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Daniel Livermore
Senior Fellow, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
Canada's leading centre for analysis and debate of international affairs.
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Author's Posts
The Senate Brings Hope for GAC Reform
- Analysis
- May 13, 2022
The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade has initiated a review of the Canadian foreign service, the first such focused examination since the Royal Commission on Conditions of Foreign Service, which reported in 1981.
While the …
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Memorandum for the Minister for Foreign Affairs: Welcome to GAC! (Structural Challenges Ahead)
- Analysis
- January 17, 2021
This memorandum addresses key structural challenges within Global Affairs Canada (GAC). You will have spoken to some of your predecessors about these issues. None of them in the past five years tackled GAC’s problems seriously. All of them, as a result, found their …
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The Real Lessons of the Security Council Election Campaign
- Analysis
- June 22, 2020
The usual suspects have commented on Canada’s defeat on June 17 in its bid to gain election to the UN Security Council. The external factors in this race have been analyzed adequately, even by those with minimal knowledge of the …
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Canada’s Security Council Campaign
- Analysis
- December 18, 2018
In a recent CIPS blog, also published in the Globe and Mail, my colleague Roland Paris outlined the reasons “Why Canada cares about that Security Council seat.” This blog wonders whether the world cares about Canada’s …
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Time to Move Past the Errors of the War on Terror
- Analysis
- December 10, 2018
The aftermath of 9/11 produced many problems in many countries. Canadian police and security agencies made numerous mistakes as followers and participants in an ill-considered American-led War on Terror declared shortly after that tragedy. The evidence in two public inquiries …
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UK Rendition and Torture: Lessons for Canada
- Analysis
- July 18, 2018
The British Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee has produced two reports on collusion in rendition (the legal term for shipping someone from one jurisdiction to another) and torture operations in the US-led War on Terror. They remind us in blunt …
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1983 GAC Document Still Relevant Today: “The Crisis of Quality” Revisited
- Analysis
- May 17, 2018
Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is under pressure from a variety of directions and for different reasons: the Prime Minister’s India trip; a lacklustre policy performance under the Trudeau government; indifferent communications with the Canadian public; and, at the top, confusion …
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Putting the Foreign Service Back on Track
- Analysis
- April 14, 2018
This blog is a condensed version of my 11 April 2018 presentation to the Professional Committee of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO), the Canadian Foreign Service Union, in Ottawa. It argues for a new foreign ministry model …
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After the India Visit: It’s Time for a Trudeau Government Re-Set
- Analysis
- March 12, 2018
Enough has already been said and written about the problems of the prime minister’s recent foray to India. The critics have justifiably not been kind. Even if we discount some of the more partisan allegations, there is substance to …
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Boosting an Under-Performing Foreign Policy
- Analysis
- November 27, 2017
The Trudeau government’s decision to harness the slogan “the world needs more Canada” comes at interesting times. The gloss of image and photo-ops that accompanied the Liberal electoral victory in 2016 has worn thin. Both Canadian and international publics are …
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Resuscitating the Canadian Foreign Service
- Analysis
- October 9, 2017
After years of neglect and mismanagement, the Canadian foreign service is now in serious trouble. The story of how it got this way is a long one, with a litany of poor management, appalling decisions by senior public servants, and …
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The Case of Omar Khadr
- Analysis
- July 13, 2017
The Omar Khadr case is again front-page news following the settlement of his longstanding lawsuit against the Canadian government. The news has elicited a wide range of comments from the usual suspects. I was among a small group in Foreign …
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Not all Happiness on the Foreign Policy Front
- Analysis
- February 3, 2017
News flash to the Trudeau government: There are disappointed Canadians out there, and the numbers are growing. If you’re looking for reasons why public support for the government in the foreign policy area is falling off significantly, you’ll find them …
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Putting Canada’s Peacekeeping Ambitions in Perspective
- Analysis
- August 17, 2016
Critics have pounced on Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s multi-country African odyssey in search of an appropriate peacekeeping mission for the Canadian Forces. The critics have a point. Even with distinguished Canadians on board, this is a silly way to …
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Britain’s Chilcot Report: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Foreign Policy Formulation
- Analysis
- August 17, 2016
On 6 July 2016, the fourth and most exhaustive British inquiry on the Iraq war — after the Intelligence and Security Committee Report (2003), the Lord Butler Review (2004), and the Lord Hutton Inquiry (2004) — this one chaired …
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Step by Step, All at Once: Rebuilding the Canadian Foreign Service
- Analysis
- November 5, 2015
By Daniel Livermore
All over Ottawa, officials and ex-officials are talking about re-building. And the conversations aren’t only about Canada`s crumbling infrastructure. They’re about repairing public institutions shredded during the Harper years. Some of these conversations are about Foreign Affairs …
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Missing Indictments in the Case of Maher Arar
- Analysis
- September 10, 2015
© CHRIS WATTIE/Reuters/Corbis
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have laid a criminal charge against George Salloum, director of the Far Falestin prison in Damascus, Syria, where Maher Arar was tortured in 2002-03. At the same time, the Mounties issued an …
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Who Speaks for Canada, Spies or Diplomats?
- Analysis
- July 1, 2015
By Daniel Livermore and Paul Heinbecker
Published in the Globe and Mail, June 29, 2015
Bills C-51 and C-44 are now law. They are also trouble waiting to happen, because Canada’s political leadership has loosened the reins on CSIS …
READ MORESIRC: Good People Can’t Save a Bad Institution
- Analysis
- June 15, 2015
It would be nice to believe that two solid appointments by the Prime Minister would alleviate the ills that bedevil the Security and Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), the much-maligned body charged with looking into complaints against the Canadian Security Intelligence …
READ MOREA Slightly Different Take on John Baird’s Legacy at Foreign Affairs
- Analysis
- February 14, 2015
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 David Petrasek, Colin Robertson, Ferry de Kerckhove and Peter Jones.
Four years …
READ MOREThree Missing Pieces in the Canadian Security and Intelligence Debate
- Analysis
- November 27, 2014
The Harper government has been forced to introduce amendments to the CSIS Act, following another in a series of government set-backs in the courts on security and intelligence issues. This has triggered comments on the proposed legislation, most of which …
READ MOREOff to Tel Aviv: The Latest Strange Diplomatic Appointment
- Analysis
- February 12, 2014
Shortly before the Prime Minister’s January trip to the Middle East, the Harper Government announced its choice to fill Canada’s long-vacant ambassadorial chair in Tel Aviv. Vivian Bercovici—a Toronto lawyer, occasional commentator on Israeli affairs and backroom Tory loyalist—is the …
READ MOREOur Man in Prague: An Appointment that Raises Questions
- Analysis
- October 31, 2013
Otto Jelinek, refugee from Communism, world-champion figure skater and Mulroney-era Cabinet Minister, was recently appointed as Canada’s ambassador to the Czech Republic. In the summer doldrums, there was virtually no reaction in Canada to the announcement, except citations from the …
READ MOREHarper, Baird and Multilateral Cooperation
- Analysis
- October 5, 2013
Familiar stories came out of New York over the past two weeks as the global community assembled for the annual UN General Assembly debates. John Baird’s speech on September 30, while appalling in style and policy content, was free of …
READ MOREWhat the Saccomani Appointment Means
- Analysis
- April 29, 2013
The appointment of Bruno Saccomani, head of the Prime Minister’s security detail, to be the next Canadian Ambassador to Jordan and Iraq struck even the most cynical observers of the Harper government as a curious move. The two countries are …
READ MOREWhere’s the Public Outrage Over Harper’s Foreign Policy?
- Analysis
- April 21, 2013
Public policy discussion these days suffers from a curious anomaly. Vast numbers of experts disagree with the government’s performance on many issues. But there’s little reflection of this mood in the popular media or on the street. Announcements which might …
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The Hugo Chavez Legacy
- Analysis
- March 25, 2013
Prime Minister Harper’s message to the Venezuelan people following the death of Hugo Chavez was curt. Essentially, it amounted to “good riddance”. Chavez was a galvanizing figure who commanded faint praise in many quarters. But it’s one thing to relish …
READ MOREA Footnote on Canada-Iran Relations
- Analysis
- December 17, 2012
The Harper government took a decision in late August 2012, to bring Canadian diplomats out of Tehran and expel Iranian diplomats in Ottawa. It was described by some observers as a sudden decision, but it was obviously a measure which …
READ MOREThe Central Conundrum of Baird’s UN Speech
- Analysis
- October 8, 2012
It’s too easy to dismiss John Baird’s October 1 speech to the UN General Assembly as simply another exercise in appealing to the party’s base. True, it did precisely that, capturing headlines back home as a “scathing rebuke” to the …
READ MOREJohn Baird on Human Rights in Foreign Policy
- Analysis
- September 27, 2012
John Baird’s speech on September 14 at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations may be long on benign self-congratulation, which goes down well when speaking to Canadian audiences. But at least it sheds some light on “the untold story of …
READ MOREEliminating Accountability and Masking the Intent at CSIS
- Analysis
- June 26, 2012
In the early 1970’s, the Director of the CIA used to tell fellow Americans, “trust us”. That turned out to be bad advice – bad for the CIA and bad for the reputation of a country ostensibly dedicated to the …
READ MOREBoosting Canada’s Latin American Strategy
- Analysis
- April 30, 2012
The recent Latin American Summit in Cartagena didn’t generate much media coverage in Canada. It eventually broke down with controversies over drug policy and Cuba, and was even hijacked by a minor scandal involving the U.S. Secret Service. But it …
READ MORECanada and the Landmine Issue, Twenty Years On
- Analysis
- April 14, 2012
April 4 came and went this year with virtually no national mention of the international ban on antipersonnel landmines, which was one of Canada’s most significant triumphs in the area of ‘niche diplomacy’. International Mine Awareness Day, marked annually on …
READ MORETime for a ‘Grand Bargain’ in a Foreign Policy Review
- Analysis
- January 21, 2012
Officials are grinding away at a foreign policy review in the Lester B. Pearson building in Ottawa, although the motives appear unclear and the parameters are not yet public. But the time is right, since the Harper Government’s majority in …
READ MOREWhat Contracting Out Security Says About the Canadian Foreign Service
- Analysis
- December 21, 2011
A small article in several newspapers this month carried an item noting that the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade had solicited bids for threat assessments in 174 countries. The assessments would canvass possible threats to Canada’s missions abroad …
READ MORELibya: The Real Work is Only Beginning
- Analysis
- November 30, 2011
The Government last week paid tribute to Canadian Forces who served in the recently-concluded NATO mission in Libya. It was a welcome gesture to those who serve Canada abroad, often with little or no recognition at all. And it was …
READ MOREUNDRIP: The Wrong Basis for Canada’s International Indigenous Agenda
- Analysis
- November 17, 2011
Scott’s Simon recent blogpost on Canada and the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Persons got a central message right: the importance of Canada playing a strong role abroad in promoting indigenous rights and indigenous issues. And he’s right …
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