Op-Eds Archive
Why we need to worry about al-Qaida in Africa
"What Mali and its neighbors need are not Western (including Canadian) boots on the ground, but training, material, intelligence, air cover and logistical support," according to CIGI Distinguished Fellow Fen Osler Hampson and Derek Burney.
The bungle in Benghazi: Lessons for the United States
In an op-ed to iPolitics, CIGI Distinguished Fellow and Global Security Program Director Fen Osler Hampson and Derek Burney examine the fallout from the 2012 attack on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya.
Currency internationalisation in Asia
"If promoting international currency diversification remains a priority, then both sides ought to embrace their recent leadership changes as an opportunity to hit the reset button," writes Senior Fellow Gregory Chin, commenting on the impact the ongoing islands dispute is having on the currency pact between China and Japan.
How Many More Syrians Must Die Before We Act?
CIGI Senior Fellow Bessma Momani writes "Syria is being destroyed, one beautiful city after another, right before our eyes." She asks, "How many Syrians must die for the world to act?"
A world awash in crime
Fen Osler Hampson, CIGI distinguished fellow and global security program director, examines the challenges posed by transnational organized crime. He says, "unless governments stop seeing organized crime as simply a law-enforcement problem and start working together to develop comprehensive solutions, there will be little progress in dealing with a problem that now threatens the very fabric of the modern world."
Here’s to the Canadians who make us great
In their final iPolitics op-ed of 2012, CIGI Distinguished Fellow Fen Osler Hampson and Derek Burney pay special tribute to the "those exceptional Canadians who make Canada the great nation that it is."
Playing games with bloody history in the East China Sea
"It seems unlikely that a territorial dispute over some obscure, uninhabited islands could provoke serious hostilities, but major wars have been fought over less," according to CIGI Distinguished Fellow Fen Osler Hampson and Derek Burney. Their op-ed looks at the current dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands.
Harper’s measured takeover verdict
"The decision struck a fine balance between Canada’s chronic need for foreign investment to develop its resource base and grow the economy and the concern of many Canadians about foreign control of the country’s resources through state-owned enterprises, particularly in the oil sands," write Derek Burney and CIGI Distinguished Fellow Fen Osler Hampson, commenting on the Canadian government's decision on CNOOC's takeover of Nexen.
Lost in Translation? Bridging the Gap between Technology and Governance
"It is necessary to bridge the gap between a traditional Internet community on the one hand and a policy/governance community on the other," write CIGI fellows Mark Raymond and Gordon Smith, in an op-ed exploring the issues at the World Congress on Information Technology.
Canada, US as Pacific partners? Not so fast
"Canada’s pivot needs to be understood as part of a broader effort to diversify its trade relationships to markets beyond the US," writes CIGI Research Fellow James Manicom, in commenting on the differing approaches of Canada and the US toward the Asia-Pacific region.
Safeguarding a free Internet
In an op-ed to The Globe and Mail, CIGI Distinguished Fellow Gordon Smith and Research Fellow Mark Raymond explore issues in Internet governance. They say, "Ensuring real opportunities for people who feel passionately about online freedoms to play a constructive role in the future of the Internet can help ensure vital civil liberties – freedoms crucial to the Internet’s creative potential – are not lost in the process of achieving other Internet governance goals, such as security."
Pushing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process where it needs to go
In their latest op-ed to iPolitics, CIGI Distinguished Fellow and Global Security Program Director Fen Hampson and Derek Burney look at recent events at the UN regarding Palestine and observer status. The authors argue that America should play a leadership role in negotiations between Israel and Palestine, to "act as a formulator, inserting itself into the process with ideas of its own."