Putin is Waging War on Eastern Ukraine

• March 7, 2022

Historians have known for a long time that the idea that Ukrainians form a different nation than Russians, and therefore decide of their own destiny, is seen by Moscow, and a large segment of the Russian population, as artificial, as …

Vladimir Putin: Saviour of NATO

• March 2, 2022

To my knowledge, NATO does not have a “Person of the Year” award, but it should, and the inaugural award should go to none other than Vladimir V. Putin.  No one has done more for the Atlantic Alliance in many …

A New Approach is Needed to Blunt the Appeal of Far-Right Movements

• February 18, 2022

The trucker convoy that rolled onto the streets of Ottawa late last month has become an unlikely cause célèbre for far-right movements and anti-vaxxers around the world. The scenario that has unfolded is not how Canada sees itself, and it …

Obfuscation and Ventriloquy: Does Canada Speak for the World’s Poor?

• February 9, 2022

The tweet from Cooperation Canada after the webinar said it all: ‘“We want to be a voice for the low-income countries”, explains @HarjitSajjan of Canada’s response to the pandemic #COVID19 around the world’. Funny thing, we thought the low-income countries …

Being Critical about Intelligence Studies: a New Research Agenda

• February 7, 2022

In a recent CIPS podcast, Srdjan Vucetic, David Murakami Wood and myself discussed criticality in Intelligence Studies and Surveillance Studies. The question was simple enough: what does ‘critique’ mean in the context of both fields of scholarship?

To respond …

Bullying and the Ghosts of History

• January 25, 2022

History never repeats exactly; there are always different nuances and circumstances.  Our understanding of the past, on which we apply any equivalence, is distorted by the perspectives of our time.  Reliance on historical analogy is therefore risky.  

The crisis in Ukraine is …

The Disinformation Industry – A Cure Worse than the Disease?

• January 25, 2022

In April last year, several hundred people marched through the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in honour of the SS Galicia Division, a collaborationist Ukrainian unit from World War Two. The event provoked me to write a piece that was published on …

NATO vs. Putin: the Lessons of the Ukraine Crisis

• January 18, 2022

These are extraordinary times in NATO-Russia relations. Among NATO members, fears of a Russian military offensive against Ukraine have  notbeen as heightened since the end of the Cold War.  In recent days, the world has witnessed marathon talks in Geneva …

Canada and the American Crisis

• January 6, 2022

This New Year, Canadians seem to have woken up to the unpleasant realization that serious trouble may be brewing on their Southern border. The relief provided by reassuring tones of President Biden and the soothing blandness of his foreign policy …

What should Canada do for Afghanistan?

• December 8, 2021

Despite no longer making the headlines, the situation in Afghanistan is a lot worse now than it was in August, when the world watched in horror as people fell off a military airplane leaving Kabul Airport.

What should Canada do …

The Politics of Travel Bans

• December 2, 2021

I am not a health expert, nor am I especially knowledgeable about COVID 19, but I’m pretty sure I’m not infected by the virus because I still have my sense of smell – and I smell a rat. 

Canada’s decision …

What Would a Rights-Based Approach to Women’s Peace and Security Entail?

• November 24, 2021

In my previous blog, I wrote that there is no evidence for instrumentalist claims about women and peace. Increasing participation of women in peacekeeping, in formal peace negotiations and in local peacebuilding activities does not make these activities more …