Yesterday, I attended an event co-hosted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Association of Canada on gender apartheid by the Taliban’s barbaric regime. It was then that I was reminded of NATO’s strong importance. At a time of worldwide democratic decline – whether that is by despotic and authoritarian governments or the far right – we need NATO more than ever. The rules-based international order is safer with NATO, and indeed, Canada benefits from this collaborative defence agreement.
Before continuing, it is important to acknowledge multiculturalism and pluralism. However, basic human rights are universal. They are granted to us for being human alone. The rules-based international order is founded on a respect for democracy and the rule of law. What is a democracy? An independent judicial branch, separation of powers, full scope of accountability measures, and human rights. Canada is, fortunately, one of these countries. We can freely criticize our government, engage in the political process and vote, all of which is undergirded by a strong human rights regime. A democracy inherently enables a strong civic society.
NATO was founded on this very principle. It keeps democracies united and vigilant against the looming threat of authoritarianism and the host of ills it invites with it—illegal invasions and the violation of international borders, surveillance of citizens, and boosting economies with appalling labour practices. The Taliban, for instance, is further developing social, economic, and political ties particularly with Russia, China, and Iran. Such dealmaking mutually emboldens the threats that such parties bring.
In October 2023, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mèlanie Joly noted that Canada has to be a “door-opener” and “pragmatic” in foreign affairs. There is some merit to this argument; we still require international cooperation for societal issues such as environmental protection. However, this is not enough. Canada needs to rally NATO as a collective to stand in unison for democracy and the rule of law.
The solution is not necessarily military intervention. This was noted in the aforementioned panel—Afghanistan was a failure in many ways because there was not enough engagement with the Afghan people themselves. We also do not need to repeat the failures of American foreign policy. However, this does not detract from the fact that NATO needs to collectively engage with countries outside of its sphere of influence. This means using its combined power and influence to help shape international politics.
NATO’s focus has to expand from mere political and military engagement to broader economic strategy. We are seeing this with NATO’s DIANA (a dual-use economy and defence incubator) and investment programs—particularly in clean energy, AI, manufacturing, robotics, and biomedicine. However, hostile parties continuously develop and monopolize economies built upon a disregard for human rights and the rule of law. Consequently, NATO must build resilient supply chains to demonstrate democracy’s power globally. We are seeing such progress with Canadian agreements with the EU, the UK, the US, and South Korea. But, it has to be done collectively as NATO. The alliance’s formal presence sends a message to the rest of the world.