“If you want to kill me, please kill me quick”
- Analysis
- April 12, 2019
Canada's leading centre for analysis and debate of international affairs.
International Trade
Sentinels of the Pacific: What Seabirds Tell Us about the Oil Industry
- June 8, 2018
When ornithologist Hisashi Sugawa of the Bird Banding Association invited me this May to accompany his team to the ongoing investigation of the Streaked Shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas) on Kanmuri Island, an uninhabited island under the jurisdiction of Maizuru …
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Why Nationalizing the Trans Mountain Pipeline is Undemocratic
- June 8, 2018
When Canadians woke up to learn that they were the proud owners of a run-down pipeline, many of them no doubt asked themselves, “Can the government just do that?” After all, nationalization hasn’t been a popular government pastime in Canada …
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Alternative Facts, Chinese Style
- May 25, 2018
China’s increased censorship of foreign websites came to light on May 15, when it was reported that Air Canada had changed the drop-down menus of its destinations to show Taiwan’s capital Taipei as part of China. Air Canada’s capitulation to …
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China’s Thought Police Handcuff Canadian Businesses
- May 16, 2018
When I received Air Canada’s promotional email about a worldwide seat sale this week, I immediately checked their website to book my August trip to Taipei. To my surprise, the list of destinations had been changed to read “Taipei, China” …
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Arms Exports and Feminist Foreign Policy
- April 11, 2018
In recent years, we’ve seen a number of depressing political shifts in the Euro-Atlantic area — but the rise of feminist foreign policies is not among them.
The trend was set in 2014 when Margot Wallström was named foreign minister …
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The Ethics of Buying Clothes Produced in Sweatshops
- February 26, 2018
International Development Week (IDW), hosted by undergraduate students of the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa, took place the week of 5 February 2018. Hundreds of Ottawa-area undergraduate students enthusiastically participated in discussions designed …
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Liberals’ Vague “Values” Talk Undermines Rights Promotion
- February 2, 2018
Canadian governments since the mid-1970s have claimed that promoting human rights around the world is a foreign policy priority. There are solid moral, legal, and practical grounds for doing so. Yet increasingly, the Liberal government, like its Tory predecessor, justifies …
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Trump’s Security Strategy is more about his Personal Grievances
- December 20, 2017
US President Donald Trump released his administration’s national security strategy, presented in a speech to a subdued military audience on the afternoon of December 18th. The strategy document was previewed by Trump’s national security adviser, General H.R. McMaster, …
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How Rational are Capitalists in the Developing World?
- December 13, 2017
By Thomas Chiasson-LeBel
A questionable fundamental assumption underpins a great deal of the literature in International Development studies. It suggests that given the proper incentives, a “national bourgeoisie” will adequately reinvest its profits and provoke a virtuous cycle of reinvestment …
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China as #1: Where Might it Lead the World?
- November 11, 2017
It slowly crept up on us. But in a carefully choreographed 19th 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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The Hidden Connection between Obesity, Heart Disease, and Trade
- October 24, 2017
This week, representatives from most of the world’s governments are meeting at a World Health Organization global conference in Uruguay to tackle the global pandemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
These NCDs are the chronic diseases — including cancers, cardiovascular diseases, …
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Resuscitating the Canadian Foreign Service
- 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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Cyber Interference in the Federal Election? Part 1
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Cyber Interference in the Federal Election? Part 2
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Finding Asylum Just Got Harder
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Taiwan Hopes for “Oceans of Democracy”
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