A new think tank aims to help Canada think more strategically about defending its sovereignty in a changing world order.
“We need a whole new way of looking at Canada’s foreign policy,” said Vina Nadjibulla, co-founder and CEO of the Centre for Strategic Statecraft, which launched Sept. 8.
The uncertain relationship between Canada and the United States means Canada must be “more diligent” in crafting policies that support sovereignty, she says.
“We have been extremely privileged to live next to a benign superpower,” she said. But the actions of President Donald Trump in his second term have shown Canadians can no longer rely on our geographic neighbour, she says.
The think tank, which is based in Vancouver, has four main priorities: economic resilience and security, AI and quantum technologies, Arctic security and defence, and, finally, relationships between India and Canada.
Each of these areas are related to Canada’s resilience and sovereignty, says Nadjibulla, who previously worked at the Asia Pacific Foundation and has more than two decades of experience in diplomacy, foreign affairs and policymaking.
Emerging technologies will “fundamentally change the way we work,” she said, describing why AI will be a focus of the think tank.
As for the Arctic, it is crucial for Canada’s defence and industries, but often not considered by the general public. Canada needs to understand itself more as a “three-ocean superpower,” Nadjibulla said. The centre plans to work with Indigenous groups as part of its Arctic research.
The think tank will also have a global approach. The India focus is particularly important in building a resilient economy, she says, adding that Canada does not have a well-developed understanding of India, although the world’s most populous nation is also an emerging superpower.
Global focus
The centre, which is a registered charity, does not intend to do all of its work alone. Nadjibulla says she wants it to amplify the work of other organizations.
But while some organizations focus strictly on Canada’s relationships with Asian countries or Arctic sovereignty and security, the Centre for Strategic Statecraft aims to bring all those topics together.
The centre plans to work with similar organizations in Canada and globally, says Nadjibulla.
That global focus is important, says Jonathan Berkshire Miller, a partner at Pendulum Geopolitical Advisory, a strategic advisory firm.
“Sometimes Canadian think tanks are guilty of having Canadians who hang out in Canada and talk to other Canadians about the world, and even though they’re global in some way, they don’t really engage as much globally as probably they should,” said Berkshire Miller, one of the first senior fellows at the centre.
Berkshire Miller has worked at think tanks in Canada and other countries. He says the Centre for Strategic Statecraft is different from many think tanks because of its focus on policy issues of current concern.
The centre is “not thinking about the world as it was 30, 40, 50 years ago,” he said.
At the same time, Canada’s history as a nation that championed peace and human rights is one of the things that drove Nadjibulla, who was born in the Soviet Union, to become a Canadian citizen and eventually found the centre.
Throughout her time working at the United Nations in New York, Nadjbulla says she saw Canada’s “soft power” in action.
From 2018 to 2021, Nadjbulla’s then-husband Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, was detained in a Chinese jail alongside fellow Canadian Michael Spavor. She says she experienced Canadians’ overwhelming support and solidarity firsthand throughout this experience.
Canadian values of diversity, pluralism and respect for human rights are important and need to be protected and preserved, she says.
But Canada also needs to focus on its defence and economy, she says, noting that choosing between so-called “soft power” and “hard power” is not an “either-or choice.”
Both are necessary.
“We also need to be able to build the hard power,” she said.
“You can’t just stand on principle. You also have to be able to defend it.”
