In this Indo-Pacific Maritime Hour webinar, YCAPS will host Captain Hugues Canuel, an officer of the Royal Canadian Navy and Defence Advisor at the High Commission of Canada in Singapore, to explore the intricate connection between French sea power and its colonial holdings in the Asia-Pacific region during the turbulent years of 1940 to 1965. Captain Canuel will discuss how France's naval strategy and capacity to maintain control over its overseas territories were impacted by the challenges of World War II, the rise of anti-colonial
movements, and the Cold War. The talk will shed light on the difficulties France faced in balancing its imperial ambitions while shaping an independent naval policy within a strategy of alliances, from war into peace.

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Guest speaker

Captain Hugues Canuel is aserving officer with the Royal Canadian Navy. Currently employed as Defence Advisor at the High Commission of Canada in Singapore, he also served as Defence Attaché in Japan in 2018-2022 following a career that included extensive deployments at sea with the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, a tour with the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan, as well as headquarters appointments with the Directorate of Maritime Strategy and as the navy’s Director of Strategic Communications. He achieved his War College equivalency and completed a PhD in War Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada, where he also teaches virtually as Adjunct Assistant Professor. His doctoral work was published in book form by the Naval Institute Press as The Fall and Rise ofFrench Sea Power: France’s Quest for an Independent Naval Policy, 1940–1963.A second book is forthcoming in 2025, The French Fleet 1939-1942: At War with the Axis, the Allies, and Itself. Captain Canuel is now writing athird manuscript, tentatively titled A Military History of Postwar Japan, 1945-2025.

Moderator: Dr. John Bradford, YCAPS Executive Director

Format: This event will be off-the-record.

Webinar Cost: Free of charge