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Roland Paris
Director of CIPS and Associate Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Webpage.
Canada's leading centre for analysis and debate of international affairs.
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Canada is on the Front Lines of Challenges to Rule of Law
- Analysis
- January 28, 2019
China’s apparent use of Canadian detainees as diplomatic bargaining chips is not just a problem for Canada. It is a challenge to all countries that seek to uphold the rule of law in their domestic and international affairs.
The dispute …
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Why Canada Should Care — a lot — about that UN Security Council seat
- Analysis
- December 3, 2018
Canada will stand for election to the United Nations Security Council in June 2020. Our competitors are Norway and Ireland. Of the three countries, two will win seats on the council and begin their two-year terms in January 2021.
There …
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Khashoggi Murder Case a Test for Despots Everywhere
- Analysis
- October 18, 2018
The disappearance and possible murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi is an important test case for despots everywhere. Can they get away with interrogating, kidnapping, and even assassinating their critics in other countries?
Khashoggi, a resident of the United …
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An International Education for Our Students is Vital to Canada’s Success
- Analysis
- December 5, 2017
by Roland Paris and Margaret Biggs
Canada’s biggest customer, the United States, is veering towards protectionism. Rising powers are transforming the global economy. Intolerance is on the rise, including in Canada. Technology is revolutionizing the nature of work.
We must …
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Trump’s mixed signals threaten stability
- Analysis
- November 20, 2016
The election of Donald Trump as president of the United States has ushered in a period of unsettling uncertainty in international affairs. He has called the foundations of American foreign policy into question, but his precise intentions remain mysterious.
If …
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Transition Memos Show Foreign Ministry Is Doing Its Job
- Analysis
- September 30, 2015
…READ MOREA series of foreign ministry memos, leaked to the media in recent days, offer an unflattering assessment of Canada’s declining international influence and reputation. They are apparently draft “transition” documents, which the federal bureaucracy prepares before every election.
Some defenders
Canada’s Military Spending Is Now Less than Half of NATO’s Target
- Analysis
- September 24, 2015
Last year I blogged about the decline in Canadian military spending as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The most recent figures at that time were for 2013. I noted that defence spending had fallen to 1.00 percent of …
READ MOREA Foreign Policy for the Future
- Analysis
- March 5, 2015
In the March issue of the Literary Review of Canada, I write about the future of Canada’s foreign policy in an open letter to the party leader who wins the 2015 federal election.
Here’s an excerpt:
…READ MORERather than maintaining
Canadian Mission Creep in Iraq? A CIPS Debate – Part 1
- Analysis
- January 30, 2015
For Parts 2 and 3 of this CIPS debate, see the posts by Thomas Juneau and Philippe Lagassé.
Published in the Globe and Mail, January 29, 2015
We recently learned that Canadian troops in Iraq are spending about …
READ MOREEvolution or Escalation? Canada’s Military Operation in Iraq
- Report
- January 26, 2015
In a new CIPS policy brief on Canada’s war in Iraq, Roland Paris addresses the following questions:
- Is Canada engaged in ground combat?
- Have we witnessed mission creep?
- Why should Canada (and other Western countries) limit their participation in ground
The Greatest Risk to UN Peace Operations
The greatest risk to United Nations peace operations is not operational failure, but the growing divergence of opinion among countries that mandate, finance and supply personnel to these operations regarding the purposes and practices of peacekeeping itself.
The UN currently …
READ MOREIs It Possible to Meet ‘The Responsibility to Protect’?
Published on the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage Blog, December 9, 2014
These are difficult days for defenders of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, which holds that the international community must be prepared to act when countries “manifestly fail …
READ MOREMistral Misunderstandings
Have you seen the reports that Canada is thinking about purchasing one or both of the Mistral-class warships that France has been building for Russia? They are almost certainly false.
The latest version of this story was published by the …
READ MOREAre Canadians Still Liberal Internationalists?
I recently wrote in the Globe and Mail that we shouldn’t expect to see a warming in Canada’s relations with the United Nations, which have been chilly since the Harper government failed to win a seat for Canada on the …
READ MORECanada’s Decade of Diplomatic Darkness
Published in the Globe and Mail, Sept. 24, 2014
When Prime Minister Stephen Harper addresses the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, observers should not expect a warming in Canada’s attitude toward the world body.
Since Mr. Harper failed …
READ MOREObama’s Gamble in Iraq and Syria
President Barack Obama’s speech on Wednesday marks the third major shift in United States counterterrorism strategy since 9/11, but it remains to be seen if the new approach will work better than the previous ones.
The first shift followed the …
READ MOREPeacekeeping Works Better Than You May Think
Does peacekeeping work? Janice Stein (University of Toronto) and I had a lively exchange on this subject on the CBC radio program “The House” this weekend. Have a listen.
In the interview, I said that more than two …
READ MORENATO Must Face Looming Challenges Now, Not Later
Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are grappling with big decisions as they prepare for their September summit in Wales. What stance should they adopt towards Russia? Should they keep the alliance’s doors open to new members? And what …
READ MOREGlobal Military Spending by Region
In previous posts, I presented charts illustrating the recent decline in Canadian military spending as a percentage of GDP, and comparing Canada to other NATO and G7 countries.
This post examines regional patterns in global military spending.* The charts …
READ MORECanadian Military Spending as a Percent of GDP
This chart might come as a surprise to some Canadians. Canada’s defence spending as a percentage of GDP has decreased since 2009 and is now lower than it was when the Conservative government took office. Although, as I noted in …
READ MOREHarper’s Heroic Ukraine Message Does Not Reflect Reality
Published in the Globe and Mail, June 3, 2014
As Prime Minister Stephen Harper heads to Europe for the G7 summit and anniversary of D-Day, the gap between Canada’s outspoken rhetoric and its diminishing capabilities in international affairs is …
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Imagining a More Ambitious Canada
By Taylor Owen and Roland Paris
Published in the Ottawa Citizen, June 2, 2014
The world has undergone enormous changes since Ottawa last conducted a foreign policy review nearly a decade ago: the rise of China and other emerging …
READ MOREIs Canada Pulling Its Weight in NATO?
When NATO’s military commander, General Philip Breedlove, visited Ottawa this week, he noted that Canada was one of the first countries to contribute military equipment and forces to NATO’s temporary deployment of land, sea and air assets to Eastern Europe, …
READ MOREThe Truth About Canada’s Mission in Afghanistan
…READ MORECanada’s military mission in Afghanistan officially ends this month. It began in 2001 with the dispatch of a small number of special operations troops to oust the Taliban and punish al-Qaeda militants in wake of the 9/11 attacks, and grew
Has Canada Finally Discovered Digital Diplomacy?
After years of sitting on the sidelines, Canada finally seems to be taking social media seriously as tool of diplomacy. Foreign Minister John Baird delivered a speech on Friday—appropriately in Silicon Valley, the world’s capital of technological innovation—embracing digital diplomacy …
READ MOREImplications of the Kabul Restaurant Attack
Since news broke of Friday’s horrific suicide attack on the largely foreign clientele of a Lebanese restaurant in Kabul, attention has understandably focused on the civilians who lost their lives, including two Canadians. But the event, which comes at a …
READ MOREBaird’s Tough Talk on Human Rights Rings Hollow in Bahrain
Canada’s “principled” foreign policy keeps running into problems in Bahrain, the Gulf monarchy that violently suppressed pro-democracy protests in 2011.
When Foreign Minister John Baird visited the country in April, he made no public comment about Bahrain’s repressive practices, including …
READ MOREThere Is More to Foreign Policy than Trade
The problem with Canada’s new Global Markets Action Plan is not that it seeks to promote Canadian commercial interests in foreign markets where our companies have the potential to succeed. No, the problem is that this strategy now looms over …
READ MOREMissing in Action: What Happened to Canada’s Foreign Policy?
In July 2011, shortly after Canadian voters handed the Conservatives a majority government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper observed that “since becoming prime minister…the thing that’s probably struck me the most in terms of my previous expectations—I don’t even know what …
READ MOREReady for Another Great Season at CIPS
We’ve been working hard to prepare an excellent series of fall events at CIPS. Here are a few highlights:
- Next week, CIPS will present talks by the celebrated Pakistani journalist and author Ahmed Rashid, and by one of the
A Response to Deepak Ohbrai on Digital Diplomacy
I am pleased that Deepak Ohbrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has responded to my recent writing on Canada’s lackluster approach to digital diplomacy. He highlights Ottawa’s support for the Global Dialogue on the Future of Iran…
READ MOREThe Digital Diplomacy Revolution: Why Is Canada Lagging Behind?
- Analysis
- June 20, 2013
From the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute:
A new report by Roland Paris, CDFAI Senior Fellow and Director of the Centre for International Policy Studies at the University of Ottawa, examines the burgeoning world of digital diplomacy and concludes …
READ MOREThe Afghanistan Mission: What Went Wrong?
The US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, which deposed the Taliban regime, was followed by a major international effort to stabilize that country. More than a decade later, this effort has yielded neither security nor political stability in Afghanistan.…
READ MOREThe Honesty Gap in Canada’s Mideast Policy
Published in the Globe and Mail, April 16, 2013.Why is Foreign Minister John Baird misrepresenting Canada’s policies on the Mideast?
Last week, Mr. Baird met with Israeli justice minister Tzipi Livni in East Jerusalem. The meeting was controversial …
READ MOREBaird’s Silence on Abuses in Bahrain Exposes Canada’s Inconsistency
Published in the Globe and Mail, April 5, 2013
The government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper prides itself on having a “principled” foreign policy and for taking “clear positions” in the defence of human rights. Why, then, did Foreign …
READ MORECIDA Merger is Fine, but Fundamental Questions of Policy Remain Unresolved
Published in the Globe and Mail, March 22, 2013
Thursday’s announcement that the Canadian International Development Agency will be folded into the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade leaves critical questions about Canada’s aid policy unanswered.
First, regardless …
READ MOREThe Right Call on the Wrong War
Published in Opencanada.org, March 19, 2013
In the weeks leading up to the disastrous invasion of Iraq a decade ago, a number of prominent Canadian commentators and political figures warned of dire consequences to Canada-U.S. relations if this country …
READ MOREA Not-So-New Foreign Policy Plan
The Harper government’s “secret” foreign policy plan, revealed by the CBC today, offers few surprises. Its emphasis on pursuing economic opportunities, particularly in emerging markets, is a reflection of what the government is already doing. The real news is …
READ MOREIs Corruption the Cost of Saving Afghanistan?
Published in the Globe and Mail, July 11, 2012.
It was fitting that last weekend’s international donors’ conference on Afghanistan took place in Tokyo: The event resembled the city’s famous kabuki theatre, with its ritualized drama of grand gestures …
READ MOREDon’t Blame Obama for ‘Losing’ Canada
Derek Burney and Fen Osler Hampson have well-deserved reputations as level-headed observers of Canada-U.S. relations. How, then, did they come to write an article so full of misjudgments on this subject?
The article in question, “How Obama Lost Canada…
READ MOREThe Engaged Academic: Why the Old Ivory Tower Won’t Stand
The latest issue of the journal Perspectives on Politics, published by Cambridge University Press, includes an important article by Lisa Anderson, an American political scientist who is currently president of the American University in Cairo. Anderson argues that …
READ MOREGoing Along to Get Along? Canada Soft-Pedals Russia’s Role in Syria
Why is Canada giving Russia an easy ride on Syria? Moscow has been running diplomatic interference for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and providing his regime with weapons. Meanwhile, Assad’s loyalists have escalated their attacks on Syrian civilians, including women and …
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John Baird: The Next Minister of National Defence?
I don’t normally follow Canadian politics closely enough to play the parlour game of predicting the winners and losers of the next cabinet shuffle, but sometimes you get a hunch worth wagering on, and this is one of those …
READ MOREStronger Diplomatic Action?
In the aftermath of the terrible murder of over 100 people in Houla, Syria, including dozens of children, Canada’s foreign minister John Baird joined a chorus of international protests against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. But Baird’s comments yesterday…
READ MOREAnother Great Season at CIPS
After several years of strategic hiring, the University of Ottawa now houses a very strong group of international affairs experts across its many departments and schools. Institutional reputations take time to build, but the university is already gaining global recognition …
READ MORETwo Priorities for the Canadian Forces
How should we define the priorities of the Canadian Forces? Steve Saideman raises this question in his latest post. In my view, the CF should have two overriding missions: first, the protection of Canada’s coastlines and airspace (along with …
READ MOREForeign Policy Is Not Just Defence
I welcome the opportunity to kick off this series on the future of the Canadian Forces (CF), not least because the series invites a broader discussion of the role of the military and the Department of National Defence (DND) …
READ MORER2P Is Not a License for Military Recklessness
In the New York Times last week, Tufts University’s Alex de Waal penned an op-ed that scathingly criticized the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine and a group of people he calls “idealists.” In the article, he identified only two members …
READ MOREThe Cockeyed Case for Preemptive War on Iran
I was invited to talk about fragile states at the annual meeting of the Conference of Defence Associations in Ottawa on Thursday. As it turned out, however, I spent most of my time speaking about Iran.
I couldn’t help myself. …
READ MOREThe New Canada: Fomenting Fear at Home and Abroad
Why base policy on facts and evidence when you can exploit fear instead? It doesn’t take a psychologist to know that fear is a much more powerful motivator than boring old rational argument. Political scientists have long studied the use …
READ MOREStephen Harper’s Worrying Words on Iran
Is Prime Minister Stephen Harper preparing the Canadian public for a possible conflict with Iran? In two recent interviews (here and here), he has “raised the alarm” about the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran, which he views as …
READ MORELibya Intervention of 2011: A Victory With Asterisks
This article first appeared in the Winter 2011 issue of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute Quarterly Review.
The grotesque display of Muammar Qaddafi’s bloodied corpse in Sirte, Libya, where he was captured and killed, and later in …
READ MOREThe Total Surveillance Society Approaches
…READ MOREThis commentary appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on December 22, 2011.
We will soon reach the point where governments will have the capacity, should they wish it, to monitor, record, and permanently archive the communications and activities of their citizens
Canada-U.S. Perimeter Plan: From Aspiration to Action?
Yesterday, Canada and the United States announced a security and economic cooperation plan similar in style and substance to the 2005 Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). It’s worth recalling, therefore, that the SPP died of neglect shortly …
READ MOREA Pivotal Moment? U.S. Policy Towards Asia
This post first appeared on the CIC’s Roundtable blog at opencanada.org.
Is the United States “pivoting” its foreign policy towards the Asia-Pacific region, as prominent Obama administration officials, news reports, and commentators have claimed?
Daniel Drezner, a …
READ MOREThe 800-Pound Panda in Obama’s Asia Speech
This post first appeared on the CIC’s Roundtable blog at opencanada.org.
Sometimes, the most interesting part of a political speech isn’t what is said, but what’s not said. On Thursday, President Barack Obama delivered an address to Australia’s Parliament …
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The Scale of Sacrifice: Canadian Military Deaths in Five Wars (chart)
- Report
- November 11, 2011
Lest we forget…
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…La réussite de l’OTAN en Libye
- October 31, 2011
Cet article a originalement paru en anglais dans le blogue du Conseil International du Canada : opencanada.org.
L’opération de l’Organisation du Traité de l’Atlantique Nord (OTAN) en Libye prend officiellement fin à minuit aujourd’hui. En fin de compte, ses …
READ MORENATO’s Success in Libya
This post first appeared on the CIC’s Roundtable blog at opencanada.org.
NATO’s operation in Libya formally ends at midnight today. All told, its aircraft conducted almost 10,000 strike missions over 7 months. When the mission began, many commentators warned …
READ MOREDid Canada Play a “Critical” Role in Libya?
Prime Minister Stephen Harper continues to take bows for Canada’s involvement in the Libya mission. “Canada has played a critical role both politically and militarily to protect innocent civilians against a cruel and oppressive regime,” he said in a statement…
READ MOREIs There a Problem in Canada-U.S. Relations?
This post first appeared on the CIC’s Roundtable blog at opencanada.org.
When they met in Washington last February, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama announced a “new long-term partnership” between Canada and the U.S., which would “accelerate …
READ MOREThe Ugly Underside of Arab Liberation
This post first appeared on the CIC’s Roundtable blog at opencanada.org.Coptic Christians have good reason to be worried in the new Egypt. The popular revolution, led by secular young democrats who successfully overthrew the regime of Hosni Mubarak, …
READ MOREWelcome to the CIPS Website and Blog
Welcome to a new source of Canadian conversation on global affairs: the CIPS website and blog, featuring contributors from the University of Ottawa’s roster of researchers working on international issues. Our twenty-two featured bloggers for 2011-12 come from different parts …
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