UK – Centre for International Policy Studies

Backwards, March! Brexit, CANZUK, and the Legacy of Empire
- January 17, 2019
By Duncan Bell and Srdjan Vucetic

It was coined in the 1950s, but the term CANZUK — a union (or alliance or pact) of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom — has been repurposed in the wake of …
By Srdjan Vucetic
Canadian Foreign Policy, Commonwealth, Europe, International Relations, International Trade, UK
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UK Rendition and Torture: Lessons for Canada
- July 18, 2018
The British Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee has produced two reports on collusion in rendition (the legal term for shipping someone from one jurisdiction to another) and torture operations in the US-led War on Terror. They remind us in blunt …
By Daniel Livermore
Defence and Intelligence, Human Rights, UK
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Russian Expulsions: “If there was ever a time for diplomacy, this is it”
- April 5, 2018
By Jeremy Kinsman

About 50 years ago, Swedish writers Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo created addictive detective stories rooted in sociology. The reader knew who was murdered and often learned early on who did it. The mystery to be solved …
By CIPS
Cold War, Defence and Intelligence, International Relations, Russia, UK
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The West Gets Tough on Russia. What’s Next?
- March 29, 2018
Canada has now joined an international effort to punish the Russians for their role in the use of a nerve agent to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England.

Global Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland …
By Wesley Wark
Cold War, Defence and Intelligence, Russia, UK
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What Canada Should Do about Russia’s New Aggression
- March 16, 2018
The crisis between Russia and the West over the poisoning of former Russia spy Sergei Skripal, daughter, Yulia, and a British police sergeant, Nick Bailey, has now moved to the global stage of the United Nations Security Council. The crisis, …
By Wesley Wark
Cold War, Defence and Intelligence, Russia, UK
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From Spy Story to Global Crisis
- March 16, 2018
The biggest crisis in relations between Russia and the West since Russian aggression in Crimea and Ukraine is now in full force. The enormity of the action that led to this crisis — the poisoning of a former Russian spy …
By Wesley Wark
Cold War, Defence and Intelligence, Russia, UK
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Old-Style Poisoning Sets the Scene for New Cold War
- March 14, 2018
An aging Russian general and former spy is found murdered in a London park, the victim of an assassin’s gun. That’s a story straight out of a John le Carré novel. An aging Russian colonel and former spy is discovered, …
By Wesley Wark
Cold War, Defence and Intelligence, Russia, UK
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Theresa May’s use of “critical” threat level is a double-edged sword
- June 14, 2017
In the wake of the vicious suicide bombing in Manchester, the British government under Prime Minister Theresa May has temporarily suspended an election campaign and done two extraordinary things. It has raised the terrorism threat level to “critical” — something …
By Wesley Wark
International Security, UK
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UK’s new prime minister must negotiate EU split quickly
- July 15, 2016
As a result of the historic Brexit vote, the United Kingdom has found a new prime minister in Theresa May. As the new UK leader, May has a long to-do list, not least ensuring the UK economy does not fall …
By Patrick Leblond
Europe, UK
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Don’t blame the EU for the Brexit vote. Blame globalization, technology, and national governments instead.
- July 2, 2016
On June 23^rd, a significant majority of voters in England and Wales cast referendum ballots in favour of the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union (EU), in spite of those in London, Northern Ireland, and Scotland generally …
By Patrick Leblond
Europe, International Trade, UK
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EU or Commonwealth: Where Does Canada Fit in Britain’s Plans?
- April 27, 2016
In 2009, George Monbiot wrote a much-trafficked op-ed in The Guardian on the Canadian tar sands political-industrial complex, blaming it for the “astonishing spectacle of a beautiful, cultured nation turning itself into a corrupt petro-state.” The author blamed the government …
By Srdjan Vucetic
Canadian Foreign Policy, Europe, UK
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China’s Domino Tactics Boost Infrastructure Bank
- March 22, 2015
China is looking ever the experienced super-power. In a week it has scooped up all the important European dominos, humiliating a U.S. government which has lobbied hard to block the launch of China’s new $50b Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank …
By John Sinclair
Asia, UK, USA
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