Crossposted at opencanada.org’s Dispatch blog I just had a conversation regarding my last post with a NATO Public Diplomacy official. In short, my argument was that in RC-N the ANP appear incapable of holding villages so that the building can take place, and that there are vastly more resources focused on the military component on […]
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TaylorOwen.com: Notes from Mazar e Sherif: Tactical Challenges, Strategic Quagmire
Crossposted at opencanada.org’s Dispatch blog I am writing this on my phone from a c160 flying from mazar e sharif to herat where we have spent the past 48hrs. This morning, we awoke to the news that last night insurgents struck an international hotel in Kabul. This felt a world away, and frankly, neither surprises […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: First Impressions from ISAF HQ in Kabul
Crossposted at opencanada.org’s Dispatch blog I am in Afghanistan as part of a NATO TOLA tour. On Friday the six participants met in Brussels for a day of briefings at the NATO HQ, and then flew to Kabul together. For 8 days, we are to be treated to incredible access to civilian, military and Afghan […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: The Munk Debates, Henry Kissinger and Polite Company
Crossposted at opencanada.org’s Disptach blog For the past few years I have worked on the Munk Debates. Officially, I am the Research Director. Unofficially, I help out however I can and get to be a part of a unique and fun event. The debate last week was on China and featured Henry Kissinger and Fareed […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: Four Ways to Reinvigorate the Canadian Foreign Policy Debate
Crossposted at opencanada.org’s Dispatch blog Last fall, I participated in a workshop hosted by L’Idée Fédérale, a think tank in Montreal headed by one of our Roundtable bloggers, André Pratte. The topic was modest – “A Bold New Vision for Canada” – and we were all tasked with presenting on an aspect of our changing […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: Welcome to opencanada.org
For the past eight months I have had the thrill of working with the CIC to answer the following question: what if the CIC wanted to build the online hub for international affairs discussion in Canada? The challenge was to merge an organizational website, with a media platform. http://opencanada.org, is our first iteration of the […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: Liberals and a new political centre
Below is an oped for the Toronto Star written with David Eaves. We wrote a longer exploration of the state of progressive politics for the LRC a couple of years ago, which sounds many of the same themes, and can be found here. If the Liberals want to be the progressive center – they are […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: Why Canada should seize the R2P moment
The Oped below is in this morning’s Toronto Star. It was written with my new colleague Anouk Dey, with whom I am in the process of building something pretty exciting with the Canada International Council. Many more details to follow in the coming weeks. R2P: More than a Slogan For many commentators, the Responsibility to […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: Don’t Blame R2P: A Rebuttal to Margaret Wente
Sometimes I appreciate Margaret Wente’s contrarianism, sometimes it really blinds her. Her piece last weekend on R2P and Libya was wildly off the mark, replacing critique with a somewhat bizarre stretch to lay ideological blame. Below is a response I wrote with Anouk Dey for the CIC blog. — In last Saturday’s Globe and Mail, […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: Oped in G&M on Election Debates
Rudyard Griffiths and I have a piece out today on how and why our election debates are flawed, and what can be done about it. We have a lot of research on this, so feel free to contact me for details. — Let a Commission, Not Broadcasters, Call the Shots Whether or not one agrees […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: Foreign correspondents in an age of Twitter
My friend Mike Ananny and I have been chatting lately about the changing role of the foreign correspondent. As the evolving democratic movements in the Middle East have shown, the way we learn about, and add context to, international events is rapidly shifting. As the way we consume information changes, so too must the tools […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: A new model for public policy debate?
Rudyard Griffiths and I wrote the below for the Guardian the week after the Munk Debates, and I forgot to post. I have worked on the debates for a couple of years now, and they have grown and evolved significantly. It has been an incredibly fun project to be a part of, and it will […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: A World Turned Upside Down
I have a review essay in the LRC, which uses Paul Heinbecker’s new book and Ed Greenspon’s Open Canada report, to speak to the current state of the Canadian Foreign policy discussion. Lots more to say on the topic, including some ways that I think we could start a new conversation and spur innovation, but […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: wikileaks is important, but it is not a revolution
Dave Eaves has a thoughtful reply to my wikileaks piece up on his site. As usual, he gets at some of the meta questions surrounding this topic. While we would usually have this convo over a long drunken dinner, below are a few points in response. First, I 100% agree with Dave that the institutions […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: Oped in Macleans on Wikileaks
I have an opinion piece in Macleans on Wikileaks. In short, I think we need to think carefully about whether we really want Wikileaks to make our national security decisions for us, and what the implications are when they do. Why Wikileaks will lead to more secrecy, not less Wikileaks has struck again. This week’s […]
Continue readingTaylorOwen.com: Review of The Canadian Century
I reviewed The Canadian Century for the Globe and Mail in August, but I forgot to post. Didn’t get very much feedback on it. Curious what people think, as it (like the book), is a bit provocative… Some Century Must Belong To Us In The Canadian Century, Brian Crowley, Jason Clemens and Niels Veldhuis have […]
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