Fresh out of Barnard College with a degree in political science, Riley is learning the ropes as a writer and reporter for GZERO. When she isn’t writing about global politics, you can find her making GZERO’s crossword puzzles, conducting research on American politics, or persisting in her lifelong quest to learn French. Riley spends her time outside of work grilling, dancing, and wearing many hats (both literally and figuratively).
It will come as no surprise that there's a massive gap between the military assets and capabilities of the US and Canada. After all, no country in the world spends more on defense than the US. But Canada has been getting flak from NATO for falling short of the alliance’s 2% of GDP defense spending guideline. The most recent numbers show Canada’s military expenditures at 1.38% of its GDP. And amid myriad global crises and conflicts, Canada’s Defense Department has been targeted with budget cuts. Is the Canadian government doing enough to strengthen its military?