So, many people have asked what I thought of the thinkers conference. I was hesitant to write anything, as I am far from objective (I was involved in planning early iterations of the conference, some aspects of which made it into the final event), but for what it’s worth, here are a couple of [...]

Dave and I have a piece in the Star today on Liberal renewal. It builds off of our larger article on How the Left is Killing Progressive Politics in the Literary Review. I suppose it would also be appropriate to put my biases on the table - as many who read this [...]

Before Obama’s 2004 convention speech, I remember reading a story about the black guy from Chicago who was going to run for the Senate. I can’t remember where, or even what the piece said, but I do clearly remember taking notice. He sounded different, and intriguing.
At his convention speech, he first sounded the [...]

Several months ago the Literary Review of Canada put a request for articles about the rise of Obama and what it means for politics in general and in Canada specifically. Mine and Dave’s proposal was lucky to be chosen, and is the lead essay in this month’s edition of the LRC.
The essay explores how the [...]

Dave and I have the following piece in this week’s Embassy. It is in part based on research I have done on the US bombing of Cambodia with Ben Kiernan, an overview of which can be read in this Walrus article.
Embassy, May 7th, 2008
Afghanistan Another Iraq? Try Another Cambodia
Of the many complexities [...]

Patrick Travers and I have an oped, here, and below, in the Star today on the recent NATO summit in Bucharest.

2011 is a date, not a goal
Reinforcements are welcome but do not address Manley’s sweeping critique
Apr 05, 2008
Patrick Travers
Taylor Owen
Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters in Bucharest that the French troop commitment to [...]

Who knew Canada would come into play in the Dem primary? A couple of quick points on the Obama-NAFTA-Cnd embassy “chat”:
1. First, and most importantly, it would not be AT ALL surprising if the story that Harper’s Chief of Staff, Ian Brodie, was the source of the leak turned out to be true. [...]

There have been many wonderful things said about Brad in the days since his tragic death. From my limited perspective, all are understated, even in their deepest praise. I wouldn’t have presumed to add anything. But at the Ignatieff group drinks after his funeral yesterday, so many of the feelings that I [...]

David and I have the piece below in this morning’s Toronto Star. It tries to link the supply side of the opium problem (our failing counter narcotics initiatives in Afghanistan), to our failure to address the domestic demand side of the issue. Closing Vancouver’s Insite supervised injection site would be a major [...]

Janice Stein and Eugene Lang have written a great book on the first 5 years of the Canadian engagement in Afghanistan. I won’t review it in full, but a few of quick points.
First, this is a very effective model for a foreign policy book.  Lang was on the inside, so we are privy [...]

With Howard’s loss last week in Australia, Prime Minister Harper has found himself as a somewhat reluctant, and one might say lonely stalwart of the Bush driven Atlantic alliance.  Particularly on Climate Change, but also to some degree on Iraq, (he is in denial of the former and was in favor of the latter), he [...]

The best book reviews are those that avoid the easy shots, the type of superficial critiques that can be made of any book, and go straight for the gut. Such reviews don’t quibble with details, or point out obvious biases, but rather go after the central thesis of the work. They challenge the [...]

… move by the Harper government. First the good. Along with other Commonwealth members, and in notable contrast to Bush’s recent statements, Canada has led the way on suspending Pakistan from the Commonwealth.
Now the bad. The current government is trying to shut down the supervised injection site in Vancouver. The [...]

Dave and I had the following op-ed in the Globe today:
Kandahar deal breakers: The Afghan poll is not a blank cheque
TAYLOR OWEN AND DAVID EAVES
Special to Globe and Mail Update
November 2, 2007 at 1:03 AM EDT
The results of the poll of Afghans by Environics on behalf of The Globe and Mail, the CBC and La [...]

David and I published this piece in Embassy Magazine this week. They’d asked for our reaction to PM Harper’s speech at the Council on Foreign Relations.
—
Embassy, October 3rd, 2007
OPED
Africa is not a Liberal Idea
Taylor Owen and David Eaves
“It was clear that he had a particular feeling about the continent (Africa) and particularly that underdog feeling [...]

Yesterday, David and I had the following oped in the Toronto Star.  Let me just add that the point is not that we should be sending in troops, but that the current default positions of pretending the crisis does not exist and blaming the Americans for screwing it up, are simply untenable for a country [...]

Not sure how well this will play north of the border.

Hands up those readers who know that Canada’s Defence Minister, Gordon O’Connor, actually sent a letter to Rumsfeld two days before his departure in disgrace from the Pentagon, praising this disreputable man’s “leadership”. Yes, O’Connor wanted “to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your [...]

David Eaves and I have the following op-ed in today’s Toronto Star:
Prime ministerial power stifles decision-making
Last week Prime Minister Stephen Harper boldly reversed his position and proposed that the renewal of the Afghan mission be contingent on cross-party consensus.
If, however, the Prime Minister is serious about developing an Afghan consensus, he will need [...]

David Eaves and I have an op-ed, here and below, in today’s Globe and Mail.
Beyond Vimy Ridge: Canada’s other foreign-policy pillar
This is a hallmark year for Canadian foreign policy. 2007 marks the anniversaries of two events through which Canada contributed significantly on the international stage: the Battle of Vimy Ridge and Lester Pearson’s Nobel Peace [...]

Apologies for the light posting of late, it has been a hectic work month. I have an op-ed in today’s Toronto Star (written with friend and colleague David Eaves), the slightly longer and unedited version of which is below:

Getting Back on Track in Afghanistan
Success in Afghanistan remains as vital today as when the government [...]

This piece in the Globe this morning came about three months too late, but it still made my day. As Simpson notes, while Dion was largely seen as being the environmental candidate, Ignatieff actually had a far better policy platform. This is no coincidence though, and the underlying reason why his environmental platform [...]

The energy in the Palais des Congres in Montreal is truly astonishing. I haven’t slept in days and am huddled in the Ignatieff war room, watching and working with the rounds of votes coming in and dashing in and out of the convention hall. The energies in each are like [...]

Posting has been non-existent of late in part due to work for MI’s candidacy at Liberal leadership convention now (finally) taking place in Montreal. If any readers are interested, or here, let me know!
PS. Dean is the convention keynote tonight…argh…
UPDATE: It actually wasn’t bad. Boiler plate feel good stuff. But his [...]

Going to be on the same Oxford radio interview show that Porter-the-Aussie did a few weeks back, in about 30 mins (11am GMT). Think it will be primarily on Canadian politics. Link to listen is here.

Canada currently has a lot of problems in Afghanistan - shifting support to the Taliban, rising casualties in Kandahar, ineffective counterinsurgency strategies, bad poppy crop irradiation polices, the list goes on. But 10 ft high heat absorbing, Taliban hiding, impenetrable marijuana plants? mon dieu…things are worse, well maybe better , ok worse [...]

For Canadian political followers, (count me in!), it’s a big weekend. After months of grassroots intra-party campaigning, the Liberal Party is choosing the delegates who will choose their next leader…in two months at the convention. If nothing but thorough, not to mention incomprehensibly complicated, the race is turning into a three way [...]

A mentor of the Trudeau Foundation, with which I am associated, describes a recent meeting, overlapping ominously with the bombings in India and the start of the Lebanese escalation.

Two weeks ago, I joined 99 other “Muslim leaders of tomorrow” who gathered in Copenhagen to debate how Islam and the West could enrich [...]

Harper, the new Canadian PM, will be diverting his plane to pick up 130 evacuees (of the estimated 50,000 Canadian citizens currently in Lebanon) on his return from the G-8.

In response to questions, Harper denied the trip was a photo opportunity.
“It’s more than a symbolic trip,” he said. “There’s a need [...]