Watching the Bear: Canadian Intelligence Assessments of the Soviet Threat to North America, 1946-1964

By Alan Barnes

Sheds light on the Canadian intelligence community's involvement in Cold War relations.

As the Soviet threat to North America evolved in the early Cold War, the world was watching. What was the view from Ottawa? Watching the Bear begins to tell that story. Alan Barnes, a twenty-five-year veteran of the Canadian intelligence community, draws on recently declassified archival sources to offer a wholly new perspective on Canada's policies for the defense of North America from 1946 to 1964.

After the Second World War, Canada created an independent capacity to produce strategic intelligence assessments, and Canadian analysts worked with their American counterparts to prepare joint appraisals of the looming Soviet menace. Canadian and American conclusions often differed significantly, but Canada's success in negotiating the ensuing tensions was instrumental in ensuring that the two countries developed a common basis for defense planning.

By bringing little-known intelligence documentation to light, Watching the Bear makes a groundbreaking contribution to the history of Canadian intelligence, defense, and foreign relations.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0774871660
• ISBN13: 9780774871662
• Release Date: October 2025
• Publisher: University of British Columbia Press
• Length: 272 Pages