The Decline of Democracy in the World
FREEDOM IN THE WORLD, THE 2021 ANNUAL REPORT of Freedom House, a US institution, carried the title, Democracy Under Siege. It noted with sadness that 2021 marked the 15th consecutive year of decline in global freedom. In 2020, its evaluation was that…
Resisting Rights
THAT CANADA IS A GLOBAL LEADER in the promotion and defence of human rights is widely acknowledged, perhaps more so outside of Canada than within. That Canada’s reputation in this field was once not just unhelpful, but downright obstructionist, is less well…
A Saner, Less Fragmented World in 2021
Only 20 years ago, Canadian diplomacy was at the front end of the post-Cold War effort to design and anchor new inclusive norms for international governance. Do we still have the stuff, the will and ability, to be a key player again?
Sexual Orientation and the Foreign Service
AS THE PRIME MINISTER STRESSED in his apology last November for the gay purges and other discriminatory measures against members of the LGBTQ2 community, the end of the purges did not end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the Public…
Twenty-Five Years On, Some Ghosts Are Still With Us
In the winter of 1992, in these pages, an article entitled “The Ghosts Among Us” appeared. Contrary to this publication’s policy, the author was allowed to remain anonymous. “Imagine what it would be like,” that person asked, “if your lifetime companion were…
Max Yalden
Editor’s Note: The following is adapted fro February 20, 2015.
