Trump, Tariffs and Free Trade, Part 2: Implications for Canada0

• Analysis
• April 1, 2025

From 1945 until recently, the United States served as the cornerstone of the liberal rules-based international order in trade, finance and security. Sometimes, the US played this role unwillingly or half-heartedly, sometimes hypocritically. Occasionally, the US acted illegally and …

Trump, Tariffs and Free Trade, Part 1: What Everybody Got Wrong0

• Analysis
• March 31, 2025

Here is a sentence no one could have written in the 1980s: “Canada’s political parties and provincial governments are united in supporting free trade with the United States”. The 1980s featured a ferocious debate on whether free trade with the …

What Was Said (And What Was Not Said)0

• Analysis
• March 19, 2025

Double Truths: When Fiction Reveals What Academia Cannot0

• Analysis
• March 17, 2025

After years working in the World Bank’s Result Measurement Unit, I found myself confronting an uncomfortable reality: development aid to impoverished countries primarily benefits aid facilitators, donors, and a select few wealthy clients—rarely empowering those it’s meant to help on …

Thinking Critically About Science Diplomacy: What Does It Mean To Give Scientists A ‘Seat At The Table’?0

• Analysis
• March 11, 2025

Canada Must Dream Big and Spend Big as it Faces the Trump Threat0

• Analysis
• March 10, 2025

It should now be clear to Canadians that we face an existential threat from a United States that has gone full MAGA. In response, Canada must go full GIGA! Giga, of course, means “giant” in Greek, and that’s the size …

Why is the United States Leaving the WHO?0

• Analysis
• February 24, 2025

On January 20, 2025, one of Donald Trump’s first executive orders was to withdraw the United States from the WHO (World Health Organization). In 1975, the Republican Gerald Ford decided to leave the ILO (International Labour Organization). The Reagan administration …

The Rise of Nature-Related Risk and the Climatization of Biodiversity0

• Analysis
• February 18, 2025

As biodiversity loss accelerates, financial actors are increasingly engaging with the issue—but not under the banner of biodiversity itself. Instead, they are embracing nature-related risk, an umbrella concept modeled after, aligned with, and integrated into existing climate finance frameworks. This …

The Rate of Change and the Role of the State: Understanding Fracture in Today’s World from a Polanyian Perspective0

• Analysis
• January 27, 2025

We live in a period of profound change and transformation, with neoliberalism now under siege and becoming channeled in new directions. At the center of all of this is the state, especially states that are also great powers. Shifting geopolitical …

Trump is Intent on Repoliticizing the Global Economy: What Happens Next?0

• Analysis
• January 24, 2025

Trump’s return to the White House will have seismic effects on the global political economy. These won’t be limited to one-off shocks like those associated with his threatened 25% tariff increase. A more lasting legacy will be the broad-based repoliticization …

Trump’s America First Trade Policy Holds Both Perils and Promises for Canada0

• Analysis
• January 22, 2025

Late on Inauguration Day, newly sworn-in President Trump signed an executive order outlining his America First Trade Policy. Although presidential impatience and the occasional tweet are bound to upset the policy’s fine print and timelines, the document is worth …