly volatile world and exploring some of the lesser known Canadian military operations in and around the African continent.
Christopher Roberts is a Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and an instructor in Political Science at the University of Calgary. For over thirty years he's worked on African-related security, business, and development issues. He's currently the administrator of the global African Navies Research Network and has an article coming out, with Rob Huebert, on Canada and African maritime security in the next issue of Canadian Naval Review.
You can follow him on Twitter/X at @cwjroberts.
The CGAI is Canada’s most credible source of expertise on global affairs. Established in August 2001 and based in Calgary and Ottawa the CGAI is a registered charity which comments repeatedly in the media and publishes extensively on defence, diplomacy, trade, resources, and development. You can check out CGAI at their website CGAI.caYou can also listen to their podcasts by subscribing to the show The CGAI Podcast Network.
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S3E5 Mona Parsons – The Wolfville Resister
S3E4 The Battle of Passchendaele
*Repeat Episode* Canada’s House Band: The History of the Tragically Hip
S3E3 A Constitution in Question – The King-Byng Affair of 1926
S3E2 Behold the Golden Harp! The Fenian Invasions
S3E1 The Last of the Mohicans in Canadian History
*Special Episode* Bite and Hold: The Battle for Hill 70 and Lens August 1917
*Special Episode* Canada 150
S2E18 A Bold and Audacious Plan – The Battle for Assoro
S2E17 La Famille Verendrye and the Exploration of the West
S2E16 A Grim Day Indeed: The Halifax Explosion
S2E15 Vimy Ridge Part 2
S2E14 Vimy Ridge Part 1
S2E13 The Komagata Maru
S2E12 A Doukhobor Whodunnit: The Mysterious Death of Peter Verigin
S2E11 William K. Lore – Canada’s first Chinese-Canadian Naval Officer
S2E10 The Fall of Hong Kong, December 1941
S2E9 The October Crisis of 1970
S2E8 Canada’s House Band: A History of the Tragically Hip
S2E7 Feminists or Feared Revolutionaries? The VWC and the Abortion Caravan of 1970
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