Joe Varner
Joe Varner is the author of Canada's Asia-Pacific Security Dilemma, a former director of policy in the minister of national defence's office and a consultant on defence policy, strategic intelligence and military operations.
Joe Varner's Latest Posts
Russia prepares for war with Ukraine
Ukraine has strayed too far into NATO’s corner, as it did in 2014, and that is something Moscow will not tolerate, even if it means a ground war with NATO. The U.S. has warned that Russia may be preparing for an invasion of Ukraine similar to the one it undertook in 2014. At that time, […]
China’s options to seize Taiwan
There is much in the news lately about an increase in tensions between China and Taiwan. Beijing sees Taiwan as a renegade province that must be reunited with the mainland. This has been a cornerstone of Chinese national security policy since Mao’s Communist Party’s victory over the Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-Shek in 1949 and […]
Iran’s starring role in the May 2021 conflict
The very recent fighting between Israel and the terrorist organizations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) — both banned in Canada as foreign terrorist entities — is not about age-old grievances between Israel and Palestinians. It is about Iran. During Quds celebrations last year, according to the Associated Press, Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei called […]
The Quad: A new NATO?
The “Quad,” short for Quadrilateral Security Dialogue of India, Australia, Japan and the United States, recently held its first major summit to address mutual concerns about Beijing’s behaviour in the Indo-Pacific. The summit’s result could set the stage for a future mutual defence alliance, perhaps akin to NATO. The Quad first met in 2004 to […]
Shifting alliances
Joe Varner looks at the ways in which allies have shifted their priorities, and therefore their allegiances, in the time of COVID-19. Time does not stand still in life and certainly not in international affairs. The year 2020 has been one of change for the world’s foremost military alliance and NATO’s relationship with Turkey. The […]
Iran’s new ‘hard war’ stance
Iran’s experience in the years-long Iran-Iraq War had a profound impact on its threat perceptions, national security strategy and doctrine regarding the use of force. The Iran-Iraq war, which took place between 1980 and 1988, by conservative Western estimates killed 367,000 people, 262,000 of whom are believed to have been Iranian. Officially, Iranian estimates put […]
China’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic
China has come under scrutiny for its handling of the pandemic that began to tighten its now-worldwide grip in January. Joe Varner investigated what has been reported in independent media and what the Chinese government has stated on wide-ranging aspects of the pandemic. At publication time, we are still emerging from almost four months of […]
The dynamic Russia-China duo: Russia and China are actively working to subvert NATO security in an era of political war.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization turned 70 in 2019 and continues to be the world’s most successful military-political alliance, if not the only one. In good news last year, NATO defence spending was up and NATO countries were working to re-arm and improve lagging readiness. But its 70th anniversary was not without its share of […]
How China’s Belt and Road project affects global security
China’s Belt and Road Initiative has several purposes for the emerging superpower: To increase its access to global trade, international development and strategic investment, to up its diplomatic engagement, to isolate Taiwan by buying away the few international friends it has left and to build a constellation of military bases and presence around the world […]
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