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The G7: Hard Talk or a Sleepwalk?0
- Analysis
- May 24, 2018
by Jeremy Kinsman

As the Charlevoix G7 approaches, there is some question as to how the June 8–9 summit could play out as a Trumpian disaster. As veteran diplomat Jeremy Kinsman writes, if the disruptive president plays skunk at the …
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1983 GAC Document Still Relevant Today: “The Crisis of Quality” Revisited 0
- 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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China’s Thought Police Handcuff Canadian Businesses 0
- Analysis
- May 16, 2018
When I received Air Canada’s promotional email about a worldwide seat sale this week, I immediately checked their website to book my August trip to Taipei. To my surprise, the list of destinations had been changed to read “Taipei, China” …
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Why We Need to Stop Letting Economic Crises go to Waste 0
- Analysis
- April 30, 2018
There’s a popular adage that we should never let a good crisis go to waste. Yet, arguably, that’s what we’ve been doing for decades now. We’ve avoided facing the genuine political challenges that economic crises present us and lost these …
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The Commonwealth’s Refusal to Address LGBTI Rights 0
- Analysis
- April 25, 2018
One of the best predictors of whether a country criminalizes homosexuality is whether it is a member of the Commonwealth. In 36 out of 53 Commonwealth countries, sexual acts in private between two consenting adults of the same sex are …
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The (Vanishing?) Conspiracy Theory Part 1: Daniel Jean on the PM’s India Trip 0
- Analysis
- April 21, 2018
The National Security and Intelligence Adviser to the Prime Minister, Daniel Jean, made a rare appearance before a Parliamentary committee on April 16. Such visits are usually sparked by scandal and controversy, and Jean’s appearance was no different. On the …
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The (Vanishing?) Conspiracy Theory Part 2: Media Reports on the PM’s India Trip 0
- Analysis
- April 21, 2018
Here is a sample of what the media reported after Daniel Jean’s background brief:

Globe and Mail, February 22, 2018: “…after initially pointing the finger at Mr. Sarai, the Canadian government later spread the blame to ‘factions in India’ …
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Canada Among Donors: What Do the Latest Foreign Aid Statistics Tell Us?0
- Analysis
- April 17, 2018
The preliminary aid statistics for 2017 are now out. What do they tell us about global trends and Canadian foreign aid?

Globally, official development assistance (ODA) from traditional donors has held steady. The total amount, US$147 billion, is down slightly …
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Putting the Foreign Service Back on Track 0
- 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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Is Facebook Just a “Tool”?0
- Analysis
- April 14, 2018
by Nolen Gertz

This past week, Facebook CEO, chairman, and founder Mark Zuckerberg testified before members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives to answer to the growing scandal surrounding Facebook’s role in helping Cambridge Analytica (and, by …
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In Defense of Canada’s New International Development Assistance Policy 0
- Analysis
- April 12, 2018
Criticism, while hardly ever welcome, is nevertheless necessary to draw attention to potential pitfalls. If heeded in time, danger may be averted; disaster, however, may follow an unexamined plan. Canada’s new Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) has drawn its share …
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Arms Exports and Feminist Foreign Policy 0
- Analysis
- April 11, 2018
In recent years, we’ve seen a number of depressing political shifts in the Euro-Atlantic area — but the rise of feminist foreign policies is not among them.

The trend was set in 2014 when Margot Wallström was named foreign minister …
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