Canadian International Council
The sacking of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi raises a host of vexing questions.
Month: September 2012
In the Wake of Benghazi: Thoughts on Diplomacy, Security and Representation
The sacking of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, the tragic deaths of U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens and three of his staff, and the continuing protests outside U.S. embassies throughout the Greater Middle East raise a host of vexing questions.
Unfortunately, when it comes to striking an appropriate balance between the competing demands of effective diplomatic representation and optimal personal security, for the most part one is left with an uninspiring ensemble of compromises and trade-offs.
There are no bromides or panaceas, no good or easy answers.
Science, diplomacy and the great disconnect
iPolitics
Could Canada re-establish its international credentials through science diplomacy? Maybe.
Science, Diplomacy and the Great Disconnect: An Opportunity for Canada?
Back in mid-June, I wrote a retrospective piece entitled “Rebranding Canada: From the Siege of Sarajevo to Rio Plus 20”. In that essay I tried to highlight the extent to which Canadian foreign policy has been transformed over the past several decades, and argued that although gradual and in large part unnoticed, the reorientation has in fact been profound.
The one-time cheerleader for North-South cooperation, environmental sustainability and world peace has morphed into something quite different.
Canada is now the tough talking, free-trading, warrior nation, extolling the victories attained in long forgotten wars, and investing in the preparation for new ones.
At the level of political rhetoric, and as expressed even more convincingly in terms of allocating resources in favour of the military, this is very much the new script.
It may be time for a re-write.