Between borders and bodies: Rethinking national and human security

This conversation piece examines how Canada navigates the challenges of national and human security. Drawing on insights from experts in defence studies, foreign policy, international law, and human rights, it explores the financial and institutional costs of sovereignty, the fragility of multilateral alliances, and the prospect of American ambivalence or aggression. Shifts toward ad hoc coalitions, total defence models, and domestic resilience are highlighted, while showing how border regimes, securitization practices, and selective legal enforcement reproduce racialized violence and erode humanitarian norms. The article argues that Canada's security cannot be outsourced or pursued solely through military preparedness; it must be grounded in justice, equity, and the primacy of human rights. Protecting the state, it contends, is meaningless if people within its borders are not safe and free, and security policy must therefore integrate national defence with robust commitments to human security.