December, 2008
Clash-of-civilizations thesis is passé
After the Lebanon war in the summer of 2006 and, more generally, in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 2001, fresh questions arose about people with dual citizenship and their divided loyalties.
The world in 2025
The transition to the Obama presidency has everybody enthralled in this year-end, slow-news season. Fascinating as it is (I have been especially struck by the seeming requirement of being a basketball player to make it to the upper echelons of the Obama team), we may be missing the bigger picture here.
China and the End of the G8
It is unclear how much the leaders of the world's 20 developed and major developing countries actually wanted to accomplish when they gathered in Washington in mid-November to discuss the fast-moving global financial crisis. However one thing the summit did make clear was the reality that the economic map of the world has been reshaped
U.S. unwilling to embrace world court
The Balkans produce more politics than can be consumed at home. On Nov. 7, the decade-old conflict and the reach of international criminal justice touched a Kitchener family as Goran Pavic was arrested while trying to cross into the United States.
Has the good become the enemy of the best?
The former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, noted in 2005 that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) "faces a crisis of confidence and compliance born of a growing strain on verification and enforcement."
Global action offers shelter to weather economic storm
Focus for Canada needs to be on coordinating policy with Washington
Mayhem in Mumbai
Mumbai, the old Bombay, 'Maximum City', with its 14 million population, its condition as India's financial and commercial capital, headquarters of the Stock Exchange and of India's Reserve Bank, as well as of its largest economic groups - the Tatas, the Ambanis, the Birlas - is today one of the terrorists' favourite targets.
Urgent signals in trails of smoke above Mumbai
The view from the sixth-floor suites at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai is breathtaking. At sunrise, looking out on the Arabian Sea, one can see the majestic Gateway of India on the left, the red sun emerging across the bay, and boats of all colours coming into harbour, while the crowds start to gather on the street below.