Geography and Canada’s National Interests

July 18, 2022

How does Canada’s geographic position—and in particular our geostrategic location—determine the scope of Canadian national interests today? In Canada, there is a deep divide over the relationship between geopolitics and Canada’s national interests. Yet while Canadians have tended to see their country’s geographic isolation as a source of security, the emerging pressures of changes in … More Geography and Canada’s National Interests

Why there’s no CA in AUKUS

September 15, 2021

Today President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce that the United States, Britain, and Australia have agreed to form a new working group to share key information in artificial intelligence, cyber, underwater systems, long-range strike capabilities, and even nuclear-defence infrastructure. While the People’s Republic of China will not … More Why there’s no CA in AUKUS

Canada and COVID-19: the longer-term geopolitical implications

March 2, 2021

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump in 2017. [White House photo] [This is an excerpt from a longer article that appeared in The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs and excerpted by the journal here on 2 March. For the full article, click here.] If Trump’s retreat from multilateralism increasingly left Canada … More Canada and COVID-19: the longer-term geopolitical implications

Wrong place, wrong citizenship: The tribulations of the “Two Michaels”

January 19, 2021

A demonstration in support of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, detained by China, outside court in Vancouver in March 2019 during an appearance by Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou (Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images) It has been now 772 days since Michael Kovrig, a diplomat on leave from Canada’s foreign ministry, and Michael … More Wrong place, wrong citizenship: The tribulations of the “Two Michaels”

Back to the Past? Canada and a Not-So-New World

November 16, 2019

Keynote address to the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS), Montréal, 14 November 2019 Let me begin by thanking Chris Kirkey and the Centre for the Study of Canada at the State University of New York, Plattsburgh, the sponsors of this ACSUS lunch, for asking me to speak to you today on Canada … More Back to the Past? Canada and a Not-So-New World

The Organic Nature of Trudeau’s Feminist Foreign Policy

January 31, 2019

When Justin Trudeau and his ministry was sworn in on 4 November 2015, considerable attention was paid to the gender equality of his first cabinet: fifteen men and fifteen women, the first gender-equal cabinet in Canada’s history. Trudeau’s pithy response when asked why he had taken this step — “because it’s 2015” — drew equal … More The Organic Nature of Trudeau’s Feminist Foreign Policy

Playing the Hostage Card: Meng Wanzhou & Michael Kovrig

December 13, 2018

On 1 December, as President Donald J. Trump and President Xi Jinping were meeting in Buenos Aires to discuss a mounting trade dispute between the United States and China, Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, deputy chairwoman and chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. of Shenzen, was on her way from Hong Kong to Mexico City. … More Playing the Hostage Card: Meng Wanzhou & Michael Kovrig

The Trump Cession and the Dismantling of American Hegemony

November 12, 2018

President Donald J. Trump has radically disrupted America’s place and role in global politics, accurately fulfilling the compelling characterization by The Economist of the 45th president as an “insurgent” inspired by a “demolition theory of foreign policy.” Some of the disruption has come from Trump’s bizarre and never-before-seen personal diplomacy. After all, we just don’t … More The Trump Cession and the Dismantling of American Hegemony

Canada and Huawei: Letting Politics Slip In

October 23, 2018

Canada has decided not to join Australia and the United States in barring Huawei Technologies Ltd of Shenzen from participating in the development of Canada’s 5G mobile networks. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau argued that his government’s decision on Huawei is based “on evidence and data”, and in particular on recommendations from the Communications Security … More Canada and Huawei: Letting Politics Slip In