NATO – NAOC

Trade Law and the Coordination of Security-Based Trade Measures

As economic security becomes increasingly central to international policymaking, trade law is being reshaped by sanctions, export controls, and other security-based economic measures. In this article, Hassan Ahmed examines how the WTO’s national security exception has evolved from a narrow safeguard into a more routine justification for strategic economic action, and how allied states increasingly coordinate such measures through informal alignment rather than unified legal frameworks. Using examples ranging from semiconductor export controls to sanctions coordination following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the article explores the growing intersection of trade law, strategic competition, and alliance politics, including the implications for middle powers such as Canada.

Centre For Disinformation Studies

Special Report: Iran, Russia, & Hybrid Warfare Influence Operations

In this special report, Soha Sarfraz examines how Iran and Russia use influence operations and information warfare to weaken democratic cohesion across NATO societies. Particularly by targeting key institutions through digital disruption, narrative manipulation, and the covert exploitation of grassroots mobilization. She argues that these campaigns threaten not only institutions themselves, but also the social trust, political consensus, and informational resilience that sustain collective defence, underscoring the need for stronger democratic resilience and alliance-wide responses to hybrid threats.

Centre For Disinformation Studies

How AI-Generated Misinformation Creates Friendly-Fire Confusion Among NATO Allies

How can allied democracies inadvertently amplify each other’s friendly-fire of confusion and panic? What existential threat does this pose to content creators, journalists, or news anchors? Ji Young Kim examines how AI-generated misinformation shapes interpretation in the context of recent geopolitics and modern media culture.

Centre For Disinformation Studies

Copyright as Security: Lessons from Denmark’s Approach to Deepfakes

In this article, Soha Sarfraz explores how the rise of deepfakes is placing new strains on democratic resilience, using Denmark’s developing legal and policy response as a case study of how states may preserve trust and political legitimacy in the age of fake media, Soha examines what lessons Canada might draw from that model. She argues that deepfakes increasingly threaten not only individual reputations, but also electoral integrity and the broader information environment, contending that the challenge is no longer merely a technological, but fundamentally political and strategic.

Previous Events

Event Report – Baltic and Ukrainian Youth on Security and Solidarity

On May 13, 2026, the NATO Association of Canada (NAOC), the Canadian Lithuanian Youth Association, and the Embassy of Lithuania to Canada co-hosted a panel discussion titled “Baltic and Ukrainian Youth on Security and Solidarity.” The event explored the role of youth in supporting Ukraine’s resistance against Russia’s full-scale invasion, countering Russian disinformation, and maintaining transatlantic solidarity with Ukraine. The discussion also examined what NATO countries can learn from Ukraine’s resilience, including lessons on informational resilience, civic mobilization, and rapid innovation in defence technologies. Read the full event report for a detailed overview of the discussion and key takeaways.

Security, Trade and the Economy

Complement or Challenge to Transatlantic Security? Reassessing Europe’s Role in NATO

As Europe advances its pursuit of strategic autonomy, questions are emerging about the future of NATO and transatlantic security. Can a more independent Europe strengthen collective defence, or risk fragmentation? This article explores how alignment and coordination will shape the future of Western security.

Previous Events

Event Report – NATO Climate Change and Security Centre of Excellence Toronto Introductory Event

On May 5, 2026, NATO Association of Canada hosted the Toronto introductory event for the NATO Climate Change and Security Centre of Excellence (CCASCOE). The event brought together military, academic, and civilian experts to examine how climate change is reshaping security, defence planning, and strategic risk. This report provides a detailed overview of the event’s discussions.

Security, Trade and the Economy

Who Pays for Defence? Canada, NATO and the New Architecture of Defence Spending

As NATO allies commit to spending 5% of GDP on defence by 2035, Kaya Dupuis examines how Canada plans to finance its most ambitious military commitment since the Cold War and whether a new multilateral bank can succeed where Victory Bonds once did. Can capital markets do what kitchen-table patriotism once accomplished?

Isabelle Zhu Women in Security

Innovation and Inclusion: Leveraging NATO DIANA to Advance Women in STEM

Isabelle Zhu argues that NATO DIANA can serve as a key platform to uplift women in STEM. By providing opportunities to connect women across the Alliance with the private and public sectors, government, and academia, DIANA has the potential to advance women’s involvement and participation in these fields.

Cyber Security and Emerging Threats

Nuclear Allegations and Rhetoric Continue to Undermine Global Peace

Hope Arpa re-evaluates the logic of nuclear deterrence in the context of nuclear programs allegation’s use to justify interventions. The article considers allegations of nuclear programs as motivators of preemptive strikes, discursive tools to justify intervention politically and socially, and the perception of enemy states as nuclear ambitious causing security dilemmas. The root cause of these conflicts is not necessarily framed as exclusively the nuclear weapons themselves, but the international system’s framing of them as the ultimate ‘self-defense’ tools.