Tag: Foreign Affairs
John Baird: ‘a pragmatic internationalist’
When he became foreign affairs minister in 2011, one of the first things John Baird did was to issue an edict to hang an oversized portrait of the Queen on the main wall of the lobby of the Pearson Building, Foreign Affairs’ headquarters. He also ordered her portrait to be prominently displayed in all of […]
Joining ‘the force’ in Star Wars
Twenty years ago, then-president Ronald Reagan went before the American people to declare his bold new vision of a nuclear-free world. Appearing on national television, he said: “Let me share with you a vision of the future which offers hope. It is that we embark on a program to counter the awesome Soviet missile threat […]
Internet wars
By Fen Osler Hampson and Gordon S. Smith At the end of the year, the nations of the world will convene at the Gulf port city of Dubai to renegotiate key provisions of the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITR), a UN treaty that governs the use of the airwaves, but not the internet. It is already […]
After the Arab Spring, hurricane season
A year and a half later, the “Arab Spring” protests that have swept the Arab world look a lot more like a clash of four seasons and not simply the onset of one. Its four Rs are revolution, rebellion, religion and recidivism. As in the French and American revolutions, many of those who have taken […]
A rudderless world
The revolutions of the Arab Spring have been called “leaderless revolutions” because they were populist uprisings without clear leadership. There is no equivalent to a Bourguiba, Ataturk, Sukarno, Nkrumah, Nyerere, Ho Chi Minh, Gandhi, Houphouet-Boigny or Mandela in the ranks of the protesters in Tahrir Square, or in other Arab capitals, who can rally […]
John Baird: warm manner, blunt talk
The Conservative government champions religious freedom as a “bedrock” freedom: “Societies that protect religious freedom are more likely to protect all other fundamental freedoms,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says. “They are typically more stable and more prosperous societies.” In the small ante-room to John Baird’s parliamentary office, you have to consciously avoid knocking over the official […]
Six essential steps: How John Baird can succeed as Canada’s foreign minister
John Baird hit the ground running as Canada’s new foreign minister. Within days of his appointment late last spring, he was off on a secret mission to Libya to meet with key rebel leaders of its Transitional National Council. That trip was immediately followed by meetings in Turkey, China, Indonesia, the U.S. and Mexico. […]
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