CIPS

Canadian Foreign Policy, Middle East, Refugees

Syrian Refugees and Canada’s “Defining Moment”: One Year On

Report
December 7, 2016

By Elke Winter, Benjamin Zyla, Charlotte Murret-Labarthe

University of Ottawa

Origins of the crisis

In March 2011, three months after the Arab Spring began in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, fifteen Syrian schoolchildren were arrested and tortured for writing on a …

Gender and Peacebuilding: Trudeau Can Do More to Support Gender Rights in Africa

Analysis
December 1, 2016

By Dr. Annie Bunting

With the Canadian government about to confirm the deployment of peacekeepers to Africa (likely to Mali), and Prime Minister Trudeau’s recent visit to Liberia and address to the Francophonie on the centrality of the rights of …

Canadian Foreign Policy, International Development, Women, Gender, Gender, International Development, International Security, United Nations, Canadian Foreign Policy, International Security, United Nations, Women

We Must Not Close the Doors to Spontaneously Arriving Asylum Seekers

Analysis
November 8, 2016

By Stephanie J. Silverman

Governments understandably focus on enhancing security, surveillance, and risk management for their citizens, and as we have seen, particularly since 9-11, much of this increased attention is directed at national borders. While every person enjoys the …

International Security, Refugees

Working Towards a Trinity of Trust: A Few Suggestions on National Security Reform in Canada

Analysis
November 3, 2016

by Stephanie Carvin

A year after its election, the Trudeau Government is now taking steps to fulfill its campaign promises to improve intelligence oversight in Canada and reform Bill C-51 — the Harper Government’s controversial terrorism legislation. So far, there …

Canadian Foreign Policy, International Trade

The European and Canadian public needs a reasoned debate on CETA

Analysis
October 26, 2016

This is an open letter to Europeans and Canadians signed by 16 academics based in Canada who believe in the value for democracy and society in a more reasoned and balanced debate on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) …

Between Past and Future: Canada’s Next Role in International Democracy Assistance

Analysis
July 29, 2016

by Gerald J. Schmitz

Where can Canada go from here in re-establishing its role as a partner in promoting democracy? Let us focus on four main areas: Parliament’s role, research capacity, stable funding, and healthy democracy at home.

Parliament’s Role

…

Canadian Foreign Policy, Democracy

A New Era for Persons with Disabilities and International Development?

Analysis
May 13, 2016

by Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo

Momentum behind the disability-inclusive development agenda is at an all-time high — and growing. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the key international document, now has 163 States-Parties. Additionally, the Addis Ababa …

Disability, International Development

Intersectionality and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Global Development

Analysis
April 28, 2016

by Julianne Acker-Verney, Pamela Johnson, and Susan Manning

Intersectionality is a tool that can guide researchers, policy makers, and practitioners to learn about and respond to the diverse experiences of women and men, girls and boys with disabilities and the …

Disability, International Development

Disability and Development in Africa: What Role for Canada?

Analysis
April 21, 2016

by David Black

It has become widely accepted that the previous Conservative government sharply diminished Canada’s focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Against this backdrop, the new Liberal government has signalled its intent to re-engage.

There are several problems with …

Africa, Canadian Foreign Policy, Disability, International Development

W.E.B. Du Bois: From Global to Transnational Justice

Analysis
April 7, 2016

By Inés Valdez

Theories of global justice spring from a genealogy of internationalism that includes the Parliament at The Hague, the League of Nations, and the United Nations. These theories rely on a conceptualization of the West as homogeneously affluent, …

International Development, International Law

Bringing Canada “Back” for the Long Haul

Analysis
March 10, 2016

By Margaret Biggs and John McArthur

This week Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will lead a delegation to Washington with great fanfare. Like many of our fellow Canadians, we are excited to see the outcomes of the country’s first White …

International Law, Middle East

Slow and Costly: The Crisis Confronting Internationalized Criminal Justice

Analysis
March 6, 2016

By William Wiley

Internationalized criminal justice is in crisis — a crisis laid bare by the limited criminal-justice response to the conflict in Syria and, more widely, the struggles endured by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International …

It Had to Happen: China Finally Gets Tough on North Korea

Analysis
March 4, 2016

By David Slinn

China was always going to get tough with Kim Jong-Un’s North Korea. It wasn’t a question of whether, but when.

North Korea is supposed to be China’s buffer against South Korea and the US. Until DPRK started …

Ending Poverty by 2030: Sharing Prosperity with the Bottom 40%

Analysis
March 1, 2016

By Christopher Lakner, Mario Negre, and Espen Beer Prydz

While the world has seen a rapid reduction in extreme poverty in recent decades, the goal of “ending poverty” by 2030 remains ambitious. The latest estimates show that in 2012 almost …

Information Might be the Key to Dealing with North Korea’s Nuclear Threat

Analysis
February 18, 2016

By David Slinn

Dealing with North Korea is not easy. Dealing with a dictatorship never is. It took the West 45 years to overcome the challenges posed by the Soviet Union.

North Korea has now developed into a serious threat …

Interview: Margaret Biggs and John McArthur – Welcoming a new era of global development

News
February 2, 2016

This post originally appeared on the Open Canada blog.

In the months following the election of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, there has been much debate in academic and public policy circles as to what Canada’s priorities should be when …

La Turquie, est-elle destinée à durer ?

Analysis
January 27, 2016

par Halil Karaveli

La Turquie était censée représenter un « modèle » pour le Moyen-Orient. Pour l’Occident en quête d’un antidote à l’islamisme, le pays a incarné les espoirs de laïcité et de démocratie: La preuve qu’un pays puisse être …

Middle East

Turbulent Times: Volatility in Foreign Policy

Analysis
January 20, 2016

By Eleonora Mattiacci, Amherst College

In 2015, two momentous rapprochements took place on the international stage. In July, the United States and Cuba restored diplomatic relations. In December, Pakistan hosted a surprise visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, …

Canadian Foreign Policy, International Trade

‘Are there any women here?’ Gender Representations in Hyena Road.

Analysis Analysis
December 11, 2015

Pete (Paul Gross), Ryan (Rossif Sutherland), and Jennifer (Christine Horne) in Hyena Road

By David Mutimer

In 2010 Christopher Dornan argued that “Alone among G8 nations, Canada apparently has no great appetite for making war movies.” While that observation is …

Gender, Middle East, Women

Welcoming Syrians, detaining others

Analysis
December 8, 2015

By Philippe Bourbeau

The newly elected Trudeau government seems to be moving quickly on one of its promises made during the federal election campaign: to accept 25,000 Syrians by January 1, 2016.

On November 9, while announcing the formation of …

Human Rights, Middle East, Refugees

Working group on International Trade and Commerce

Report Report
November 17, 2015

What are the principal international trade and commerce challenges facing Canada—and how should Canada respond? CIPS convened a working group of seasoned policy experts and asked them to answer these questions. Their report, based on months of deliberation and consultation, …

Working Group on International Development

Report Report
November 15, 2015

The world is in the midst of a complex and dramatic set of transformations. The traditional view of “international development” as solely a matter of charity and moral importance, secondary to Canada’s hard interests, is long outdated. The complex, inter-related …

Canadian Foreign Policy, International Development

Working Group Report on Human Rights in Canadian Foreign Policy

Analysis, Analysis, Report
November 9, 2015

A new Canadian government has been elected. What should it do to promote human rights in its foreign policy? How can Canada best contribute to global efforts to protect human rights? CIPS convened a working group of seasoned policy experts …

Human Rights

Working Group Report on Canada’s International Security and National Defence Policy

Report Report
November 4, 2015

What are the principal security and defence challenges facing Canada, and how should Canada respond? CIPS asked two former senior officials, one recently retired general, and two academic security policy experts to answer these questions. Their report, based on months …

Canadian Foreign Policy, Defence and Intelligence

CIPS Working Groups: Canada and the World Policy Reports

News News
October 20, 2015

New Directions for Canadian International Policy

In Fall 2014, CIPS convened four working groups of academics and policy practitioners to explore new thinking and policy options in four areas: International Security and Defence, International Development, International Trade and Commerce, and

…

What Are ‘Hotspots’? The Inevitable Rise of Detention in the Quest for Asylum Solutions in the EU

Analysis Analysis
October 16, 2015

^{Mstyslav Chernov/Creative Commons}

By Stephanie J. Silverman

The Syrian refugee crisis has finally grabbed the world’s attention and is testing the sustainability of the European Union and its common asylum adjudication procedures. Policymakers are struggling to find solutions from under …

Why Does the Reconciliation between Israel and Military Intellectuals Matter?

Analysis Analysis
October 14, 2015

By Philippe Beaulieu-Brossard

Appointing a new Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner rarely stirs up controversy, but in Israel it can easily turn into a media storm. This might not come as a surprise. Israel has an assault rate of …

Defence and Intelligence, Defence and Intelligence, Middle East

Making Peace in a Divided World: New Roles for the United Nations?

Analysis Analysis
October 1, 2015

By Richard Gowan

There is no more annoying phrase in discussions of international affairs than “If the United Nations did not exist, we would have to invent it!” It is certainly true that the world urgently …

Asia, USA, International Security, Russia, United Nations, USA

Low-Fee Private Schools and Development: What Do We Really Know?

Analysis
September 8, 2015

by Prachi Srivastava

I have been researching low-fee private schooling for nearly a decade and a half. No one could be happier that the issue is finally receiving the high-level attention it deserves, with discussions in development circles and an …

International Development, International Development

The Charter Strikes Back: A Step Forward for Refugee Rights in Canada

Analysis Analysis
July 30, 2015

By Stephanie J. Silverman

Almost a year after the Federal Court of Canada struck down the ban on refugee claimants’ denial of health care, a new judicial review finds that a pernicious aspect of the Conservatives’ overhaul of refugee rights …

Shining a Light on Canada’s Deteriorating Human Rights Record

Analysis
July 15, 2015

By Leilani Farha

Published in the Toronto Star, July 13, 2015 Last May I was appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing. The goal of this position is to advance the rights of marginalized communities around the world …

The Final Push: Canada and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Deal

Analysis Analysis
July 15, 2015

By Arne Ruckert, Ronald Labonté and Ashley Schram

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is nearing the end game of negotiations, creating a market of 800 million people with a combined economic clout of US$28-trillion annually. After the U.S. Congress granted fast-track authority …

Analysis Analysis
June 1, 2015

By Stephanie J. Silverman

Published on openDemocracy, May 29, 2015

Tens of thousands of law-abiding foreign workers residing in Canada became deportable last April. This sudden vulnerability to deportation resulted from the Parliamentary passage of a small legislative change …

Analysis Analysis
May 18, 2015

By Sarah Tuckey

In March 2015, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development released the Synthesis Report: Summative Evaluation of Canada’s Afghanistan Development Program. On April 14, CIPS and its Fragile States Research Network (FSRN) held a panel…

Fragile States, Gender, International Development, Middle East

Analysis Analysis
April 21, 2015

Par Michael E. Lambert, chercheur invité au Centre d’études en politiques internationales

Published on the CDA Security and Defence Blog, April 21, 2015

L’Europe apparait aujourd’hui comme la principale promotrice du dialogue pour solutionner les conflits, en témoigne le …

Defence and Intelligence, Europe, International Security

Analysis Analysis
March 30, 2015

Par Michael E. Lambert, chercheur invité au Centre d’études en politiques internationales

L’année 2015 s’impose comme celle des négociations sur la mise en place du TTIP et du rapprochement entre les États-Unis et l’Union européenne. Dans les faits, le Traité …

Europe, International Trade, USA

Analysis
March 22, 2015

by Michael Geist

Published in the Toronto Star, March 13, 2015

As witnesses line up to warn about the dangers associated with Bill C-51, Canada’s anti-terrorism bill, it’s increasingly clear that the proposed legislation is an unprecedented undermining of …

Defence and Intelligence, Human Rights, International Security

Analysis Analysis
March 19, 2015

By Robert Farley, Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, University of Kentucky

What do intellectual property law, industrial espionage, and cyber-warfare have to do with one another?

Industrial espionage is, by definition, a violation of most existing schemes …

Defence and Intelligence

Analysis Analysis
March 10, 2015

By Catherine Weaver (University of Texas at Austin and Innovations for Peace and Development) and Josh Powell (Development Gateway and AidData, Washington, DC)

Over the past decade, the international aid transparency movement has made considerable progress in opening the information …

International Security, Middle East, Russia

Analysis Analysis
March 5, 2015

By Jarrod Hayes, School of International Affairs, Georgia Tech

The world is a complex place. Social tides ebb and flow, diverse social systems interacting with agency to produce an ever-shifting mix of international challenges. This is all the more …

Analysis Analysis
February 25, 2015

By David Petrasek and Allan Rock

Published in the Toronto Star, February 24, 2015

The emergence of potential candidates reminds us that the 2016 race for the White House has already begun. Canadians will watch the American contest in …

Analysis Analysis
February 15, 2015

Roland Paris appeared on the Sunday morning broadcast The West Block with Tom Clark to discuss the question on whether Western countries should send lethal weapons to help the Ukrainian government.

Paris noted that there were no good policy options …

International Security, Russia, Ukraine

Analysis Analysis
February 8, 2015

By Colin Robertson

This is one of a series of CIPS Blog posts examining the legacy of John Baird as Canada’s foreign minister. See also the posts by Peter Jones, Ferry de Kerckhove and David Petrasek.

John Baird …

Latin America, Latin America

Analysis
October 23, 2014

par Robert Asselin

Pour quiconque qui y a travaillé, l’endroit est impressionnant. Quand on marche dans le grand hall qui mène à la bibliothèque, là même où les coups de feu d’hier ont été perpétrés, on comprend que le Parlement …

Analysis
October 20, 2014

by Claude Denis

How does one write about Mexico today?

The country is in full crisis mode after 43 students from the Ayotzinpa teachers’ college in rural Guerrero were kidnapped by the police on September 26, and six other people …

Analysis
September 16, 2014

by Lauchlan Munro

Canada’s only independent think tank on international development and foreign policy, the North-South Institute, will soon close its doors. According to media reports, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) communicated its decision not to …

Canadian Foreign Policy, International Development, International Development, Canadian Foreign Policy

Analysis
September 12, 2014

By George Petrolekas and Ferry de Kerckhove

Published in the Globe and Mail, September 12, 2014

In 1938, Neville Chamberlain returned to a hero’s welcome in London having given away parts of Czechoslovakia to Hitler at Munich. He announced …

Analysis Analysis
September 9, 2014

By Richard Wyn Jones, Cardiff University.

On the 18^th of September, the Scottish electorate will go to the polls to vote on the proposition “Should Scotland be an independent country?” Remarkably, it’s only now that the rest of the

…

Analysis
September 8, 2014

by Robert Hage

In a month’s time, the roar of Formula 1 engines will replace the clatter of downhill skies in Sochi as the Russian Grand Prix gets underway. The names of the competing teams will sound familiar in the …

Russia, Russia

Analysis Analysis
September 7, 2014

By Mira Sucharov, Department of Political Science, Carleton University

As the prominence of social media in society intensifies, the question of how scholars can most effectively engage in the public sphere has taken on new significance. In a piece …

Analysis Analysis
July 10, 2014

The Harper government’s neglect of diplomacy has resulted in a largely ineffective foreign policy that has not served Canada’s interests, argues CIPS director Roland Paris in this video clip. His remarks were part of a panel discussion organized by Canadian …

Analysis Analysis
June 10, 2014

In March 2014, the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, appointed ten independent policy experts to a panel and asked them to provide advice on the future of the transatlantic bond. The panel included a …

Analysis Analysis
April 30, 2014

What’s the most significant outcome to date of developments in Ukraine/Russia?

CIPS faculty were invited to give brief responses to this question—still very much a development in progress, as many of them point out. Here’s a range of strikingly disparate …

Analysis Analysis
April 27, 2014

It’s been almost a decade since Canada conducted a foreign policy review.

The Ottawa Forum on May 23-24, co-organized by CIPS and the Canadian International Council, will bring together some of Canada’s most insightful “next generation” policy thinkers and most …

Analysis
February 24, 2014

By Kirsten Van Houten and Benjamin Zyla

Since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban in 2001, NATO has provided extensive security and development assistance to Afghanistan. While NATO is slated to withdraw from Afghanistan later this year, the international …

Analysis Analysis
February 5, 2014

By Jeremy Kinsman, University of California and Ryerson University

Jeremy Kinsman will be speaking at the CIPS panel ‘Is Democracy Rising or Receding?’ on February 14, 2014.

From its inception in 2007, the international project A Diplomat’s Handbook for …

Analysis Analysis
January 31, 2014

By Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada

Watch the video of Alex Neve’s CIPS talk: Protecting Refugees: It’s a human rights issue

The lambasting that Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews received from federal Immigration Minister Chris Alexander last …

Analysis Analysis
January 26, 2014

By Stephen Saideman, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University

Stephen Saideman will be giving a talk at CIPS about his newly-released book on January 28, 2014

I am not sure whether it was ironic or just especially …

Analysis Analysis
January 20, 2014

By Syed Sajjadur Rahman, Visiting Professor, School of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa

This essay, along with the ones by Yiagadeesen (Teddy) Samy and by Stephen Baranyi and Alicia Dobson, arose out of the Bangladesh: Out …

Analysis Analysis
January 20, 2014

By Yiagadeesen (Teddy) Samy, Associate Professor at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University

This essay, along with the ones by Sajjad Rahman and by Stephen Baranyi and Alicia Dobson, arose out of the Bangladesh: Out …

Analysis Analysis
January 19, 2014

By Mariah Zeisberg, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Michigan. She will be giving a lecture at CIPS on January 23, 2014.

The 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which the United States Congress enacted after …

Analysis Analysis
December 12, 2013

By Colin Robertson, Vice President, Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute

Stephen Harper aims to position Canada as a ‘rising power’. While protecting our privileged access to the USA, Canada under Harper’s leadership actively seeks new markets for our goods …

Analysis Analysis
December 8, 2013

By Joanne St. Lewis, Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa

My heart is heavy. The braided life of pain, joy, courage, strength and love – indeed, all that was the brilliant complex persona of Nelson Mandela is …

Analysis Analysis
December 4, 2013

In anticipation of the December 5th book launch of the Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy, CIPS posed the following question to former Prime Minister Paul Martin (who will be speaking at the event): “What does the recently announced DFATD …

Canadian Foreign Policy, International Trade, Europe, International Trade

Analysis
November 14, 2013

by Robert Hage

The same week that celebrity British street artist Banksy upset New Yorkers by saying the new World Trade Center is “vanilla…and looks like something they would build in Canada”, an Economist headline stated, “Canada doesn’t get any …

Analysis Analysis
October 18, 2013

By David Black, Dalhousie University

A preview of David Black’s CIPS lecture on October 22, 2013

Among the various criticisms of the Harper government’s foreign policy, its presumed neglect or even abandonment of sub-Saharan Africa is among the most frequently …

Human Rights, Human Rights, International Law, International Law

Analysis Analysis
October 16, 2013

By Michele Mastroeni, University of Edinburgh

A preview of Michele Mastroeni’s CIPS lecture on October 18, 2013

Industry leaders and governments have pursued innovation as a source of economic growth for the last two decades. While firms have been striving …

Analysis
September 26, 2013

by Joshua Ramisch

The harrowing images from Nairobi’s burning and blood-soaked Westgate Mall have come not just from journalists but from the cellphones nearly everyone in the building was carrying. Twitter has been alive with updates from all sides: from …

Analysis Analysis
September 18, 2013

By Gareth Evans

Published on the openDemocracy blog, September 9, 2013. This essay is part of a symposium on R2P and the human rights crisis in Syria, guest edited by David Petrasek.

The lack of consensus in the …

Analysis Analysis
September 3, 2013

Ian Hurd is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University

The debate sparked by Syria’s chemical weapons attack includes at least three separate controversies: 1) which (if any) international legal instruments govern Syria’s use of chemical weapons; 2) …

Analysis
June 11, 2013

by Michael Geist

Published on www.michaelgeist.ca, June 11, 2013.

The concerns about telephone and Internet surveillance moved north yesterday as the Globe revealed that Canada has its own metadata surveillance program. The program was discontinued in 2008 after concerns …

Analysis
June 10, 2013

Published in the Ottawa Citizen, June 5, 2013

Are political scientists failing to play their part as critics of the government in Canada? Lawrence Martin thinks so. Writing in the Globe and Mail last week, he lamented that academics …

Analysis
May 29, 2013

by Rachel Kerr

On May 25, 2013, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia celebrated its twentieth anniversary. After 20 years and $2.2 billion, what has this extraordinary experiment in international criminal justice achieved? In The Hague, an exhibition …

Analysis Analysis
May 21, 2013

Guest blog post by Deborah Stienstra, Professor in Disability Studies, University of Manitoba

Policy makers, researchers and activists may be skeptical about including disability in discussions about fragile and conflict-affected states (FCAS). There are so many urgent and competing …

Analysis Analysis
May 3, 2013

Conference to be held on 15-16 October 2013 in Ottawa, Canada

Co-sponsored by:
German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)
International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and
Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS), University of Ottawa

Deadline for submission

…

Analysis Analysis
April 17, 2013

Guest post by John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In this post, Mr. Baird responds to Bob Rae’s commentary on Canadian foreign policy. CIPS is pleased to provide a venue for this debate. To receive notification of future blogposts, …

Canadian Foreign Policy, Middle East

Analysis Analysis
April 15, 2013

By guest-bloggers Steve Mason, Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC), and Katie McGregor, University of Ottawa.

Renowned as a place of rich history, diverse cultures and world-famous musicians, Mali has been making headlines for very different reasons over the …

Analysis Analysis
April 14, 2013

Guest post by Bob Rae, MP

John Baird’s recent trip to the Middle East—and seemingly incoherent announcements before and after—give us a chance to re-assess the Conservative government’s foreign policy.

The Reform Party’s reverse takeover of the Progressive Conservative Party, …

Canadian Foreign Policy, Middle East

Analysis Analysis
April 4, 2013

By guest-bloggers Jennifer Erin Salahub, Senior Researcher and Team Leader at the North-South Institute, and Margaret Capelazo, Gender Advisor at CARE Canada.

As part of the global aid effectiveness agenda, the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States…

Analysis Analysis
April 3, 2013

By guest-blogger Julia Sanchez, President-CEO of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation, the national platform for Canadian civil society organizations working on international development.

Based purely on need, enhancing our focus (and resources) on fragile and conflict-affected states (FCAS) …

Analysis Analysis
March 22, 2013

CIPS Policy Brief No. 21, March 2013.
By JOHN MUNDY, Visiting Associate, CIPS.

War with Iran is closer than we may think, but is not inevitable.
If war with Iran does occur, the likely tactical victory of the U.S.

…

Analysis Analysis
November 16, 2012

Par Stéphane Paquin, Professeur agrégé à l’École nationale d’administration publique

Lorsque le gouvernement du Québec, sous Jean Charest, a exigé une plus grande participation des provinces canadiennes aux négociations et organisations internationales dont le Canada est membre, de nombreux …

Analysis
October 7, 2012

par Justin Massie

Published in La Presse, October 5, 2012

Lors de son dernier discours aux Nations unies, le ministre John Baird a exposé les fondements de la politique internationale de son gouvernement. Elle repose sur deux piliers: une …

Canadian Foreign Policy, Canadian Foreign Policy

Analysis Analysis
October 2, 2012

Guest contributor: ELIZABETH SHAKMAN HURD, Associate Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University.

In the United States, religious freedom is described as the ‘first freedom’: a fundamental human right and a sine qua non of democratic politics. Americans, we are …