From Failure to Failure
The Canadian Military’s Attempts to Manage Its Sexual Misconduct Crises, 2000–2022
by Allan English

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What should we do when a critical institution says all the right things yet repeatedly fails to live up to its word? In their latest sexual misconduct crisis, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has clearly "failed as an institution to properly address" sexual misconduct. Unless these crises are properly dealt with, they threaten to make the military "irrelevant" in Canadian society. These are the words of General Wayne Eyre, Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff from 2021 to 2024. What does this grim assessment from within the military itself mean for the health and relevance of the Canadian Armed Forces and its culture? Most importantly, what can we do about it? What will it take to turn words into effective, transformative action? To fix any problem, we first need to understand it. In his latest book, From Failure to Failure, Allan English seeks to shed light on the roots of this complex and often obscured problem. Within these pages, English provides a thorough analysis of the CAF’s various attempts from 2000 to 2022 to “manage” the issues surrounding these crises. He especially focusses on Operation Honour, the CAF’s most visible response to the 2015 Deschamps Report, and discusses its place among the CAF’s other responses between 2000 and 2022. Through careful analysis of the CAF’s fundamental culture and assumptions, English goes beyond a simple recounting of the facts to provide practical lessons. Whether you’re an academic, an invested member of the public, or a member of the military, this book is for you. This analysis can not only help you stay informed but also empower you with the critical insights you need to enact practical change.

www.queensu.ca/history/people/english-allan

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Allan English is a professor of history at Queen's University who has been teaching and researching military history for over thirty years, with a focus on military culture and leadership, human behaviour in war, and veteran and family health. Much of his work has explored these topics within a Canadian context, including his 2004 book, Understanding Military Culture: A Canadian Perspective. He was also a co-editor of and one of the authors featured in Why We Fight: New Approaches to the Human Dimension of Warfare (2020), and he contributed a chapter to The Impact of Canadian Military Culture on the Defence Team (2015). Finally, he has also written numerous articles, including “Cultural Dissonance: Ethical Considerations from Afghanistan” (2016) and “Corruption in the Canadian Military? Destroying Trust in the Chain of Command” (2017). For the past eight years, he has presented and written extensively on Operation Honour and the latest sexual misconduct crisis in the CAF. From Failure to Failure is the culmination of this critical research.

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Allan English