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Canada’s Iran Policy: ‘Reckless Rhetoric’ and More Out of Step Than Ever 0
- Analysis
- June 19, 2014
by John Mundy

Published in the Globe and Mail, June 19, 2014

Canada has a dysfunctional relationship with Iran and our government is proud of it. That is the underlying message of Foreign Minister John Baird’s latest statements about …
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Principles and Prejudice: Foreign Policy Under the Harper Government 0
- Analysis
- June 19, 2014
by Gerd Schönwälder

Values have been critical drivers behind the foreign policy making of Canada’s current and past governments, both Conservative and Liberal. However, the Harper government’s use of values-based foreign policymaking does not meet three criteria that would ensure …
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NATO Must Face Looming Challenges Now, Not Later 0
- Analysis
- June 18, 2014
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 …
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Global Military Spending by Region 0
- Analysis
- June 18, 2014
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 …
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Where We Go From Here: Canada’s Strategic Opportunity 0
- Analysis
- June 18, 2014
Published on OpenCanada.org, June 17, 2014

The Canadian Conference of Defence Associations Institute’s Strategic Outlook (SO) 2014 published in February has nearly been dated by developments taking place around the world. In light of recent events, I examine some …
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The June 14 Elections Confirm Afghans’ Verdict Against the Taliban 0
- Analysis
- June 16, 2014
On the June 14 election day, Afghans again delivered an anti-Taliban verdict. Despite the strong Taliban offensive preceding the day, 7 million Afghans (60% of registered voters) cast their votes. True, the euphoria that dominated the first round was absent; …
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Canadian Military Spending as a Percent of GDP 0
- Analysis
- June 16, 2014
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 …
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Mr. Harper’s Maternal and Child Health Summit: What’s Still Missing?0
- Analysis
- June 11, 2014
By Rieky Stuart and Stephen Brown

Published on the McLeod Group Blog, June 10, 2014

The Canadian government’s recent Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Summit in Toronto has not lacked for cheerleaders, especially NGOs receiving funding under the …
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Is Afghanistan Set to Elect a Truly National President?0
- Analysis
- June 11, 2014
Afghanistan is getting ready to go to a second round of polls on June 14. The fairly peaceful first round (despite some irregularities and scattered violence in the outlying provinces) symbolized Afghans’ interest in supporting a democratic process to elect …
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Policy Experts Submit Report to NATO Secretary General 0
- Analysis
- June 10, 2014
In March 2014, the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, appointed ten independent policy experts to a panel and asked them to provide advice on the future of the transatlantic bond. The panel included a …
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A Do and Don’t List for the UN’s New Human Rights High Commissioner 0
- Analysis
- June 9, 2014
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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Media Bias Frames Western Reporting on Ukraine 0
- Analysis
- June 5, 2014
In a 1991 article published in the Journal of Communications, Robert Entman of the George Washington University examined how the American media framed international news. He compared coverage of two similar events: the shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight …
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