Australia and the UK: Reactions/Responses to events in the Middle East
By Moderator, 21 March 2026
If Canada had to list its three closest friends, the list would probably be the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. It’s possible that the United States won’t make the list for much longer, but the UK and Australia are middle powers from which Canada can learn. It’s interesting, therefore, to look at the view from these countries about the situation in the Middle East. There are some interesting articles examining possible naval responses, scenarios and repercussions. I will mention two of them here.
US President Donald Trump has, in his ill-advised war with Iran, made demands on other countries to sort out the mess in the Strait of Hormuz. The initial reaction from countries he has asked has been lukewarm at best, but the UK seems to be wavering a bit now. There’s an interesting article in Naval Lookout, “If called upon, what assets could the Royal Navy send to the Gulf?” (https://www.navylookout.com/if-called-upon-what-assets-could-the-royal-navy-send-to-the-gulf/). What is the answer to this question? The article outlines the RN’s current naval assets. Based on this, whatever the British Prime Minister decides, he’ll be constrained by the state of the navy -- the surface fleet is a shadow of its former self and any naval assets deployed into the Gulf would be at risk because of inadequate air defence. The article concludes “[i]n addition to the SSN likely already in the region, at best the RN probably could send one frigate, one destroyer, some armed helicopters and a limited autonomous minehunting capability to the Gulf. A couple of warships would not offer a sustained presence or allow contingency for damage, breakdowns, or crew rest. Only in a broad coalition with the navies of many other nations could there be the number of escorts to achieve any kind of strategic effect.”
In terms of Australia, another interesting article -- Jennifer Parker, “Crisis in Middle East exposes Australia’s maritime vulnerability” -- has examined...
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Latest CNR: Vol. 21 No. 3 (2026)
Happy New Year! Now that January is here, we all need something to look forward to – other than bills for all those things you bought for Christmas! Fret no longer, you can look forward to the upcoming CNR issue.
As usual, the new issue of CNR contains a variety of interesting articles. Our first article was the winning essay of the 2025 CNMT Essay Competition. It’s called “Pirates and Partnerships: An Examination of Maritime Non-State Actors,” by Edward Khitab. Khitab uses the example of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to examine the nature and increasing number of maritime non-state actors -- and concludes that the RCN needs to start paying attention to them.
The second article, “The Strategic Utility of Aircraft Carriers in China’s Ambitions in East Asia,” discusses the rapid growth of China’s aircraft carrier capability and how and where Beijing would likely use them in the case of war. The third article is “Why Does Canada have a Navy? Reflecting on the Canadian Leaders at Sea Program.” In this article, the author addresses a simple question that was asked while he was participating in the CLaS program, and considers what a navy represents and why Canada has one. The final essay, “SS Nerissa: A Tragic Footnote to History,” tells the little-known story of the last voyage of SS Nerissa that was sunk by a U-boat while transporting troops and civilians across the Atlantic in the Second World War.
If that isn’t enough to spark your interest, we have our usual Making Waves commentaries. We have a commentary about hydrography in the Arctic. Sound boring? It’s not. If Canada is getting submarines that are expected to operate in the Arctic, Ottawa needs to act now to map the seafloor there. We have a commentary about the many historic discussions about moving the Coast Guard into the defence department. We have a commentary about the unthinkable – i.e., having naval ships that can act as ‘tripwires’ in the event that the United States decides to blockade Canada. We have an account of a conference in Australia, Canadian interest in East Asia, and preparing for Russia in the Arctic.
And, of course, we have our regular columns. “A View from the West” looks at North Korea’s increasing focus on its navy. “Dollars and Sense” examines the defence-related parts of Budget 2025, and “Warship Developments” updates us on several interesting recent naval decisions.
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