May, 2007
Our need for innovation is more urgent than ever
The release in Waterloo last week of the federal government's policy statement, Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage, highlights the importance that governments attach to the commercialization of science and technology, what we would call the "innovation imperative."
Unintended consequences of blue berets' actions
PROTECTION OF civilians is now at the centre of the United Nations' peace and security agenda. The 18 peacekeeping missions around the world, in which almost 90,000 soldiers, military observers, civilian police, and international civilian staff serve, form its most visible global footprint.
Canada must speak out on pact with India
So far Canada has remained on the sidelines as India and the United States negotiate a new set of nuclear co-operation arrangements, but that can't last.
When the peacekeepers become the problem
The real UN scandal over the past decade was not the oil-for-food program in Iraq, but the abuse of civilians by UN peacekeepers. Almost 200,000 personnel from more than 100 countries are rotated through UN operations every year.
U.N. legitimacy eroding like festering sore
I have argued before in these pages that on balance, the world is a better place because of U.N. contributions to normative advancement, preventive diplomacy, peace operations, peacemaking and humanitarian relief and assistance missions.
Days of reckoning looming for Africa's dictators
The recent conviction of former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba by a London High Court on charges of embezzlement of state funds is the latest in a series of tentative steps aimed at holding former African leaders accountable for their actions in office.
Afghanistan under the microscope
Canadians are confused about the UN-sanctioned, NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. What is its purpose? Waging war on terrorism, opium eradication, nation-building, protecting Afghan civil society from the strictures of the Taliban or simply holding on and hoping for a miracle amid the catastrophe unfolding in Iraq?
Closing the chapter on impunity in Africa
Last week's conviction of former Zambian president, Frederick Chiluba, by a London High Court on charges of embezzlement of state funds, is the latest in a series of tentative steps aimed at holding former African leaders accountable for their actions during their term of office.
Law versus legitimacy at the United Nations
The United Nations is respected today more for what it represents and symbolises than for what it actually does and accomplishes.