The Torch
Illuminating Security and Defence Issues
Podcasts
What challenges and opportunities will the River-Class Destroyer pose for Canada’s naval strategy?
13 October 2025
The River-class destroyer is needed to address the aging and retiring fleet of Iroquois and Halifax-class warships, whose capabilities no longer meet current and future operational demands. These new ships will ensure Canada maintains a credible naval presence to support national defence, international alliances, and emerging security challenges, particularly in strategic regions like the Indo-Pacific and the Arctic....
How AGI Could Reshape National Security
5 September 2025
How might the emergence of artificial general intelligence (AGI) reshape global security? RAND experts explore the uncertain future of AGI and identify five major security challenges it could bring—from new “wonder weapons” to sweeping shifts in the balance of global power.
Decoding Geopolitics Podcast with Dominik Presl
Why The West Is Losing The Global Shadow War with Iran, Russia and China
27 July 2025 -
With the war in Ukraine still ongoing it's not surprising that conventional warfare usually dominates the headlines but underneath this traditional battlefield there are other types of conflict that are taking place as well.
Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
Canadian Defence in the Carney Era
27 July 2025 -
In this episode of #DefenceDeconstructed we sit down with David Coletto to discuss the current data of public opinions towards Canadian defence and some of the initiatives the Carney government is taking. We look at views of defence spending against Carney himself, his government and the country's political parties.
How the RCN is Preparing for 21st Century Threats: A Conversation with VAdm Angus Topshee
27 July 2025 -
With the Royal Canadian Navy facing urgent demands to grow its workforce, maintain aging ships, and prepare for increasingly complex security challenges in the Arctic and Indo-Pacific, can it balance immediate operational needs with long-term modernization? On today’s edition of the Expert Series, Vice Admiral Angus Topshee, commander of the RCN, joins us for a discussion on the future of the RCN, its challenges, priorities, and evolving role in a more contested global security environment.
The Future of the Five Eyes (FVEY) and Canada’s Role in it
27 July 2025 -
What do recent changes in the United States’s strategic posture mean for the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance? Over the past several months, allies within the Five Eyes have flagged an alarming level of polarization within the U.S. intelligence community. While the alliance has faced challenges before, new difficulties regarding intelligence-sharing dynamics, as well as domestic politics, and bilateral relationships between individual partners have raised concerns. Today, we meet with Vincent Rigby, former national security advisor to the Prime Minister; Dan Stanton, former CSIS intelligence officer and current Director of the National Security Program at the University of Ottawa; and Artur Wilczynski, Senior Strategy Advisor at Samuel Associates, to discuss the challenges Canada faces amidst these shifts.
How Can Canada-Lithuania Defence Cooperation Strengthen NATO’s North?
10 June 2025 -
In today’s episode of the Expert Series, we meet with Egidijus Meilūnas, Ambassador of Lithuania to Canada. Through conversations regarding Lithuania’s current defence buildup, Ambassador Egidijus Meilunas highlights the ways in which Canada-Lithuania defence cooperation can transform the alliance’s north.
Conference of Defence Associations Institute (CDAI)
What Does Securing The Arctic Look Like?
20 May 2025
47 minutes. Faced with heated threats in the Arctic and American uncertainty in bilateral cooperation, Arctic sovereignty and security has emerged at the forefront of security concerns in the recent Canadian federal election. We met with Dr. Andrea Charron and Dr. Whitney Lackenbauer to discuss Canada’s answer to the Arctic question. With the 51st narrative still looming high on Canada’s mind, NORAD cooperation— tasked with protecting the Canadian-American Arctic air space—now faces new threats and stipulations that require the collaboration of Arctic Council allies and definitive Arctic infrastructure development.
Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
U.S. Space Policy
26 March 2025
The proliferation of space debris and a lack of agreed-upon rules threatens the essential benefits of space for commerce and security.