Lee Windsor

Is Canadian Peacekeeping Dead?
March 16, 2011, 7:00 pm, UNB Tilley Hall, Room 102

Since 1995 Canadian participation on traditional United Nations “Blue Helmet” peacekeeping missions has dropped sharply. Many ask whether Canada’s peacekeeping tradition and international reputation are dead.  Others wonder if there is hope of rebuilding that tradition after the Canadian Forces leave Afghanistan.  The national debate surrounding the future for Canadian peacekeeping remains hopelessly black and white while the issues of peace, war, security, and diplomacy are grey.  This lecture searches for answers by considering the past 20 years of change in the way the Canadian Forces carry out the national will abroad. 

Lee Windsor is Deputy Director of the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.  He specializes in Canadian Army history from the Second World War up to and including current missions abroad. In 2007 he accompanied Canada’s Task Force 1-07 for part of its time in Afghanistan.