Cubismo
Viche Petit nudged the Embassy’s vin age brıcklın around a line of heat crazed lambada dancers, gyrating frantically in the July sunshine, and through the gates of the Presidential Palace. “Now remember, Liebnitz.” he cautioned, “Don’t raise the subject of the OAS…
The Science of War: Canadian Scientists and Allied Military Technology During the Second World War
Few scientists begin their careers intending to facilitate death and destruction. Their interests are generally life-affirming and yet, as Donald Avery shows so ably, when called upon, Canadian scientists turned their energy and creative talents to the instruments of war. That most…
L’Empire désorienté
Pourquoi le Japon est-il un pays qui, toujours, surprend? Comment explique-t-on que le site Web de la FNAC offre 395 volumes sur le Japon, tandis qu’à peine 25 livres apparaissent à son répertoire à propos, par exemple, de la Bulgarie? Pourquoi cette…
Middle Power and Super Power at Mid-Century
In a recent issue of bout de papier, we reprinted correspondence from Lester B. Pearson about the response to a speech that he delivered in April 1951. In that talk, Pearson had predicted that “the days of relatively easy and automatic relations…
Other Duties as Required
ин! we cany lyrus. At that time, I was a newly- tic minted Immigration Officer and spent much of my time interviewing prospective immigrants and writing reports on Sweden. In those years we were required to prepare a Monthly Narrative Report (MNR),…
“Tails” from the Luggage Hold
Now I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in Ottawa. I used to hang around late at night near the market, cruising for guys – I was barely out of my teens but I’d already had three or four…
Low Politics
Visits by Ministers and other VIPs can be the bane of a diplomat’s existence at an overseas post – so many things to go awry, so little appreciation when things go right. Murphy’s Law usually takes over. One incident, forever etched in…
Red-Faced in a Dark Suit
At the end of the 1970s, I acted, for a brief period, as Chargé in our High Commission in Lagos. I had not had much use up until that time for a western-style dress suit since we all wore what were known…
On The Road
In the late 1980s, the Malaysian Automobile Association periodically staged road-rallies-cum-treasure-hunts. The goal of the exercise was to decipher cryptic clues en circuitous route from Kuala Lumpur to distant points (in this case, Penang) while participating in a scavenger hunt. An added…
Protocol, and How to Break It
We had a reception last night in honour of Mayor Bourque and his trade delegation from Montreal, organized with the World Trade Centre in Montreal. Toward the end Francisco, the Embassy driver, came in with some messages from the office. As usual,…
