Bercuson, David JayMcAuley, William2017-08-292017-08-2920172017McAuley, W. (2017). Beyond Delusions of Grand Strategy: A Centrifugal National Security Strategy for Canada (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25114http://hdl.handle.net/11023/4043Canadian ‘grand strategy’ is a dangerous illusion. Just as even the brightest headlights have limited utility on a winding road, the common model of grand strategy is more myth than magic. Advocacy for the common linear conception of grand strategy as the solution to a complex contemporary security environment is misguided. This ‘Newtonian’ form of grand strategy has little utility for Canada. Traditional perceptions of grand strategy must be modified to account for a Canadian condition in which the ability to achieve adaptive advantage at the periphery supplants a central vision. The challenge for the forward looking national security policymaker is not how to impose a particular grand strategic objective on an uncontrollable environment, but to continually adapt and co-evolve with that environment in a manner that best satisfies specific interests. This work explores the utility of the grand strategy within a Canadian context. Intended to have resonance for contemporary policymaking, the behavioural phenomenon of grand strategy is examined with respect to its utility for real-time policy and strategy making in Canada. The assumption that the common concept of grand strategy has utility for Canada will be challenged on the grounds that it fails to account for the complexity of the Canadian policymaking environment. It will be shown that Canada has a more natural form of national security strategy that, rather than being based on a central vision, relies upon the optimization of emergent behaviour within a complex adaptive system. This unique form of national security strategy is characterized as being centrifugal rather than centripetal. Identification of this model illustrates fatal flaws in the common conceptions of Canadian grand strategy and provides greater utility for real-time Canadian policymaking in the contemporary national security environment.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.History--CanadianHistory--MilitaryMilitary StudiesPolitical Science--International Law and RelationsPublic AdministrationSociology--Organizationalgrand strategyMilitary Strategynational securitynational security strategyCanadian Defence PolicyCanadian Foreign Policycomplex adaptive systemsAfghanistancounter-terrorismeconomic subversioncyber-securityemergent strategyCanadian grand strategylinkagefunctionalismnational interestadaptive advantagedoctoral thesis10.11575/PRISM/25114