Drawing on extensive interviews and records from Canada, NATO, the US, and Germany, The Price of Alliance balances high politics with military requirements in the first major reappraisal of Pierre Trudeau’s defence policy. For forty years during the Cold War, Canada garrisoned troops and tanks near the Iron Curtain. In the late 1960s, Pierre Trudeau announced plans to remove these tanks and focus on home defence, but allies resisted this decision. After six years of overt and subtle pressures, Trudeau was at last convinced that Canadian tanks in Europe were necessary to support foreign policy objectives. The Leopard tanks, purchased in 1976, symbolized an increased Canadian commitment to NATO and came with the promise of billions of dollars for new armoured vehicles, aircraft, and ships. Addressing the struggles of the military to equip itself within the constraints of a declining budget and reduced personnel levels, Frank Maas illuminates the problem of defence policymaking in a multi-country alliance as well as the opportunities and difficulties of defence procurement. At the same time, he challenges the relevance of NATO to Canada – and the influence that Canada wields within it. | The Price of Alliance by Frank Maas, Paperback | Indigo Chapters