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David Petrasek
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
Canada's leading centre for analysis and debate of international affairs.
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David Petrasek
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Author's Posts
Human rights “inflation”—what’s the problem?
Instead of talking about “rights inflation”, we should understand what we are witnessing are new interpretations that respond to new struggles for human dignity.
It is increasingly common to hear the complaint that there are too many international human rights. …
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Human and Non-Human Rights — Convergence or Conflict?
- Analysis
- December 10, 2018
Today is the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Most reflections on this milestone are likely to sound a sombre note, dwelling on the many challenges faced by those championing human rights in an increasingly …
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Another One Bites the Dust: What Future for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights?
- Analysis
- February 8, 2018
The announcement in December 2017 by Prince Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein of Jordan that he would not seek a second term as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights — leaving the post in the middle of 2018 — came as a …
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Liberals’ Vague “Values” Talk Undermines Rights Promotion
- Analysis
- February 2, 2018
Canadian governments since the mid-1970s have claimed that promoting human rights around the world is a foreign policy priority. There are solid moral, legal, and practical grounds for doing so. Yet increasingly, the Liberal government, like its Tory predecessor, justifies …
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Canada’s Foreign Policy “One-Sided,” Not the UN Resolution We Refused to Support
- Analysis
- December 22, 2017
Canada refused to support the UN General Assembly resolution this week that rebuked the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In doing so, the Trudeau government undermined its claim to be cutting a new foreign policy …
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Trump’s election makes US human rights pariah
- Analysis
- November 16, 2016
The election of Donald Trump as US President poses a grave threat to human rights — in the US and worldwide. To meet this threat, the global human rights movement, and in particular its US components, must reprioritize and refocus …
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Arms to the Saudis: Wrong Decision, Right Result?
- Analysis
- April 23, 2016
Those defending human rights are used to the many contradictions involved. They demand of the same governments responsible for torture and discrimination that they uphold international prohibitions on such abuse. Their impartial reporting is seized on at politically opportune moments …
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Ten Quick Steps to Reset Canadian Foreign Policy
- Analysis
- October 20, 2015
Flickr/Justin Trudeau
Foreign policy rarely becomes a matter of electoral debate in Canada. But this time was different. The refugee crisis in Europe, trade negotiation deadlines, and Canada’s involvement in the Syria conflict — all pushed foreign policy under the …
READ MOREThe Conservatives’ Controversial Case for War
- Analysis
- March 26, 2015
The motion tabled in Parliament this week to extend Canada’s military engagement against the Islamic State (IS) sets a worrying precedent. The decision to expand the air war to Syria is grounded in a confused legality that blurs legitimate concerns …
READ MOREOn Human Rights, Baird Leaves a Troubled Legacy
- Analysis
- February 3, 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 Peter Jones, Ferry de Kerckhove and Colin Robertson.
John Baird’s decision to resign …
READ MOREThe ICC: Breach in the Dyke, or High Water Mark?
Published on openGlobalRights, November 3, 2014
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is back in the news. Pressure is growing on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to accede to the Rome Statute; if he does so, the ICC might gain …
READ MORETwitter and the #Ottawa Attacks
As we move past the immediate shock, anger and grief precipitated by the attack in Ottawa last week, debate is beginning in earnest on several fronts: the motivation of the attacker, the adequacy of existing laws to meet ‘lone wolf’ …
READ MOREOttawa Attacks: What We Must Do—and Not Do—in Response
Locked in today at the University of Ottawa, looking down on the largely deserted canal bike path, several hundred metres from the cenotaph where this morning’s horrifying events began, I was stunned. I was also shaking, and afraid—but not out …
READ MOREInside and Out at the Human Rights Museum
Published on openDemocracy.net on October 14, 2014
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights opened this month in Winnipeg, in western Canada, reigniting a long-running controversy over its portrayal of human rights issues. Before turning to that debate, however, an initial …
READ MOREHarper at the UN: The Speech He Could (But Won’t) Give
In a few days, Prime Minister Stephen Harper will address the UN General Assembly. In an alternate universe, imagine a scenario where he is planning to use the event to announce a fundamental new direction for his foreign policy. Perhaps …
READ MOREA Do and Don’t List for the UN’s New Human Rights High Commissioner
Published on openDemocracy.net on June 7, 2014
The Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein (“Prince Zeid”), has just been nominated as the next United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The outgoing High …
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Canada Makes Palestinian Human Rights a Pawn in Mideast Peace Talks
- Analysis
- April 10, 2014
As John Kerry’s deadline fast approaches for concluding a ‘Framework Agreement’ in the resuscitated Israel-Palestine negotiations, few are optimistic. Those disparaging the deal, or even the need for a deal, appear to have the upper hand in both camps. The …
READ MOREComing Soon: A Truly Global Human Rights Revolution?
Published on the openGlobalRights Blog, March 31, 2014
There is an unmistakable fin de régime sentiment to much current thinking regarding international human rights. Conferences and discussion forums convene to debate ‘the future of human rights’, with implicit in …
READ MORERussia’s Crimea Caper: One More Nail in the Non-Intervention Coffin
Both Russia and those opposing its intervention in Crimea are making claims regarding the legality of its acts. Russia is asserting the right to use force in Crimea and, if necessary, in eastern Ukraine. The U.S., Canada, and European states …
READ MOREBelief, Not Principle, Guiding Canada’s Mideast Policy
There has been a good deal of debate regarding Prime Minister Harper’s visit to Israel, and in particular his speech to the Israeli Knesset. Supporters of the government trumpet what they see as a triumphant Prime Ministerial tour, one that …
READ MOREChecking Whose Reality? Contra Burney/Hampson on Canada’s Mideast Policy
Writing last week in the Globe and Mail (“Canada and the Middle East – A reality check”), Derek Burney and Fen Hampson aim to “set the record straight” regarding the Harper government’s diplomacy in the Middle East. Their effort …
READ MORETo Shun or Shake Hands? Assessing Harper’s CHOGM Boycott
Prime Minister Harper’s decision to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which concluded on the weekend in Sri Lanka, was hotly debated over the past few weeks. Now that the meeting has ended, what impact has the boycott …
READ MOREAs Nuclear Talks Progress, Baird’s Concern for Human Rights in Iran Rings Hollow
Negotiations over the past three days in Geneva almost achieved a historic nuclear deal with Iran, and the parties’ concluding statements suggest there is a good chance a deal will be reached when talks resume on November 20.
Canada, however, …
READ MORESweeping Rights Aside: Ottawa, Pakistan and Netsweeper
Imagine the scenario: a private Canadian software company provides sophisticated technology to the Iranian government, allowing it to deny access in Iran to thousands of websites on account of their political or social content. How would the Canadian government respond?…
READ MORERelief Not Regret Over Harper’s UN Absence
John Baird’s address to the UN today, his third, is likely to cover familiar ground: long on rhetoric, short on constructive policy. Regarding the important developments last week on Syria and Iran, Baird will insist that both countries will be …
READ MORER2P: Hindrance Not A Help in the Syrian Crisis
Published on the openDemocracy blog September 13, 2013. This essay is part of a symposium on R2P and the human rights crisis in Syria guest edited by David Petrasek.
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine was developed to forge consensus …
READ MORENew Powers Won’t Play by Old Rules on Human Rights
Published in the e-zine openGlobalRights, June 25, 2013
The following piece is a contribution to the Global Rights forum on Open Democracy. Over the next year, this forum will provide a venue for discussion and debate on a number …
READ MOREJason Kenney: Canada’s Other (and Soon to be Only?) Foreign Minister
The overseas trips of Foreign Minister Baird generate some attention and controversy. But Baird’s foreign travel is closely rivaled by—though less reported on than—that of his Cabinet colleague Jason Kenney, the Minister for Citizenship and Immigration. In only the first …
READ MOREGoing Along to Get Along: John Baird’s Mideast Tour
Foreign Minister Baird’s seven-country, ten-day tour of the Middle East provides final confirmation that his much vaunted “principled” foreign policy committed to promoting “freedom, human rights, democracy and the rule of law” is little more than empty rhetoric. So far, …
READ MOREBaird Muddies the Waters: Canada and the International Criminal Court
The Canadian government has yet to fully explain its reason for refusing to support an initiative to persuade the UN Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC). As discussed previously, last month Foreign Minister Baird …
READ MORECanada Should Play the Royal Card Against Sri Lanka’s Government
Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma ended his visit to Sri Lanka this week by confirming that the next biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) will go ahead as planned in the country later this year. Given that the Sri Lankan …
READ MOREMisinterpreting Mali: The Uses and Abuses of R2P
As argued in this space recently, there are sound legal and political justifications for the intervention of French and West African troops in northern Mali. Further, the apparent achievements of the operation so far lend support to those who argue …
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Canada Abandons International Justice Effort in Syria
In the past week, amidst the crisis in Mali and the hostage crisis at the gas plant in southern Algeria, the world’s attention shifted away from the ongoing bloodshed in Syria. This perhaps explains how the Canadian media missed what …
READ MOREMulling Over Mali
To those of us deeply skeptical of the deployment of Western military force in the developing world, the French intervention in Mali in recent days poses something of a dilemma. It appears to be legally and militarily justified, and enjoys …
READ MOREPrinciple or Prejudice? Canada’s Misguided Denial of Palestinian Statehood
Prime Minister Harper tweeted on Saturday that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had called to thank him for Canada’s “friendship and principled position this week at the UN”. The friendship may be obvious, but one searches in vain for the principle …
READ MORECanoes, Maple Syrup and Tilley Hats: The Tory Vision for Canada’s Trading Future?
‘Hewers of wood and drawers of water’ – a familiar and shorthand description for Canadians’ historical economic bias towards natural resources, and a phrase used pejoratively to describe a ‘brand’ that we need to shed to compete in a global …
READ MORETroops to Turkey? The ‘Chanak Affair’ of 1922 and Its Relevance Today
Should Canada send its armed forces to war in Turkey? The increasingly violent civil war in Syria means this could become a real question, for two reasons. First, the fighting is leading to confrontations between Turkish and Syrian troops along …
READ MOREJohn Baird’s Journey
In a speech last week to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Foreign Minister John Baird set out the priority he attaches to human rights in Canadian foreign policy. That Minister Baird prioritizes human rights is hardly new: his speeches …
READ MOREWill Lakhdar Brahimi’s Hard-Nosed Mediation Save Syria?
The arrival of Lakhdar Brahimi in Syria late last week drew little media attention. But his trip, and the larger mission of which it is a part, carry enormous consequences. Brahimi is the envoy appointed jointly by the UN and …
READ MOREThe New Interventionism: Promise and Reality
First published by 3 Quarks Daily
The news is alarming: whole families killed in the mountain villages near Lebanon and massacres in Damascus; sectarian clashes between Christian, Alawite and Sunni communities risk a descent into full-scale civil war. The French …
READ MOREEurope’s Alleged ‘Failure’, Harper’s Certain Gain
Prime Minister Harper’s pointed criticism of the dithering of European leaders at the G20 summit over the weekend was widely reported, and so too the angry riposte it received from EU Commission President Manuel Barroso. But too few sought to …
READ MOREOversold and Underwhelming: John Baird’s First Year on the Job
Almost one year to the day after his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird was asked in an interview on CBC Radio’s The House on Saturday to define his foreign policy. “More smart power, less soft power,” he …
READ MORESomething Borrowed, Nothing Gained: John Baird’s Big Ideas in Foreign Policy
“Canada is what I like to call a ‘smart power’,” Foreign Minister John Baird declared in a major speech in Israel last week. That’s reassuring, although as a means of distinguishing our foreign policy it is likely to prove elusive. …
READ MOREGlobal Issues, Colonial Mindsets: The Munk Debates
Imagine that a foundation in a small European country, perhaps Denmark, sponsors a high profile series of debates with the purpose of providing a “forum for leading thinkers to debate the major issues facing Denmark and the world.” Most people, …
READ MOREWhen More is Less: The Commonwealth and Human Rights
The Prime Minister arrives today in Perth, Australia, for the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), straight into a debate over human rights. Some Commonwealth members want the organisation to take a much stronger stand when other members breach …
READ MOREVirtue or Vice? Human Rights Diplomacy under the Tory Government
Foreign Minister John Baird’s speech to the UN General Assembly in September was widely reported for the forceful manner in which he condemned the Palestinians’ ’unilateral’ bid for UN membership. Largely unremarked upon, however, was the Minister’s emphasis on human …
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