Tag Archives: Misc…

Canada reverses position on Arms Trade Treaty

The Conservative government has repositioned itself as a less-than-useful partner in the lead-up to negotiations on the United Nations’ Arms Trade Treaty, reports Kenneth Epps, senior program officer at Project Ploughshares (Kenneth Epps, “Hunting down an Arms Trade Treaty,” Embassy Magazine, 3 August 2011). Epps points to the influence of the domestic gun lobby as […]

Talks collapse in Bahrain

Bahrain, a Persian Gulf nation that has been the site of pro-democracy protests over recent months, is entering a new, uncertain phase after the collapse of talks between the main Shiite opposition party and the ruling Sunni elite (Associated Press, “Shiite Party in Bahrain Leaves Talks With Rulers,” New York Times, 17 July 2011). Al […]

Principled PM to sell more LAVs to dictators?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper treated Canadians to a self-righteous description of his government’s “principled” foreign policy stance at the recent Conservative Party convention (Steven Chase, “Canadian foreign policy needs to be more independent: Harper,” Globe and Mail, 10 June 2011; see also Elizabeth Thompson, “‘We still have more to do …’: Harper vows to woo […]