French Intelligence to Blame?0

• Analysis
• January 14, 2015

All terrorist outrages are inevitably followed by soul-searching and blame-seeking. Last week’s terrible events in France have followed the inevitable trajectory. While the French Republic’s security manhunt for the perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo and Jewish supermarket killings involved an …

15 Proposals for Canadian Foreign Aid0

• Analysis
• January 11, 2015

The French version of this essay was published on the Huffington Post Québec blog Un seul monde on January 8, 2015.

When the Harper government abolished the Canadian International Development Agency and transferred its functions to the newly renamed Department …

The Greatest Risk to UN Peace Operations0

• Analysis
• December 17, 2014

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 …

All I Want for Christmas…Is for Bob Geldof to Be Quiet0

• Analysis
• December 10, 2014

When Sir Bob Geldof re-released the song ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ to raise money for Ebola victims, I decided against writing a blog about it. Bob does not need me to do his promotion, I thought, and sure enough …

The UNFCCC and Beyond: Transnational Climate Change Governance0

• Analysis
• December 6, 2014

The world’s attention (or at least that bit of it thinking about climate change at all) is focused again on the annual UN negotiations that convene for two weeks every December. This year in Lima, increasing attention is being given …

Limiting Foreign Fighting by Canadians: Stop-Gap Legal Measures0

• Analysis
• December 6, 2014

Published on the National Security Law blog, December 4, 2014

I have opined here and here about the troubles associated with foreign fighting. I do not limit my concerns about these troubles to fighting with a listed terrorist group. I …

25 Years After the Fall of the Iron Curtain, a Changing Face of Europe0

• Analysis
• December 2, 2014

On December 1, Herman Van Rompuy stepped down as European Council President, the post that oversees meetings of the 28 EU leaders. In the past, that role was held on a rotating basis, but it became permanent under the Lisbon …

L’Amérique du Nord : elle compte de plus en plus!0

• Analysis
• November 30, 2014

Le Council of Foreign Relations vient de publier son tout dernier rapport sur l’Amérique du Nord invitant ses pays membres à se repositionner. Nuls autres que le célèbre général Petraeus, ancien directeur de la CIA, et Robert Zoellick, ancien directeur …

Three Missing Pieces in the Canadian Security and Intelligence Debate0

• 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 …

The ICC: Breach in the Dyke, or High Water Mark?0

• Analysis
• November 24, 2014

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 …