Democracy

Zimbabwe: A Faustian Bargain with a Crocodile?
- November 28, 2017
After 37 years of rule, Robert Mugabe, the world’s oldest leader and one of Africa’s longest serving presidents, has finally lost power. In an unprecedented, unpredictable, and at times unbelievable series of events, the one-time liberation hero was deposed by …
By Rita Abrahamsen
Africa, Democracy, Human Rights
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Ottawa Needs to Re-Evaluate the Mission in Iraq
- 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 …
By Thomas Juneau
Canadian Foreign Policy, Democracy, International Security, Middle East
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Women in Political Life Say #MeToo: Here’s How Harassment and Violence Limit Their Political Lives Worldwide
- October 23, 2017
In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal last week, millions of women and men took to social media to speak out against sexual harassment and violence. Facebook alone saw over 12 million posts as more than 4.7 million users …
By Gabrielle Bardall
Democracy, Gender, Human Rights, Women
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Merkel’s “Homelessness” of Power and the Future of the EU
- October 23, 2017
It has been very quiet in Berlin after the general election of 24 September. Yes, Angela Merkel officially won the election with 26.8% or 200 seats in the new Bundestag. However, her Christian Democrats (CDU) together with the Christian Social …
By Benjamin Zyla
Democracy, Environment, Europe, Refugees
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The German Election: A (Preliminary) Analysis
- September 28, 2017
Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière, of the Christian Democrats (CDU), had a hard time defending his seat in Sunday’s general election in Germany. This is rather surprising given that his riding in Saxony, close to Dresden, in the …
By Benjamin Zyla
Democracy, Europe
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Why Taiwan is an International Issue
- 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) …
By Scott Simon
Asia, Canadian Foreign Policy, China, Democracy, Human Rights
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Crowded Out by “Big Man” Politics, Kenyan Women Still Struggle in 2017 Elections
- August 21, 2017
by Gabrielle Bardall, PhD, CIPS Research Associate

For all its progressive constitution, high-tech society, and exceptionally resourced Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Kenya is the worst performer in the East African Community (EAC) regarding women in parliament. These failures …
By Gabrielle Bardall
Africa, Democracy, Gender
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China’s Republican Flag: A Conundrum for Canada–Taiwan Relations
- 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 …
By Scott Simon
Asia, Canadian Foreign Policy, Democracy
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Liberal Interventionism: The Crisis Within
- July 9, 2017
By Katja Lindskov Jacobsen

Center for Military Studies, University of Copenhagen

Liberal interventionism today not only responds to crises in countries experiencing violent conflicts, distress, and disaster. It also responds to a crisis within. This crisis is not simply about …
By CIPS
Democracy, United Nations, USA
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Trump’s Genius
- July 9, 2017
For much of the public and the political classes, Donald Trump remains a mystery. The Twitter tirades and legislative fiascos, the constant media feuding, the insults and outrage all seem to reveal a president who is not simply politically inexperienced, …
By Michael C. Williams
Democracy, Environment, USA
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In Memoriam: Professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, murdered 23 April 2016
- April 20, 2017
By Ruth Bradley-St-Cyr

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a …
By CIPS
Asia, Democracy, Human Rights
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#rezist: Protest in Romania
- March 9, 2017
by Teodor Lucian Moga

In the past weeks, Romanians have staged the largest mass protests since the country’s break from Communist rule in 1989. On Sunday, February 27, several thousand protesters gathered in front of the government building in Bucharest’s …
By CIPS
Democracy, Europe
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