Op-Eds Archive
Let’s put missile defence back in our arsenal
"In a turbulent and uncertain world where nationalism and religious zealotry are on the rise, Canada needs to consider actions that will safeguard and advance its national interests," says CIGI Distinguished Fellow and Global Security Program Director Fen Osler Hampson and Derek Burney.
Hunger haunts our cities
In this op-ed, Jane Battersby (African Centre for Cities) comments on the urban food policy gap in South Africa. Battersby, who works on the CIGI project "Hungry Cities Initiative," writes that "food security policy and work to ensure the right to food cannot simply replicate models designed for rural areas and apply them in the cities."
‘All the facts’ support Keystone pipeline, Harper tells U.S. audience
CIGI Chair of Global Systems Thomas Homer-Dixon comments that there is a “deep contradiction between Canada’s plans for the development of the oil sands and the climate reality we are facing around the world.”
Arctic Council Warms Toward Asia
"The Council’s decision today reflects the institution’s acknowledgment of this fact. As Chair of the Council for the next two years, Canada should work to ensure that these countries remain committed over the course to secure the Council’s pre-eminence for governance in the region," say CIGI Research Fellow James Manicom and Whitney Lackenbauer.
Canada and the post-2015 development goals
"In the deliberations at the UN over the next year or so, Canada’s niche may be the provision of advice on measurement," says CIGI Senior Fellow Barry Carin, in an op-ed on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals.
Obama’s Arctic initiative is a call to action for Canada
"U.S. President Barack Obama announced an American National Strategy for the Arctic Region last week. There is much for Canadians to applaud and to learn from this strategy, and nothing to fear from a sovereignty perspective," says CIGI Senior Fellow John Higginbotham.
Why we need to stay far, far away from Syria
"Instead of dabbling uselessly in the Middle East, Canada needs to concentrate on issues and regions where we have real interests to pursue, like the Asia-Pacific," according to CIGI Distinguished Fellow and Global Security Program Director Fen Osler Hampson and Derek Burney.
The WTO can still be relevant. First task, kill the Doha Round
CIGI President Rohinton Medhora says Roberto Azevedo, incoming head of the WTO, "should use whatever honeymoon period he is afforded by the member states to do the best impersonation he can of John Cleese in the Dead Parrot sketch and declare the Round deceased."
Canada isn’t running for a UN Security Council seat, and it won’t be missed
"Successful UN Security Council campaigns typically take years of effort, as support has to be found one country at a time, not unlike campaigning one doorstep at a time in Canadian elections," writes CIGI Distinguished Fellow Paul Heinbecker, commenting on the Canadian government's decision not to seek a UN Security Council seat in 2014.
It all comes down to Washington and Beijing
"In an increasingly turbulent world, the future hangs on how well the new Chinese leadership and the U.S. manage their complex and sensitive relationship," according to CIGI Distinguished Fellow Fen Osler Hampson and Derek Burney.
The Chinese Pole
"China’s interest in securing permanent observer status in the Arctic Council and its growing icebreaker capabilities have spawned reactions from Arctic states ranging from warm enthusiasm to extreme caution," write CIGI Research Fellow James Manicom and Whitney Lackenbauer.
Latin America Goes Global
“The first decade of the new century also provided the conditions under which the growing international interest of Latin America could flourish," writes CIGI Distinguished Fellow Jorge Heine, as he chronicles the region’s rise in global stature.