Centre for International Policy Studies – Canada's leading centre for analysis and debate of international affairs.

Blog - Exploring the Sinosphere in Taiwan: Insights and Surprises
I spent three months in the spring of 2025 based at National Taiwan University’s Centre for China Studies, examining the question of Taiwan as a springboard for learning about the Sinosphere, by which I refer to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan (officially the Republic of China). I concluded that Taiwan can serve as a valuable platform for those pursuing China competencies and Asian Studies, as well as international relations and global affairs more broadly.

Read the blog by Julia G. Bentley
Universal: Renewing Human Rights in a Fractured World
Alex Neve is the 2025 CBC Massey Lecturer. At a time of a deepening climate crisis, genocide and mass atrocities, and the rapid rise of hate and divisiveness around the world, his five lectures explored what we need to collectively do to renew and strengthen the vital promise of universal human rights. Marking International Human Rights Day, Alex’s talk will offer an overview of the lectures, including the fractured state of our world and a hopeful way forward.

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Blog - Misreading the Taliban: Strategic Evolution and the Consequences for Global Security
For many years, the world viewed the Taliban as a terrorist group whose agenda was limited to Afghanistan. The prevailing assumption was that the Taliban fought Afghan, U.S., and NATO forces with the intention of re-establishing themselves as an Islamic political power within Afghanistan. Many also believed that the group had learned from the failures of its 1990s regime and would shift away from its harsh and repressive policies toward a more moderate approach.

Read the blog by Ajmal Obaid Abidy
Blog - The Complicated Transition in Haiti. What Options Does Canada Have?
The April 3, 2024 agreement between Haitian political parties that had formed the Presidential Transition Council (CPT) a month earlier remains a remarkable governance tool in the quest for a Haitian solution to the current multidimensional crisis. But with two months to go before the end of its implementation, it is difficult to see the results that were set out, in particular the restoration of public security and the organization of legitimate elections.

Read the blog by Stephen Baranyi and Johnny Velcy

Latest From the Blog

Misreading the Taliban: Strategic Evolution and the Consequences for Global Security 0
- Analysis, Events, External
- December 9, 2025
For many years, the world viewed the Taliban as a terrorist group whose agenda was limited to Afghanistan. The prevailing assumption was that the Taliban fought Afghan, U.S., and NATO forces with the intention of re-establishing themselves as an Islamic political power within Afghanistan. Many also believed that the group had learned from the failures

By Ajmal Obaid Abidy
READ MORE