In Stand on Guard, Stephanie Carvin sets out to explain the range of activities considered national security threats by Canadian security services today. As new forms of terrorism and extremism appear, especially online, we need a responsibly widened view of such threats and how they manifest in the contemporary world. Canadians should not be more fearful, Carvin explains, but a more sophisticated understanding among security services personnel and the general public is needed if we are to anticipate and ameliorate threats to national security.

As a former security analyst tasked with providing threat assessments to high levels of government, Carvin writes with both authority and urgency. Her book presents an insider’s look at the issues facing the Canadian security and intelligence community. Timely and accessible, Stand on Guard will be required reading for scholars, practitioners, and any Canadian concerned about national security in the twenty-first century.

Stephanie Carvin is an assistant professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University.

Stephanie Carvin's profile page

• Short-listed, The Donner Prize

“Carvin’s book is more than a reminder that the world is not always a friendly place. It is also a plea. It asks that citizens — and, by extension, our elected officials and the security and intelligence services they oversee — take Canada’s national security more seriously than we have of late. ‘Canada finds itself in the most complex threat environment since the Second World War,’ Carvin writes. ‘Global leadership appears to be in flux, and the international order that defends the rules and norms under which Canada has prospered are no longer guaranteed.’ Her point isn’t to scare us but to remind us of our democratic responsibilities.”

<em>Open Canada</em>