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CFPS » The Maritime Security Policy Program

The Maritime Security Policy Program (MSPP)

The Centre for Foreign Policy Studies is strategically located to act as a focal point to examine the critical issue of maritime security. The MSPP focuses on the importance of both global and national maritime security to Canada's sovereignty and prosperity. The Centre is affiliated via the MSPP with the Halifax Marine Research Institute, Dalhousie's Centre of Excellence on Ocean research.

The MSPP is a long-standing feature of the Centre's research and teaching profile. It takes an inter-disciplinary approach to maritime security by covering the political, legal, defence, regulatory, and management dimensions of maritime security. Activities include:

  • Conducting maritime security conferences and workshops;
  • Publication of the quarterly professional journal the Canadian Naval Review and the hosting of the journal's on-line discussion forum Broadsides;
  • Publication of the Maritime Security Occasional Papers series and occasional monographs;
  • Teaching of at least one maritime security course within the Department of Political Science;
  • Provision of lectures to the Marine Affairs Program and the annual International Ocean Institute Training Program at Dalhousie;
  • Provision of subject matter expert advice and testimony to Parliament, government departments, and the media; and
  • Support to the Centre's Fall and Winter Seminar Series.

Maritime security research activities at the Centre are organized into five thematic areas:

A team leader heads each thematic area within the MSPP. The team aims to:

  • Promotes and coordinates research into maritime security by the Faculty and Research Fellows of the Centre;
  • Promotes cooperative arrangements with other researchers, educators and practitioners outside the centre;
  • Conducts related workshops and simulations; and
  • Contributes to the outreach activities of the Centre.

CFPS hosts two ongoing research projects into aspects of maritime security.

The Regional Maritime Security Project is a multi-disciplinary process in which scholars, military and civil practitioners, government officials and interested members of the public examine maritime dimensions of security in regions around the globe.

The MSPP hosts a senior Canadian naval officer placed in the Centre on a full-time Defence Fellowship under the authority of a memorandum of understanding between the Canadian Forces and Dalhousie University. The holder of the Defence Fellowship is the director of the DND-funded Maritime Security in the 21st Century research project. The Defence Fellow cooperates with and participates in research activities within the MSPP to the mutual benefit of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies.