United Nations

The Real Lessons of the Security Council Election Campaign
- June 22, 2020
The usual suspects have commented on Canada’s defeat on June 17 in its bid to gain election to the UN Security Council. The external factors in this race have been analyzed adequately, even by those with minimal knowledge of the …
By Daniel Livermore
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Canada lost its bid for a UN Security Council seat. That’s a blessing in disguise
- June 20, 2020
A cold shower is a good thing. It has the immediate benefit of bringing one to one’s senses.In that way, Canada benefited this week in full view of the United Nations General Assembly as we lost a long-anticipated vote for …
By John Packer
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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. …
By Lauchlan T. Munro and Begench Yazlyyev
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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly at Global Affairs Canada
- February 12, 2020
Justin Trudeau’s government starts its second mandate with a new look: slightly more subdued; more engaged on pressing national issues; seemingly less prone to putting communications ahead of policy, and more inclined to political realism rather than the naïve sloganeering …
By Daniel Livermore
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Disarmament Diplomacy in the Age of Putin and Trump
- February 11, 2020
UN officials are not usually given to overstatement, which makes the recent assessment by the UN’s top disarmament diplomat that “the barriers to the use of nuclear weapons are lower than they’ve been since the darkest days of the Cold …
By Ernie Regehr
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What Canada Can Do About the Rohingya Genocide
- May 1, 2019
By Payam Akhavan and John Packer

Twenty-five years ago, as young UN human rights officers working together in Geneva, we witnessed how the world watched and did nothing as close to a million Rwandan Tutsis were exterminated. Brimming with idealism …
By CIPS
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“If you want to kill me, please kill me quick”
- April 12, 2019
The images, and voices, from Libya’s migrant detention centres are sickening. An online blog posted a letter written by an anonymous refugee from Darfur, detained in Libya. “RS” writes of having left his village, destroyed by the Janjaweed, to find …
By Patti Tamara Lenard
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A New Face in International Development
- March 29, 2019
Maryam Monsef is the new face mandated to set the tone of international co-operation as Minister of International Development. Her arrival on March 1^st is the result of the crisis of integrity in the government triggered by the flow …
By John Sinclair
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New Partnerships for Minister Monsef?
- March 29, 2019
Since March 1, 2019, Maryam Monsef has been the new Minister of International Development, adding to her responsibilities as Minister for Women and Gender Equality. A companion blog outlines the demanding new landscape in which she must operate. The aim …
By John Sinclair
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China and UN Peacekeeping
- January 14, 2019
For the last year or so, I have been researching China’s contributions to UN peacekeeping. It has been an interesting journey, culminating in a new CIPS report, 30 years of Chinese Peacekeeping, which will be launched on January 24, …
By Christoph Zuercher
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Canada’s Security Council Campaign
- December 18, 2018
In a recent CIPS blog, also published in the Globe and Mail, my colleague Roland Paris outlined the reasons “Why Canada cares about that Security Council seat.” This blog wonders whether the world cares about Canada’s …
By Daniel Livermore
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Human and Non-Human Rights — Convergence or Conflict?
- December 10, 2018
Today is the 70^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Most reflections on this milestone are likely to sound a sombre note, dwelling on the many challenges faced by those championing human rights in an increasingly …
By David Petrasek
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