Tag Archives: Misc…

War on the decline?

Steven Pinker, a psychology professor at Harvard, and Joshua S. Goldstein, professor emeritus of international relations at American University, argue that war is in long-term decline around the world, both in frequency and in deadliness (“War Really Is Going Out of Style,” New York Times, 17 December 2011): “War” is a fuzzy category, shading from […]

War and peace in the Middle East

The United States has declared its involvement in the war in Iraq over (Thom Shanker & Michael S. Schmidt, “U.S. War in Iraq Declared Officially Over,” New York Times, 15 December 2011): The United States military officially declared an end to its mission in Iraq on Thursday even as violence continues to plague the country […]

Copeland on Canada's turn away from internationalism

Former Canadian diplomat Daryl Copeland laments the Canadian government’s retreat from an internationalist foreign policy (Daryl Copeland, “A retreat from the world stage,” Ottawa Citizen, 5 December 2011): From the late 1940s through to early in this century, Canada enjoyed a reputation as a determined, capable and effective internationalist. Regardless of which party formed the […]

Pardy on Canada-U.S. border deal

Former Canadian diplomat Gar Pardy critiques the Canada-U.S. border deal announced on December 7th (Gar Pardy, “How the U.S. blackmailed Canada,” Ottawa Citizen, 8 December 2011): Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama announced Wednesday a 32-point plan establishing an agenda for improvements to cross-border goods and services traffic. In exchange, Canada will provide […]

ICC may examine NATO's role in Libya

Ottawa may be celebrating victory in Libya, but NATO and its members could yet face the scrutiny of the International Criminal Court (ICC) over their actions during the conflict, the Associated Press reported earlier this month (Slobodan Lekic and Mike Corder, “AP Exclusive: NATO may face possible ICC probe,” Associated Press, 11 November 2011). The […]