The Mosaic Institute and the Arc of History
While the arc of history may bend towards justice, there is nothing inevitable about progress. Societies can and do regress, as well as progress; they can be pulled backwards by…
International Affairs
As Edmonton and Ottawa awake to Jason Kenney’s (un)diplomatic funny business, stuff starts hitting the fan
Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney and two of his MLAs are running around India again today acting as if they are representatives of the governments of both Canada and Alberta.…
Russia seeks international arrest warrant for former Ukraine PM, reported to now hold Canadian citizenship
PHOTOS: Arseniy Yatsenyuk, former prime minister of Ukraine, with then Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper in July 2015. (Screen capture of CBC news broadcast.) Below: Alberta Conservative Leader Jason Kenney,…
The OpenGlobal Show #1
This week, in partnership with Google, we launched a new feature on OpenCanada.org called the OpenGlobal Show. Each episode, I will connect with a panel of friends/colleagues/experts on international affairs…
Buzz Kill: The psychological impact of living under drones
Imagine that you are living somewhere in Pakistan, Yemen, or Gaza where the U.S. suspects a terrorist presence. Day and night, you hear a constant buzzing in the sky. Like…
The Surveillance Arms Race
There is a new arms race emerging between people who want to communicate freely and securely and governments that want to monitor and limit this communication. In democratic countries, this…
Crisis Mappers ignite talk
Here is a video of an Ignite talk I did at the International Crisis Mappers Conference in DC. It is a short summary of the historical mapping research that I…
Why wait? Read 2013’s shocking political headlines right now on Alberta Diary!
The Dagny Taggarts, a synchronized skating team from Ottawa get ready to do their popular routine, “Where Is John Galt?” Defence Minister Joan Crockatt is in the front row, second…
China, Twitter and the 0.1%
Earlier this month I had the good fortune of visiting China – a place I’m deeply curious about and – aside from some second year university courses, the reporting from…
Conferencing in Halifax while Rome Burns?
Cross-posted on CIC Dispatch Blog Billed as the Davos for Security, the Halifax International Security Forum – funded by the Department of National Defence (DND) – sought and accomplished to…
The Risks of Building the Afghan Army
Below is an oped that appeared in the Globe and Mail. The regional military training centre in Herat is a desolate and harsh place. On the outskirts of an Afghan…
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…
How Hackers Will Blow Up The World: China, Cyber-Warfare and the Cuban Missile Crisis
I have a piece on TechPresident I really enjoyed writing about how certain technologies – as they become weaponized – can in turn become highly destabilizing to global stability. The…