Ukraine War Scores Indirect Hits on Central Asia0

• Analysis
• August 28, 2023

Pointing subtly to the four men working on laptops on the other side of the café, our guide said softly, “Those are the Russians.” In cafés, restaurants and hotel lobbies throughout Central Asia, we saw similar scenes: young to middle-aged …

🏆 2024 Best Blog Award Winner❗️Exclusion and Democracy: A Look at Immigration Justice in Democratic States0

• Analysis
• July 19, 2023

The news is filled with stories of migrants, many of whom are asylum seekers, struggling to gain access to safe states and of the poor treatment with which they are met when they finally do.  In the United States, …

Feminist Responses to Crisis in Venezuela, Haiti and Poland0

• Analysis
• June 28, 2023

On March 2, 2023, CIPS and Fòs Feminista hosted a webinar to discuss the responses of local feminist organizations to the growing humanitarian crises along the borders of Venezuela, Haiti and Poland. We learned that these local feminist organizations fill …

Uganda’s Harsh Anti-Gay Campaign Could Spread Beyond its Borders0

• Analysis
• June 2, 2023

Being gay in Uganda has never been easy. It just got a lot worse, and a lot more dangerous.  Against fierce domestic and international pressure from human rights defenders, President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law one of the harshest …

The Issues Involved in Using the “Persona Non-Grata” Option0

• Analysis
• May 9, 2023

Recent controversies involving Chinese diplomatic and consular personnel in Canada have again raised the thorny issue of declaring foreign diplomats “persona non grata,” thereby throwing them out of Canada for their transgressions. The “PNG” concept is a reflexive, almost automatic …

International Development Cooperation and LGBTQ+ Rights in Africa0

• Analysis
• May 9, 2023

Sexual and gender minorities are under attack in several African countries. For instance, over the past couple of years, extreme anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has been introduced in Ghana and Uganda, where homosexuality was already illegal. Kenya and Tanzania could well …

The Prospects for Regional Cooperation Concerning the Situation in Afghanistan0

• Analysis
• April 27, 2023

The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 represents a major geopolitical shift for the country’s immediate neighbours and the wider region. Neighbouring countries have expressed deep concern about the security threats emanating from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and about …

In the Convoy’s Aftermath: Time to Embrace Human Rights in the City of Ottawa0

• Analysis
• April 17, 2023

In remarkably short order, the unprecedented experience of the Ottawa Convoy of February 2022 has been well studied and there are extensive recommendations for change now on the public record. 

The Public Order Emergency Commission, which was convened because …

Canada and Mongolia – The Enhanced Development Partnership that Never Was0

• Analysis
• March 30, 2023

In the early 2010s, the Canadian government, under Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, developed a special interest in Mongolia. In 2014, after a flurry of diplomatic visits, Canada designated Mongolia a “country of focus” for its development assistance. This decision …

Revolution or Evolution? The Iran-Saudi Deal0

• Analysis
• March 17, 2023

The news that Iran and Saudi Arabia will restore relations, a deal brokered by China no less, has set tongues wagging. But is this a revolutionary development for the Middle East or an evolution?  It depends on where you stand.

For …

Afghanistan at a Crossroads: Securing Women’s Rights in the New Taliban Era0

• Analysis
• March 8, 2023

The international community fought the Taliban insurgency for twenty years with blood and money, investing trillions of dollars and losing thousands of soldiers. However, Afghanistan’s Taliban swept to power in Kabul on August 15, 2021.

Eighteen months after, Afghanistan is …

It is Time for Environmentalists to Stop Blaming ‘Overpopulation’0

• Analysis
• March 2, 2023

Like a zombie, the argument that the global population must be urgently reduced to address the global environmental crisis keeps popping up – no matter how often the argument is put to rest. Take a speech at COP 27 by …