iPolitics
The demise of the Pearson Centre, and with it Canada’s commitment to international peacekeeping, has left us all poorer.
Month: October 2013
Pearson’s ghost: The short road from peacekeeping training to the promotion of religious freedom
We need action not only to end the fighting but to make the peace…
Lester B. Pearson, November 2, 1956
This inscription on Canada’s national peacekeeping memorial, and indeed the monument itself have now taken on new meaning.
Earlier this month the Pearson Centre, a Canadian institution devoted to the promotion of peace, security, human rights and the rule of law around the world, closed its doors in Ottawa for the last time.
Very much in keeping with the overall response to this country’s steady global retrenchment, news of the closure evoked barely a whimper among members of the public or the press.
This retreat from the front lines of thought and action on critical issues of international affairs is cause for concern.
Here’s why.
The Syria effect: How the world has returned to diplomacy
Globe and Mail
Among those who prefer dialogue, negotiation and compromise to the use of force in international relations, the last few weeks have been both exceptional and instructive.
At long last, is diplomacy finally on the rebound?
Among those prefer dialogue, negotiation and compromise to the use of force in international relations, the last few weeks have been both exceptional and instructive.
For more than a decade – in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya – major powers have reached first for the gun. Defence, rather than diplomacy or development, has been the international policy instrument of choice.
That said, recent events suggest that something better may be in store.
The USA, for instance, is talking constructively with Iran for the first time since 1979. The greatest achievement, however, has been the US – Russian deal to avert a widened war in Syria. Just over a month ago, a US-British-French attack on the Assad regime looked inevitable. It mattered little that more civilians may have been killed in the strikes than saved as a result of them, or that this course of action may have bolstered the position of extremist elements fighting to depose the regime in Damascus.
The release of another riveting episode of “shock and awe” seemed just a matter of time.
Then along came an amazing series of events which underscored not only the signal importance of the unanticipated, but also the powerful sway of shared interests, suddenly revealed.
Add to that alchemy a sprinkling of chance, luck and timing, and within days the game had changed.
What exactly has happened, and how best to make sense of it all?