Exploring the myths of international relations: three deadly disconnects?
iPolitics Examining the conventional wisdom which underpins world order. Link
View ArticleRethinking Canada’s Foreign Ministry: Could Smaller be More Beautiful?
Much of my time during 30 years at DFAIT – in addition to performing many and varied day jobs – was spent doing whatever I could to encourage reform. Trying to change the system from within did not...
View ArticleRethinking Canada’s foreign ministry
iPolitics Could a Department of International Affairs and Global Issues be smaller and more beautiful than DFAIT? Link
View ArticleWikiLeaks’ Long, Strange Tail
Irony and paradox, as elements of art, add texture, depth and complexity. The same is true in life, and perhaps nowhere more so than in the ever-surprising case of Julian Assange, the founder of...
View ArticleWikiLeaks’ Long, Strange Tail
ìPolitics What to make of the trials of Julian Assange and the latest developments in the WikiLeaks saga? Link
View ArticleScience, Diplomacy and the Great Disconnect: An Opportunity for Canada?
Back in mid-June, I wrote a retrospective piece entitled “Rebranding Canada: From the Siege of Sarajevo to Rio Plus 20”. In that essay I tried to highlight the extent to which Canadian foreign policy...
View ArticleScience, diplomacy and the great disconnect
iPolitics Could Canada re-establish its international credentials through science diplomacy? Maybe. Link
View ArticleIn the Wake of Benghazi: Thoughts on Diplomacy, Security and Representation
The sacking of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, the tragic deaths of U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens and three of his staff, and the continuing protests outside U.S. embassies throughout the Greater...
View ArticleDiplomacy After Benghazi
Canadian International Council The sacking of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi raises a host of vexing questions. Link
View ArticleCanada in Afghanistan: Assessing the Costs
Last weekend, as I participated in a conference entitled Armed Intervention: Lessons from Afghanistan, the US reported its 2000th military death in that long-running conflict. Although the exact...
View ArticleCanada in Afghanistan: Assessing the Costs
iPolitics After over a decade at war, what has been achieved? Link
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Tools for a more resilient public diplomacy (guest post)
Editor’s note: As a treat for readers of the GD blog, it is a pleasure to present this guest post by my colleague and friend Ali Fisher. It approximates a presentation he made via videoconference to my...
View ArticleCould a Virtual Community Help Save the Planet? Using New Media to Bridge the...
It is hardly news that the world is beset by a bewildering array of complex and difficult challenges, ranging from how best to manage the global commons, to diminishing biodiversity, to resource...
View ArticleCould a virtual community help save the planet?
iPolitics Using new media to bridge the performance gap in international science and technology. Link
View ArticleCanada in Afghanistan: The Need to Remember, and Lessons Unlearned
Editor’s note: A version of this article appears in today’s Globe and Mail. Remembrance Day is approaching. Despite some 160 dead, several thousand wounded, and perhaps tens of thousands afflicted with...
View ArticleCanada needs to remember Afghanistan
Globe and Mail With Remembrance Day approaching, Canadians should reflect on their country’s role in this continuing conflict. Link
View ArticleComing up short: No sign of a grand strategy in Canada’s “secret” foreign...
The leak of a draft Canadian foreign policy plan, first reported nationally on 19 November, was treated breathlessly by the media and hyped as a major story. By way of contrast, the event has generated...
View ArticleHarper’s underwhelming ’secret’ foreign policy plan
iPolitics No sign of grand strategy in the government’s uninspired global blueprint. Link
View ArticleDiplomatic Security: A Necessarily Elusive Goal?
A few weeks ago I was asked by a journalist to comment on the role of military police guards at Canadian diplomatic missions. As I had never worked in an embassy or consulate under those circumstances,...
View ArticleWe can’t do effective diplomacy from a bunker
iPolitics Getting beyond “the bubble” requires more than social media skills and may involve risk, but that comes with the territory. Link
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