South Asian Trilogy: Personal Perspectives on Afghanistan, Pakistan and India
Canada’s death toll in Afghanistan stood at 157 at the time of writing. It is a sobering figure. The withdrawal of Canadian troops from Kandahar represented a milestone in our engagement with South Asia, but have we reflected on what was actually…
A Milestone in Canada’s Foreign Relations and an International First
NOTE DE LA REDACTION : L’aide au développement international (ADI) canadienne est cruciale pour la diplomatie canadienne et indispensable pour atteindre les objectifs de notre politique étrangère, mais on ne pourrait nous blâmer de penser autrement, compte tenu du peu de cas…
Getting Back in the Game: A Foreign Policy Playbook for Canada
It is said that a diplomat is a professional optimist. If there is one salient characteristic in Paul Heinbecker’s refreshing assessment of Canada’s foreign policy past and present, it is optimism. His analysis radiates an essential optimism about the capacity of Canada…
Pursuing Good Ideas: An Interview with Bob Rae
Editor’s Note: Bob Rae’s new book, Exporting Democracy: The Risks and Rewards of Pursuing a Good Idea, has been reviewed extensively and well, perhaps most notably by Andrew Preston of Cambridge University in The Globe and Mail on November 12, 2010. bout…
Enjeux, paradoxe et absence
Dans ma dernière chronique de bout, j’ai signalé que l’APASE souhaitait promouvoir une discussion sérieuse sur le rôle et l’avenir de notre profession. Paradoxalement, au moment de rédiger le présent texte, nous en sommes en pleine campagne électorale fédérale qui se caractérise…
“Interesting times”, exciting times
“May you live in interesting times” goes the old Chinese curse, but few diplomats who love their profession would want it otherwise! These are very interesting times, and where they lead is uncertain.
Canada’s FOCAL: Focussing Minds on the Americas
Editor’s note: Our interview with Kathryn Hewlett-Jobes of FOCAL is the third in a series on Canadian organizations that strengthen Canada’s global and regional presence (the first dealt with the IDRC, the second with the Canadian International Council). The challenges in doing…
Looking Ahead with the Canadian International Council (CIC)
bout: Tell us about the CIC.
Yemen, the Sequel: What’s at Stake?
Hark Kroll’s piece on Yemen (bout de papier Volume 25, No. 1) brought back vivid memories of my own visits to that lovely but troubled country. My first posting was Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. There being two Yemens in the late 70s, the…
Canada’s Voice: The Public Life of John Wendell Holmes
As readers of bout de papier will appreciate, it is a formidable challenge for any biographer to write about someone who wrote so well as John Holmes, as quotations from the subject may eclipse the author’s prose. Moreover, what endeared Holmes to…
