Forget the Public Diplomacy, Iran and the U.S. Have a Long Road Ahead0

• Analysis
• September 26, 2013

Published  in the Globe and Mail, September 26, 2013.

The past weeks have seen a shift in Iran-U.S. relations. Instead of the usual bombast we are seeing measured, even respectful points from the two presidents. We hear that Iran’s …

Terror 2.0: Kenya’s #Westgate and a New Face of Terrorism0

• Analysis
• September 26, 2013

by Joshua Ramisch

The harrowing images from Nairobi’s burning and blood-soaked Westgate Mall have come not just from journalists but from the cellphones nearly everyone in the building was carrying.  Twitter has been alive with updates from all sides: from …

Event Report: Ahmed Rashid on Pakistan’s Next Chapter0

• Analysis
• September 19, 2013

On September 12, journalist and author Ahmed Rashid spoke at CIPS on Pakistan’s current challenges and its prospects for coming years. The present situation, he declared at the outset, is grim. Three separate insurgencies are causing mayhem; the economy is …

Harper Must Square the Provincial Circle on CETA0

• Analysis
• September 18, 2013

Earlier this month, as he was leaving the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that there was still no deal on a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union (EU). At the same …

R2P Down But Not Out After Libya and Syria0

• Analysis
• September 18, 2013

By Gareth Evans

Published on the openDemocracy blog, September 9, 2013. This essay is part of a symposium on R2P and the human rights crisis in Syria, guest edited by David Petrasek.

The lack of consensus in the …

With Syria, the US and Britain Are Trapped in the Past0

• Analysis
• September 17, 2013

Published in the Huffington Post Canada, September 16, 2013

William Faulkner’s most brilliant insight was his quip that “The past is never dead, it is not even past.” It is the past that is now befuddling the most strategic …

R2P: Hindrance Not A Help in the Syrian Crisis0

• Analysis
• September 17, 2013

Published on the openDemocracy blog September 13, 2013. This essay is part of a symposium on R2P and the human rights crisis in Syria guest edited by David Petrasek.

The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine was developed to forge consensus …

Russia is a Beacon of Sanity About Syria0

• Analysis
• September 10, 2013

Published in the Ottawa Citizen, September 9, 2013

Russia-bashing and Putin-bashing, always fairly popular, have been much in fashion of late. Having lived for a while in Russia and before that the Soviet Union, as well as having devoted …

The G20 at Five: More Technocratic and Less Visionary0

• Analysis
• September 10, 2013

While media attention was focussed on Syria, the G20 issued its most detailed communiqué in its five-year history. It includes commitments to work together on a  wide range of issues: strong and sustainable economic growth, unemployment and underemployment (particularly among …

Syria and Obama’s Flawed Logic of Message-Sending0

• Analysis
• September 4, 2013

Published in the Toronto Star, September 4, 2013

In announcing his plan last Saturday to put the prospect of Syrian intervention to a Congressional vote, President Obama posed a ringing question to his domestic and global audience: “What message …