Yi Xing on Mars
A Taoist immortal, a bearded fence and a black lesbian hacker walked into a bar! !. Steffi de Lyre’s seventh clone massaged his brass knuckle implants as he shouted down a little man with a pencil-thin mustache. A couple of spacers were…
Middle Power at Mid-Century
In the early 1950s, deputy under-secretary of state for external affairs, Escott Reid, inspired and led an ambitious project to produce a series of thematic papers “to focus and clarify our longer-range thinking on the objectives and the application of Canadian foreign…
The Hungry Diplomat: Coffee
Many items we eat and drink have a storied past, political importance or trade significance.
Superforecasting
On August 17, 2007, George Soros hosted twenty of Wall Street’s most senior financiers to lunch at his Long Island estate. Earlier in the month, BNP Paribas had frozen withdrawals from three of its funds and central bankers around the world were…
Points of Entry
CANADA’S IMMIGRATION OFFICERS DECIDE WHO GETS IN, by Vic Satzewich, University of Toronto Press, 2015, 305 pp, $32.95 paper
Jacques Noiseux
J’ai rencontré Jacques Noiseux pour la première fois il y a quarante ans. Il était alors le directeur du Bureau de Presse sous Allan J McEachan, secrétaire d’État aux Affaires extérieures. Le ministre prenait part à un de ces forums Nord-Sud, la…
James Frederick Gould
Jim Gould was the consummate diplomat: polyglot, hugely knowledgeable and armed with an amazing trove of enthralling stories. He was greatly respected by his peers, and a good friend to all. His richly informed insight into Middle Eastern affairs ensured that his…
Les Prix de l’APASE 2016
Le 9 juin 2016, 290 collègues et invités se sont réunis pour célébrer l’excellence au sein du service extérieur canadien lors du dîner de remise des Prix de l’APASE 2016. C’est au son de la cornemuseur-major des Sons of Scotland, Bethany Bisaillion,…
When Diplomacy Fails
This account of Canada’s contribution to the 1990-1991 Gulf War is the third in a series of articles marking the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait. During an I month campaign more than 4,500 Canadian Armed Forces personnel were deployed to…
Trade and Civilization
Trade is as old as civilization, indeed it is far older. Excavations of old stone age sites will often unearth things like sea-shells or high quality flints or ochre paints that originated far away and must have been acquired in exchange with…
