WRITER PROFILE

Adam P MacDonald is an independent Canadian academic specializing in geopolitical developments in the Arctic and East Asia. Investigating the consequences of a naval turn to the Asia-Pacific region for Canada; the 'militarization' of the Arctic; the continued political involvement of the military in Myanmar's democratic transition; and Chinese naval developments are Adam's current academic foci. He lives and works in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Articles by this writer
Over the past half-decade, a growing chorus of former government officials and retired generals have argued that Canada should reverse its long-held position of non-participation and formally join the United States’ continental Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) program. How does that look as we close out 2018?
Rather than ‘revisionist’, a more accurate definition for China is that of an exemptionalist power which exempts itself from global rules and processes.
From its humble origins as a small and primitive coastal auxiliary, China’s navy – the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) - over the past two decades has and continues to undergo an extensive and comprehensive modernization and transformation process to improve existing capabilities.
Concerns are growing over Trump's views and impact on both nuclear-armed states and others (state and non-state) with nuclear aspirations.
Diffusion is happening in an uneven manner, with powerful state and non-state actors vice militarily (where U.S. still dominates).
Diffusion is happening in an uneven manner, with powerful state and non-state actors vice militarily, where the U.S. is still by far the most dominant. Other states are developing niche capabilities that increasingly limit Washington’s freedom to manoeuvre in East Asia.
With growing strategic importance of the region, the five coastal states bordering the Arctic Ocean are watching threats.
Having nuclear weapons clearly creates its own level of deterrence among nuclear powers, great or newer. Is there a risk of such weapons falling into terrorist hands?
Since China became a nuclear power in 1964, they have maintained a small nuclear force. Those assets are being strengthened substantially.
After two decades of accepting American unipolarity, have Chinese leaders decided the relative balance of power, while not equal, has shifted significantly in its favour to the degree that the time to act is now?
The Changing Nature of Power and Polarity in the International System.
China and Russia will be conducting naval exercises in the Pacific and Mediterranean in 2015. What does this latest development in their deepening relationship mean to the West?
Military dynamics in the East Asia region are changing as more states acquire capabilities that challenge America's military supremacy.