David Petrasek

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David Petrasek
Associate Professor, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs

Articles de cet auteur

Canada Abandons International Justice Effort in Syria 0
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- 21 janvier 2013
In the past week, amidst the crisis in Mali and the hostage crisis at the gas plant in southern Algeria, the world’s attention shifted away from the ongoing bloodshed in Syria. This perhaps explains how the Canadian media missed what …
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Mulling Over Mali 0
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- 15 janvier 2013
To those of us deeply skeptical of the deployment of Western military force in the developing world, the French intervention in Mali in recent days poses something of a dilemma. It appears to be legally and militarily justified, and enjoys …
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Principle or Prejudice? Canada’s Misguided Denial of Palestinian Statehood 0
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- 3 décembre 2012
Prime Minister Harper tweeted on Saturday that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had called to thank him for Canada’s “friendship and principled position this week at the UN ». The friendship may be obvious, but one searches in vain for the …
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Canoes, Maple Syrup and Tilley Hats: The Tory Vision for Canada’s Trading Future?0
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- 15 novembre 2012
‘Hewers of wood and drawers of water’ – a familiar and shorthand description for Canadians’ historical economic bias towards natural resources, and a phrase used pejoratively to describe a ‘brand’ that we need to shed to compete in a global …
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Troops to Turkey? The ‘Chanak Affair’ of 1922 and Its Relevance Today 0
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- 30 octobre 2012
Should Canada send its armed forces to war in Turkey? The increasingly violent civil war in Syria means this could become a real question, for two reasons. First, the fighting is leading to confrontations between Turkish and Syrian troops along …
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John Baird’s Journey 0
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- 24 septembre 2012
In a speech last week to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Foreign Minister John Baird set out the priority he attaches to human rights in Canadian foreign policy. That Minister Baird prioritizes human rights is hardly new: his speeches …
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Will Lakhdar Brahimi’s Hard-Nosed Mediation Save Syria?0
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- 20 septembre 2012
The arrival of Lakhdar Brahimi in Syria late last week drew little media attention. But his trip, and the larger mission of which it is a part, carry enormous consequences. Brahimi is the envoy appointed jointly by the UN and …
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The New Interventionism: Promise and Reality 0
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- 5 septembre 2012
Publié sur le blog 3 Quarks Daily

The news is alarming: whole families killed in the mountain villages near Lebanon and massacres in Damascus; sectarian clashes between Christian, Alawite and Sunni communities risk a descent into full-scale civil war. The …
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Europe’s Alleged ‘Failure’, Harper’s Certain Gain 0
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- 21 juin 2012
Prime Minister Harper’s pointed criticism of the dithering of European leaders at the G20 summit over the weekend was widely reported, and so too the angry riposte it received from EU Commission President Manuel Barroso. But too few sought to …
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Oversold and Underwhelming: John Baird’s First Year on the Job 0
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- 22 mai 2012
Almost one year to the day after his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird was asked in an interview on CBC Radio’s The House on Saturday to define his foreign policy. “More smart power, less soft power,” he …
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Something Borrowed, Nothing Gained: John Baird’s Big Ideas in Foreign Policy 0
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- 3 février 2012
“Canada is what I like to call a ‘smart power’,” Foreign Minister John Baird declared in a major speech in Israel last week. That’s reassuring, although as a means of distinguishing our foreign policy it is likely to prove elusive. …
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Global Issues, Colonial Mindsets: The Munk Debates 0
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- 21 novembre 2011
Imagine that a foundation in a small European country, perhaps Denmark, sponsors a high profile series of debates with the purpose of providing a “forum for leading thinkers to debate the major issues facing Denmark and the world”. Most people, …
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