The Diverse and Dangerous World of Insecurity: Some Personal Reflections

Countries among the advanced economies are shifting their attention, and their financial resources, to dealing with threats that they are convinced are increasingly real. Those threats are not just those of a military attack. They are in the world of cyber and artificial intelligence, propaganda and media manipulation, malware and internet corruption, identity theft, and foreign interference. Social media platforms can quickly become instruments for hate and even genocide, as we have seen in the way Facebook was used by the army in Myanmar to encourage attacks on the Rohingya in Rakhine state. Canada’s understanding of these issues, and how we respond to them coherently and effectively, is growing, but we still need to do more to ensure that we have the deep institutional capacity to respond as threatened. At every step, there will be important questions of how to balance the needs of human and national security with freedom. Fortunately, Canada has a strong appreciation of the role of the courts, and the importance of review and oversight that will be even more needed in the time ahead. The debate about national security needs to happen and is long overdue.