Speakers
Home / Conference / KCIS 2022 / Gaëlle Rivard Piché
Dr. Gaëlle Rivard Piché
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Dr. Gaëlle Rivard Piché is a strategic analyst with Defence Research and Development Canada. Embedded with the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, she conducts research on a wide range of topics, including threat analysis, defence planning, and the Arctic. She is also a fellow with the Conference of Defence Associations Institute (CDAI) and the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University where she completed her Ph.D. in 2017. She was previously a Fulbright research fellow in the International Security Program at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (2014-2015) and the vice-chair of WIIS-Canada (2017-2020).
As a defence and international security expert, her research spans across a wide range of topics. She co-authored two books on Arctic defence and security: The Newport Manual on Arctic Security (with Walter Berbrick and Michael Zimmerman, November 2022) and At the Gaps and Seams: Canadian Special Operations Forces in the Defence of North America (with Nancy Teeple, forthcoming in 2023). She previously contributed to edited volumes on Canadian foreign policy and Latin American politics, authored policy reports on the legacy of post-conflict interventions, and published her doctoral research in scientific journals, including Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, International Journal, and Études internationales. Her research with Danielle Gilbert on China’s hostage diplomacy and its implications for middle powers was published in the Texas National Security Review in December 2021.
Conference Abstract
Great Power Competition Implications for the Canadian Arctic
Competition among major powers has altered regional dynamics in the Arctic. What constituted the worst-case scenario only five years ago now characterizes Arctic geopolitical dynamics: Russia’s isolation and China’s designation as the US’ pacing defence challenge. Under acute competition on the global stage, the lack of interest and investment in Arctic defence and national security in North America since the end of the Cold War now stands in sharp contrast with China’s and Russia’s posture in the region. If recent announcements in Washington and Ottawa regarding investments in NORAD and continental defence against threats passing through the Arctic intend to rectify this imbalance, it is important to recognize that foreign threats in the Canadian Arctic are unconventional and not necessarily military in nature. Instead, threats are more likely to emerge at the gaps and seams of vulnerabilities that span across domains and sectors of society.
