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Should Canada Promote Religious Freedom?0
- Analysis
- October 2, 2012
Guest contributor: ELIZABETH SHAKMAN HURD, Associate Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University.

In the United States, religious freedom is described as the ‘first freedom’: a fundamental human right and a sine qua non of democratic politics. Americans, we are …
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Teaching Hobbes 0
- Analysis
- October 2, 2012
by Philippe Lagassé

After a month of lectures on Plato and Machiavelli, today I’m starting to teach Hobbes in my second-year undergraduate course on philosophical perspectives on conflict and rights. Personally, I find that this is the most interesting part …
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Will the ‘Future of Europe’ Group Save the EU?0
- Analysis
- October 1, 2012
“The European Union has reached a decisive juncture. The ongoing sovereign debt crisis and the ever accelerating process of globalization pose an unprecedented dual challenge for Europe. We will have to master it if we want our continent to enjoy
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Event Report: Discussion on the Will to Intervene 0
- Analysis
- October 1, 2012
On September 24, CIPS (in conjunction with the Montreal Institute for Genocide Studies at Concordia University) presented a panel discussion in honour of the Will to Intervene Day, which was proclaimed in the City of Ottawa by Mayor Jim Watson. …
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John Baird on Human Rights in Foreign Policy 0
- Analysis
- September 27, 2012
John Baird’s speech on September 14 at the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations may be long on benign self-congratulation, which goes down well when speaking to Canadian audiences. But at least it sheds some light on “the untold story of …
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Realizing the Potential of Unarmed Civilians in Reducing Violent Conflict 0
- Analysis
- September 26, 2012
Guest contributor: LIAM MAHONY, Director of Fieldview Solutions and a pioneer in the theory and practice of international protection

When the international community struggles today with decisions about how to address the terrible civilian costs of armed conflict, the …
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John Baird’s Journey 0
- Analysis
- September 24, 2012
In a speech last week to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Foreign Minister John Baird set out the priority he attaches to human rights in Canadian foreign policy. That Minister Baird prioritizes human rights is hardly new: his speeches …
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Foreign Aid: More of the Same?0
- Analysis
- September 21, 2012
Published in Embassy Magazine, September 19, 2012

Canada’s contributions to reducing global poverty are rarely a priority topic for debate in the House of Commons. Foreign aid is an important tool for supporting international development, but it will likely …
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Canada’s Abandonment of the Responsibility to Protect 0
- Analysis
- September 20, 2012
Guest contributor: KYLE MATTHEWS, Senior Deputy Director of the Will to Intervene Project at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (Concordia University)

The Responsibility to Protect doctrine has many enemies. States that will not or cannot …
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Free Speech: A New Trigger for Global Crisis 0
- Analysis
- September 20, 2012
A different version of this essay was published in the Huffington Post, September 19, 2012.

The hate-mongering film produced by an extremist anti-Muslim individual in the U.S. (who is also a convicted criminal) has triggered anti-U.S. violence around the …
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Will Lakhdar Brahimi’s Hard-Nosed Mediation Save Syria?0
- Analysis
- September 20, 2012
The arrival of Lakhdar Brahimi in Syria late last week drew little media attention. But his trip, and the larger mission of which it is a part, carry enormous consequences. Brahimi is the envoy appointed jointly by the UN and …
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Canada Steps Up Global Competition for ‘Brains’—At What Cost?0
- Analysis
- September 16, 2012
The global competition for talent—the ‘battle for the brains’—is fierce, and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney knows that Canada can no longer assume that it is uniquely attractive as a destination for high-skilled migrants. Along with many other states, we must …
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