Archive for January, 2015
For the love of the salmon
Atlantic salmon have benefactors in Ottawa. Deputy Minister of Fisheries Matt King, MPs, diplomats, fishers, business people and civil servants turned out to support these iconic creatures that swim 3,000 kilometres from northern Europe to spawn in the rivers of their birth in Eastern Canada and the U.S. The 250 people who attended the Atlantic […]
A Canadian lab’s Ebola experience
An Ebola outbreak is currently raging in West Africa at a pace never seen in all past epidemics caused by Ebola virus. It is posing a severe challenge not only to the countries directly affected, where containment of the disease has not yet happened, but to countries worldwide, as concern mounts about the spread of […]
The end of the Middle East?
Geopolitics is based on the eternal verities of geography, and that means relatively little in geopolitics comes to an end. The Warsaw Pact may have dissolved following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, but Russia is still big and it still lies next door to Central and Eastern Europe, so a Russian threat to Europe […]
Untapped Israel (now on tap)
On a late-summer day in front of Ottawa City Hall, thousands of beer lovers gathered to partake of one, two or several cold beverages. The atmosphere was just right. The sounds of great music and smells of good food filtered through the air. Originating from Peterborough, Perth, Kemptville and Stittsville and many places in between, […]
Expanding security to meet growing threats
In October 2014, two soldiers, one in uniform, were the target of a hit-and-run near St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec; Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent was killed. The driver fled and was shot to death by police following a high-speed chase. Two days later, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo as Mr. Cirillo stood on duty at the National […]
Should America fret about its northern border?
The embers are hot yet again: In the aftermath of October’s attacks in Canada, some Americans are once again musing aloud about their northern border. Should Americans be concerned? What is the risk of lone wolves — such as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial, and Martin Couture-Rouleau, who […]
Where refugees go
In June 2014, headlines marked the day: The global population of forced migrants had surpassed the 50 million mark for the first time since the Second World War. The war in Syria, along with conflicts in the Central African Republic, Ukraine and South Sudan were all major contributors to the meteoric rise of six million […]
Drugs, crime and terror in Africa
The wars of Africa are fuelled by narcotics. That is an exaggerated over-simplification, but many of the internal conflicts of today’s Africa are driven, in part, sometimes a substantial part, by profits being made from the trafficking of hard drugs and precursor chemicals. The battles in Mali, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of […]
Turkey stands steadfast against terrorism
Turkey is at the centre of rapid changes and transformations unfolding in the Middle East and Eurasia basin. Unprecedented rapid developments along our southeastern and northern borders have resulted in far-reaching consequences for international peace, security and stability. And they all affect Turkey directly. Turkey does not only bear a huge humanitarian burden for people of the region who have suffered from the crises, it […]
Romania-Canada: a promising future
Over the past 25 years, Romania has experienced tremendous change. First, it became a member of NATO and then, in 2007, it joined the European Union. Since then, it has developed one of the most fast-paced economies in Central and Eastern Europe. Over the past 10 years, Romania’s GDP has grown by approximately 65 percent, […]
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