Canada's leading centre for analysis and debate of international affairs.
COVID-19
Where Do the Conservative Leadership Candidates Stand on International Issues?
- August 6, 2020
The voting for the next head of the Conservative Party of Canada has begun. The winner, to be announced on August 21, will become the Leader of the Official Opposition. In the midst of the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic …
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A Genuine Human Rights-based Approach for Our Post-pandemic Future
- July 29, 2020
When many governments are still willing to trade the lives of the vulnerable for the economic gains of the wealthiest, we need a human rights-based approach to our post-pandemic world.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world we knew. It …
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Claims for Reparations, Politics and COVID-19
- July 1, 2020
Recent weeks have witnessed growing international concerns over China’s role in the origins of the Coronavirus pandemic. While Australia and Germany ask for an international investigation of what went wrong, the United States has accused China of its failure to …
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COVID-19 Lays Bare the Pseudo-Science of the Index Industry
- June 18, 2020
Which country was best prepared in 2019 to handle a pandemic? According to the Johns Hopkins Global Health Security Index, the United States showed the highest level of “preparedness for epidemics and pandemics” out of 195 countries and territories. …
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Protecting Canada: A Dangerous Justification for Foreign Aid
- May 25, 2020
Two prominent umbrella groups of Canadian development organizations – CCIC and CanWaCH – recently launched a COVID-themed campaign to drum up support for Canadian foreign aid. In doing so, they have embraced a nationalistic, threat-based case for aid that verges …
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COVID-19 Forces a Rethink of an Old Debate
- May 18, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a test of the preparedness of countries’ public health and governance systems. As countries diverge in their strategies to fight the epidemic, we have more and more opportunities for learning about what works and …
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Supporting African-Led Responses to COVID-19
- May 6, 2020
The virus that causes COVID-19 has now reached Africa, a few weeks after it hit Europe and North America. Many analysts fear that the virus’s impact on the continent is nothing less than a “time bomb”, due to …
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Seeking Asylum During the Pandemic: On Why Borders Must Remain a Little Open
- April 22, 2020
As states have increasingly hunkered down to stop the spread of COVID-19, they have imposed increasing restrictions on the movement of people across borders. Airlines began by cancelling flights from China; then, US President Donald Trump banned incoming flights from …
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War Metaphors Used for COVID-19 Are Compelling but Also Dangerous
- April 14, 2020
As COVID-19 sweeps across the globe, many politicians and news media have adopted war metaphors to describe the challenges we are facing.
In Britain, Queen Elizabeth II delivering a rare speech on Apr. 5 said “we will meet again” evoking …
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Time to Get the Two Michaels Home
- April 10, 2020
The advent of the COVID19 pandemic puts fresh pressure on the Canadian government to end the impasse that continues to hold two Canadians imprisoned as hostages in a Chinese jail. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have now been in prison …
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The Pandemic, the Economy, and Climate Change: Three Takeaways So Far
- April 8, 2020
The global economy has slowed significantly after numerous countries have enacted measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic. The social and human impacts have been nothing short of devastating, and the economic pain is unlikely to let up anytime soon.
There …
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The SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Lessons for International Development
- April 3, 2020
The SARS-CoV-2 epidemic has gone global, transcending the traditional categories of North and South, “developed” and “developing” countries. While most international media coverage focuses on China, Europe and North America, the implications of the pandemic for the developing countries and …
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