Oversold and Underwhelming: John Baird’s First Year on the Job

• May 22, 2012

Almost one year to the day after his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird was asked in an interview on CBC Radio’s The House on Saturday to define his foreign policy. “More smart power, less soft power,” he …

Two Priorities for the Canadian Forces

• May 3, 2012

How should we define the priorities of the Canadian Forces? Steve Saideman raises this question in his latest post. In my view, the CF should have two overriding missions: first, the protection of Canada’s coastlines and airspace (along with …

Foreign Policy Is Not Just Defence

• April 30, 2012

I welcome the opportunity to kick off this series on the future of the Canadian Forces (CF), not least because the series invites a broader discussion of the role of the military and the Department of National Defence (DND) …

Boosting Canada’s Latin American Strategy

• April 30, 2012

The recent Latin American Summit in Cartagena didn’t generate much media coverage in Canada. It eventually broke down with controversies over drug policy and Cuba, and was even hijacked by a minor scandal involving the U.S. Secret Service. But it …

Steve Coll’s Sobering Vision of Afghanistan’s Future: Event Report

• March 1, 2012

On February 27, Steve Coll (President of the New America Foundation and Pulitzer Prize-winning author) gave a strikingly clear and sobering analysis of problems afflicting the U.S. exit strategy from war in Afghanistan. His opening premise was a moral one: …

The New Canada: Fomenting Fear at Home and Abroad

• February 4, 2012

Why base policy on facts and evidence when you can exploit fear instead? It doesn’t take a psychologist to know that fear is a much more powerful motivator than boring old rational argument. Political scientists have long studied the use …

Armies without Borders? Legal Questions on Canada-U.S. Military Cooperation

• January 25, 2012

The Ottawa Citizen reported today that Canada and the United States are in the final stages of negotiating a “new Canada-U.S. military agreement that will set down each country’s roles and responsibilities should North America be attacked”. The details are …

Time for a ‘Grand Bargain’ in a Foreign Policy Review

• January 21, 2012

Officials are grinding away at a foreign policy review in the Lester B. Pearson building in Ottawa, although the motives appear unclear and the parameters are not yet public. But the time is right, since the Harper Government’s majority in …

Tap Immigrants to Help Shape Foreign Policy

• December 20, 2011

By Tom Axworthy, John Monahan and Natalie Brender

Published in the Globe and Mail, December 20, 2011.

As Canada’s focus on Libya shifts from the drama of regime change to the challenges of peace building and reconstruction, could the …

Canada-U.S. Perimeter Plan: From Aspiration to Action?

• December 8, 2011

Yesterday, Canada and the United States announced a security and economic cooperation plan similar in style and substance to the 2005 Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). It’s worth recalling, therefore, that the SPP died of neglect shortly …