Facing the Biggest Challenges of Our Generation
- Analysis
- December 18, 2018

Published in the Ottawa Citizen on September 6, 2014
The Conservative government has a strange way with public pronouncements on security issues. When it comes to the gravest of international crises, the government is prone to bold, headline-grabbing statements, whether …
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In sharp contrast to neo-liberal ‘hands off’ attitudes that shaped its past policies, the Harper government is considering a much greater public role in the economy, strategically targeting certain key sectors. Meanwhile, in response to growing concerns about the …
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Published on OpenCanada.org on September 4, 2014
Historians and political scientists tend to yearn for turning points. The history of the Atlantic Alliance has been no exception to this and, in scholarly analysis, one ripe with defining moments. Since the …
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Published in the Ottawa Citizen, August 23, 2014
The old adage in the spy business, when it came to publicity, was “no news is good news.” That ceased to pass democratic muster in Canada only in the mid-1980s and …
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Reviled in the West as a dictator, Russian president Vladimir Putin is enjoying a surge of support at home. According to the latest results published by polling organization Levada (which is generally considered hostile to the Russian government), Putin has …
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A relatively orderly and peaceful first-round election in Afghanistan this year saw an almost 60% voter turnout in defiance of Taliban threats, symbolizing Afghans’ determination to unite in the interest of peace and stability. The democratic process appeared to have …
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The simple but disturbing answer is: nobody.
Our world has over a billion people still living in extreme poverty. There are 25 million jobless in Europe. Jihadists control half of Iraq. The Doha Trade Round is in its 13th…
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Published in the Ottawa Citizen, August 5, 2014
The current round of violence between Israel and Hamas has given rise to a renewed wave of criticism of the Canadian government’s close support for Israel. Underlying such criticism is often …
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Does peacekeeping work? Janice Stein (University of Toronto) and I had a lively exchange on this subject on the CBC radio program “The House” this weekend. Have a listen.
In the interview, I said that more than two …
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In my last post for the CIPS Blog, I drew readers’ attention to Robert Entman’s 1991 article comparing media coverage of the shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight 007 in 1983 and Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988. It is …
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The Afghan election, which started with enormous enthusiasm from Afghan voters, the government and the international community, has turned sour. It is now marred with disputes centred on ethnic (mainly Pashtun/Tajik) divisions, splitting the country along ethnic lines and driving …
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The Harper government’s neglect of diplomacy has resulted in a largely ineffective foreign policy that has not served Canada’s interests, argues CIPS director Roland Paris in this video clip. His remarks were part of a panel discussion organized by Canadian …
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