OTTAWA, Aug. 21 -- When General Jennie Carignan takes her seat alongside United States Admiral Samuel J. Paparo in Victoria, British Columbia later this month, she will not simply be hosting a conference. She will be placing Canada explicitly inside the most consequential strategic competition of the twenty-first century.

Canada will co-host the 28th annual Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defense conference in Victoria from August 31 to September 2, the Department of National Defense confirmed Monday. The gathering, which rotates among partner nations and this year centres on what organizers are calling the region's "dynamic" security challenges, draws senior military commanders from across the Pacific rim. Thirty-two countries have been invited ...