Canadian Foreign Policy

Liberal Government Must Sign Treaty Regulating Arms Industry 0
- Analysis
- January 27, 2016
by Jennifer Erickson, Srdjan Vucetic, and Amanda Alcamo

In his campaign, Justin Trudeau promised to sign the Arms Trade Treaty if elected. Now is the time for the new prime minister to follow through on his election promise.

The treaty …
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Back To Tehran: Strategies for Success 0
- Analysis
- November 27, 2015
By John Mundy

It won’t be easy for Canada to re-establish diplomatic relations with Iran, but it’s worth the trouble.

In September 2012, the Harper government suspended diplomatic relations with Iran, closed the Canadian embassy in Tehran and expelled Iran’s …
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Working group on International Trade and Commerce 0
- Report
- November 17, 2015
What are the principal international trade and commerce challenges facing Canada—and how should Canada respond? CIPS convened a working group of seasoned policy experts and asked them to answer these questions. Their report, based on months of deliberation and consultation, …
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Working Group on International Development 0
- Report
- November 15, 2015
The world is in the midst of a complex and dramatic set of transformations. The traditional view of “international development” as solely a matter of charity and moral importance, secondary to Canada’s hard interests, is long outdated. The complex, inter-related …
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Step by Step, All at Once: Rebuilding the Canadian Foreign Service 0
- Analysis
- November 5, 2015
By Daniel Livermore

All over Ottawa, officials and ex-officials are talking about re-building. And the conversations aren’t only about Canada`s crumbling infrastructure. They’re about repairing public institutions shredded during the Harper years. Some of these conversations are about Foreign Affairs …
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Working Group Report on Canada’s International Security and National Defence Policy 0
- Report
- November 4, 2015
What are the principal security and defence challenges facing Canada, and how should Canada respond? CIPS asked two former senior officials, one recently retired general, and two academic security policy experts to answer these questions. Their report, based on months …
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Is Canada “Fit for Purpose” in the face of a new global agenda?0
- Analysis
- November 3, 2015
by Julia Sanchez and John Sinclair

Canada has just elected a new government committed to ‘putting Canada back on the global stage’ by re-establishing Canada’s leadership position in promoting human rights and ending poverty. This commitment will be put to …
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Transition Memos Show Foreign Ministry Is Doing Its Job 0
- Analysis
- September 30, 2015
A series of foreign ministry memos, leaked to the media in recent days, offer an unflattering assessment of Canada’s declining international influence and reputation. They are apparently draft “transition” documents, which the federal bureaucracy prepares before every election.

Some defenders
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The Munk Leaders’ Debate: Opportunity Missed 0
- Analysis
- September 30, 2015
The Munk Leaders’ Debate was supposed to be about foreign policy, but at many times it was really about a three-man horse race. That race was about which progressive horse could finish first, or whether the conservative horse would end …
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Canada’s Military Spending Is Now Less than Half of NATO’s Target 0
- Analysis
- September 24, 2015
Last year I blogged about the decline in Canadian military spending as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The most recent figures at that time were for 2013. I noted that defence spending had fallen to 1.00 percent of …
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On the Fence: Canada’s Role in the Western Pacific Through An Election Lens 0
- Analysis
- September 17, 2015
Canada’s election, in the 70^th anniversary year of the conclusion of World War II, should be a time to ponder Canada’s role in the Western Pacific. Most pressing is the challenge of how Canada should respond to China’s increasingly …
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(Almost) A Good Idea: Banning Travel to Designated Conflict Zones 0
- Analysis
- August 11, 2015
Excerpted from the original version published on the National Security Law blog, August 10, 2015

On the election trail yesterday, Stephen Harper proposed a criminal law ban on travel to designated zones he described as “ground zero” for terrorism.

Paring …
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