Canadian Foreign Policy

China as #1: Where Might it Lead the World?0
- Analysis
- November 11, 2017
It slowly crept up on us. But in a carefully choreographed 19^th Party Congress in late October, President Xi Jinping was enthroned before several thousand elite party loyalists as “absolute monarch,” along with a multi-layered, hand-picked collection of respectful …
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Ottawa Needs to Re-Evaluate the Mission in Iraq 0
- Analysis
- November 1, 2017
The Canadian government announced last Friday that it is temporarily suspending its mission to train Iraqi and Iraqi Kurdish forces given growing tension between the two sides. Ottawa should take this opportunity to carefully consider its next steps: because of …
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Resuscitating the Canadian Foreign Service 0
- Analysis
- October 9, 2017
After years of neglect and mismanagement, the Canadian foreign service is now in serious trouble. The story of how it got this way is a long one, with a litany of poor management, appalling decisions by senior public servants, and …
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“The System is Broken”: Canada’s Latest Rationale for Stinginess 0
- Analysis
- October 2, 2017
“I would love to increase the aid budget,” admitted Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Liberal Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary to Canada’s Minister of International Development, speaking at a recent conference organized by the Canadian Council for International Co-operation. But, she argued, …
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Why Taiwan is an International Issue 0
- Analysis
- September 20, 2017
China works hard to convince the world that any decision about Taiwan is entirely a Chinese domestic affair. This has not, however, always been the official line of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1936, when the Republic of China (ROC) …
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Canada Needs a Wait-and-See Approach on Afghanistan 0
- Analysis
- September 1, 2017
By Lindsay Rodman

Will US President Donald Trump’s new plan for Afghanistan pull Canada back into a war that many deem a “lost cause”? Mr. Trump explicitly invited other nations to contribute in support of his new plan. Although Prime …
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The US Has Much to Gain in Embracing Freeland’s Free-Trade Approach 0
- Analysis
- August 16, 2017
On 14 August, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland outlined Canada’s objectives for renegotiating the North American free-trade agreement in view of the negotiations that began on 16 August.

Freeland was optimistic about the real possibility of modernizing NAFTA in a …
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China’s Republican Flag: A Conundrum for Canada–Taiwan Relations 0
- Analysis
- July 30, 2017
China’s Republican flag — the French-inspired tricolore representing nationalism, democracy, and peoples’ livelihood in Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People — was the national flag of all of China from 1928 until the founding of the People’s Republic of …
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A New G-20 for a Leaderless World 0
- Analysis
- July 14, 2017
The US retreat from leadership of liberal multilateralism could open a policy space for new members within a reformed G-20.

The 2017 G-20 summit, normally dull and technical, emerges as a key transition point in global power relations. G-20 …
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Beyond the Macron–Trudeau Bromance, Part 2: Two Leaders Bound to Co-operate 0
- Analysis
- June 27, 2017
President Macron may or may not be Europe’s saviour — to answer the question put by the Economist on its June 17^th cover — but he has clearly become a European leader on par with Angela Merkel. He has …
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Beyond the Macron–Trudeau Bromance, Part 1: The French Elections 0
- Analysis
- June 27, 2017
“Alea jacta est” — the dice have rolled… France’s National Assembly will look totally different from the previous one. While the final results have only confirmed the amazing revolution, several questions remain as to the future of French politics and …
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Is Canada Ready to Deliver a Feminist Development Co-operation Policy?0
- Analysis
- June 22, 2017
A policy rethink on Canada’s Agenda 2030 commitments finally emerged as a feminist development manifesto from Canada’s Development Minister, Marie-Claude Bibeau. This feminist framework for Canadian aid is bold in its ambitions — some might call it revolutionary — but …
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