Backtalk: Implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in the Canadian Armed Forces

Abstract

This dissertation examines the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). It argues that the gender equality norms contained within UNSCR 1325 have been distorted by the discursive framework used to achieve buy-in within the masculinized culture of the CAF. Fearing backlash prompted by unpopular past gender integration initiatives, a discourse of operational efficacy was used to introduce UNSCR 1325 to the Canadian military. This discourse functionally separated UNSCR 1325 from past and present initiatives designed to challenge the dominance of militarized masculinity in the CAF. The problematic culture of the CAF was further emboldened by a conservative political opportunity structure under the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, under whose governance the first Canadian National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 (2010-2016) was drafted. The Harper administration advanced a reimagined Canadian nationalism that emphasized NATO engagement in Afghanistan at the expense of Canada's liberal internationalist past, further pulling Canadian public sentiment and resources away from the United Nations.