International Relations

Self-Determination at a Turning Point: Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Indigenous Nations of Formosa
- June 2, 2020
May 2020 was a turning point in East Asia. President Tsai Ing-wen (Democratic Progressive Party, DPP) was inaugurated to her second term as President of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Two days later, China’s National People’s Congress proposed legislation authorizing …
By Scott Simon
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An Unequivocal Victory for President Tsai in Taiwan
- January 29, 2020
The re-election of Tsai Ying-wen to the Presidency of Taiwan this last January 11 represents a rare shining moment in the Indo-Pacific region, as populist leaders ruling India and the Philippines preside over a deterioration of democracy in the region. …
By André Laliberté
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Meet NATO’s New Champion: President Donald Trump
- December 11, 2019
After spending years belittling and undermining the western world’s principal military alliance, during his recent trip to London to celebrate the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) 70th birthday, President Trump sounded a different tune. Instead of continuing his attack on …
By Alexandra Gheciu
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A new Cold War?
- November 19, 2019
Thirty years on from the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world is a very different place. The liberal world order that appeared triumphant in 1989 faces unprecedented challenges – including renewed hostility from Russia – but also from a …
By Alexandra Gheciu
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Most wars don’t make states (so what’s a policymaker to do?)
- November 11, 2019
Most modern warfare is intrastate. Most take place in poorer, weaker states and challenge many of our assumptions about the evolution of most states. Foreign policymakers should reevaluate their priorities and focus on ending civil wars rather than building centralised …
By Arjun Chowdhury
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Star Wars: Coming soon to a space near you – the diplomatic alternative
- October 3, 2019
Will Outer Space become a new frontier for international conflict? Or can it remain a global commons? As states dither, this question may soon be taken over by other actors.

I confess that I gave this blog its title with …
By Paul Meyer
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The Remarkable Consistency of Canada’s Foreign Policy
- September 25, 2019
Canada’s foreign policy is driven primarily by geopolitics, and its overriding concern is to remain close – but not too close – to its southern neighbour.

At the victory rally on election night 2015 the leader of Canada’s federal Liberal
…
By Philip Leech-Ngo
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History, memory, and politics in post-communist Eastern Europe
- September 19, 2019
The fact that East European trauma under communism is not adequately understood and appreciated in the West is the central grievance of these movements, and this feeds into new cycles of victimization

In October 2017, a commemorative plaque “In Memory …
By Jelena Subotic
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Neoliberalism’s ‘unfailures’
- September 16, 2019
The late 1970s and early 1980s are a moment in time that is often seen as a resounding success for neoliberal theory and practice

Economic policies enacted under neoliberalism have often failed to meet their objectives, but have remained unchallenged. …
By Jacqueline Best
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Nationalist Internationalists? The Strange Paradoxes of the Global Right
- September 9, 2019
By Rita Abrahamsen, Jean-François Drolet, Alexandra Gheciu, Srdjan Vucetic and Michael C. Williams

The first step toward meeting the challenge of the Radical Right is to understand their ideas, strategies, and organisations.

For nearly three years, we have been researching …
By Rita Abrahamsen
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Sovereignty Served Cold
- September 5, 2019
The Canadian government depends radically on the permanent population of Inuit and other Northerners … but, those Northern communities live with less.

I was on the lookout for Russians when I should have been looking for icebergs. As part of …
By Mark Salter
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Dawn of a New Era: Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s Visit to Ottawa
- May 13, 2019
A new era is dawning in Japan. With the abdication of Emperor Akihito on 30 April and the ascension of his Crown Prince Naruhito to the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1 May, calendars will change from the 31^st year of …
By Scott Simon
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