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The Global Village - The Métropolitain

The Global Village

 

Handle with care: A fragile Afghanistan in Tokyo

Par Omar Samad le 18 juillet 2012

Ten years after the first Afghanistan reconstruction conference was held in Tokyo in 2002, Japan will host a second donors' gathering on July 8 to formulate a strategy to ensure the sustainable development of Afghanistan beyond 2014 - the date set for NATO's withdrawal. Tokyo 1 took place at a time of high hope, a clean slate, and enthusiasm for engagement, but almost no assessment of the gargantuan rebuilding task to be undertaken in a country devastated by more than two decades of warfare. There also was no insurgency to worry about. Tokyo 2 is happening at a time of uncertainty and donor fatigue, but at least the stakeholders now have a vast (and expensive) database to work with. However, the most conspicuous feature Afghans and donors will face next week and beyond, is the fragility permeating the Afghan security, political and economic sectors. Furthermore, the Taliban are now viewed as a real threat to stability.

Obama did not "lose" Canada

Par David T. Jones le 18 juillet 2012

obama_harper.jpgWashington, DC - Whenever one reads a title including “Who Lost…” you know that ax grinding is about to start with the whetstone spinning. There is a blame game to be played and guilt to be apportioned. Thus, variously, over the decades, the outraged have exclaimed “Who Lost China?” “Who Lost Vietnam?” “Who Lost Iran?” and currently, preemptively lamenting over who lost Afghanistan and/or Iraq. The author(s) always know that others are at fault and they knew better.


Le boucher de Damas face à l'impuissance des Occidentaux

Par Amb. Freddy Eytan le 28 mai 2012

Freddy_Eytan.JPGVoilà déjà 4 décennies que la famille Assad règne en Syrie avec une poigne de fer souillée de sang et le monde libre laisse faire dans le désarroi total. Ce régime est une dictature calquée sur le modèle soviétique de Staline. Le pouvoir syrien est fondé sur deux piliers: le socialisme du parti Baath et les liens étroits  et religieux de la communauté alaouite ancrée dans toutes les sphères de la société, de l'armée, des services de sécurité et des institutions gouvernementales. Le pouvoir d'Assad étouffe et écrase toutes les libertés des droits de l'Homme. Il  ne recule d'aucun moyen pour mettre au pas ses opposants en exerçant à leur encontre  une punition sanglante et impitoyable. Son armée de quatre cent mille hommes est principalement destinée à la répression intérieure. Les terribles massacres de Hama en février 1982 par Assad père firent plus de 20 000 morts! Ils n'étaient qu'une avant première des carnages successifs commis par Assad fils depuis le 15 mars 2011.

Loving enemies: human dignity is ultimately indivisible

Par The Hon. David Kilgour le 18 mai 2012

The words of Jesus, “Love one another as I have loved you”, link explicitly love of God and love of neighbour. The two great commandments, found in both the New Testament and the Torah, complement each other. Similar thoughts are found in the holy books of probably all other spiritual communities, certainly including Tibetan Buddhism.

Le malaise de la France

Par Amb. Freddy Eytan le 18 mai 2012

Freddy_Eytan.JPGLa sauvage tuerie de Toulouse ne peut être oubliée, elle sera longtemps ancrée dans tous les esprits en France comme en Israël. Hélas, labarbarie qui a frappé  la "ville rose" s’inscrira dans une page sombre etpeu glorieuse de la  République. Loin d’être un fait divers local oucommunautaire, la tragédie de Toulouse a franchi les frontières de l’Hexagone. Elle s'inscrit dans une vague anti-juive et anti-israéliennequi se propage à travers les continents. L'Europe des islamistesredevient le berceau de la haine du peuple élu.

There's Hope, It’s Not Over Yet: French Voters Look To Crucial Post-Presidential Legislative Vote

Par Julien Balkany le 18 mai 2012

balkany.JPGFrench voters expressed themselves at the polls democratically choosing alternation in electing Francois Hollande as President. With only the second Socialist Party president in French history, France risks once again experiencing the errors and hesitations of Socialist power at the helm. The U-turn of the last Socialist President, Francois Mitterrand, from socialist economic policy to one of austerity comes to mind.
Even prior to taking office Hollande explained in a media appearance that the fiscal state of the nation is worse than previously thought – a convenient position from which to perhaps prepare French voters for a letdown on the costly promised state spending that formed the cornerstone of his campaign.

China and the West: An Uncomfortable Connection

Par The Hon. David Kilgour le 18 mai 2012

china_west.JPGI admire the people of China greatly, including their often heroic protests against acts of misfeasance by their government. To his credit, the outgoing premier, Wen Jiabao, has spoken often about the necessity for democratic reform. He recently had a major role in blocking the advance of Bo Xilai to the nine-member Standing Committee of the Communist Party. Bo and his mentor, former President Jiang Zemin, have been among the worst offenders in the ongoing persecution of the Falun Gong movement since July, 1999.  Bo has been removed from his  posts and his wife, Gu Kailai, is under investigation concerning the murder of a British citizen. The next to go will hopefully be Zhou Yongkang, the Party head of security, who worked closely with Zemin and Bo in the persecution of Falun Gong.

The Future of Syria

Par Rouba al-Fattal le 18 mai 2012

Al-Fatal_Ruba.jpgIn February the Russia Federation and the People’s Republic of China lay their cards on the table. They vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution on the Arab League’s Plan for resolving the Syrian crisis which calls for President Bashar al-Assad to hand power to his vice-president, proposes the formation of a unity government,and holding free parliamentary elections within two months. Both China and Russia are putting their money on Mr. Assad, betting that he can overcome both the political opposition movement and growing rebel forces spreading across his country if he is given enough time.

8 mai 1945: Une amitié indéfectible lie la France aux Etats-Unis et au Canada.

Par Julien Balkany le 8 mai 2012

balkany.JPGEn ce 8 mai, jour de souvenir de la capitulation allemande, je veux rappeler les liens indéfectibles qui unissent les Etats-Unis, le > Canada et la France. Le 8 mai 1945, ce sont quatre hommes, dont > l’Américain Carl Andrew Spaatz et le Français Jean de Lattre de  Tassigny, qui signèrent le traité de reddition allemand. Cette > victoire des forces alliées, fruit d’une amitié sans précédent, a  forgé le monde tel que nous connaissons aujourd’hui.

Cette alliance ne s’est pas dissoute ni diluée depuis, avec la  création le 24 octobre 1945 de l’Organisation des Nations-Unies.

French Vote Risks Overwhelming Country’s Consulates in Canada

Par Julien Balkany le 3 mai 2012

balkany.JPGOn June 2nd and 16th, for the first time ever, French citizens abroad will be able to democratically elect representatives to the French National Assembly. It’s an innovative and historic advancement in democracy which was spearheaded by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But there’s a glitch – and it’s a big one.
ome 80,000 French citizens residing in Canada will, in principle, be making their way to the polls. The Canadian government opposes this election, characterizing it as a threat to sovereignty, stating: “The Government of Canada will continue to refuse requests by foreign States to include Canada in their respective extraterritorial electoral constituencies.

Iran: A response to a different paradigm of "rationality" Iran: A response to a different paradigm of "rationality"

Par Aurel Braun le 12 mars 2012

 I do not propose in this article to address the intricacies of private rivalries among various members of the ruling Iranian regime (I do however, strongly differentiate between the long suffering people of Iran and the repressive regime that rules over them). Rather, my expertise is in international relations, strategic studies and international law. My focus will be on international behaviour and threats. Among the works that relate to this area is one of my books entitled The Middle East in Global Strategy.

DU VIN AIGRE DANS DE NOUVELLES OUTRES : DE L’ANTISÉMITISME CLASSIQUE AU NOUVEL ANTISÉMITISME

Par Jean Ouellette le 12 mars 2012

oulette.jpgDans sa plus récente formulation, l’antisémitisme contemporain peut se définir soit comme la passion suicidaire de ceux qui organisent le pouvoir politique contre les Juifs soit comme l’obsession mortelle de ceux qui envisagent une autre solution finale, génocidaire, destinée à réduire à néant État sioniste sur lequel ils concentrent leur haine des Juifs et de tout projet auquel ces derniers sont associés. La première formulation est celle de Ruth Wisse, auteur de nombreux essais sur l’antisémitisme classique dit conventionnel. La seconde est celle de l’historien anglo-israélien Robert S. Wistrich, auteur d’une monumentale histoire de l’antisémitisme.

 

1500 "model" UN participants hear message of challenge and responsibility from the Met publisher McGill conference third largest next to Harvard

Par A. Hustak & P. Sévigny le 12 mars 2012

mcmun_01.jpgMétropolitain publisher and editor Beryl Wajsman, who is also the founder of The Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal, gave the keynote speech last Thursday to some 1500 participants in McGill's annual Model UN Conference and lost little time sending them a message for a new model for the international system, the bankruptcy of the current one and the moral challenges the future leaders who made up the  the audience had a responsibility not to betray. Attendees at the four-day conference at the Sheraton Centre came from over fifty North American universities. The McGill model UN Conference is held every year, and this year was the biggest such gathering behind only Harvard and Penn State. Harvard and McGill have consistently been the largest over the past decade.

Canada should stand against Chinese slave labour

Par David Matas & David Kilgour le 12 mars 2012

china.jpgOn his trade mission to China last month, Prime Minister Stephen Harper should have asked his hosts to stop exporting the products of slave labour to Canada, and to shut down their extensive network of slave-labour camps. Toward that end, he should have begun negotiating an arrangement with China that would ensure Canadians do not unwittingly buy products made with slave labour.
China engages systematically in forced labour in all forms of detention facilities — prisons that house sentenced criminals, administrative detention centers for those not yet charged, and “re-education through labour” camps.

The Key to Understanding Keystone

Par David T. Jones le 16 décembre 2011

The U.S. decision to defer decision on the Keystone XL pipeline has tossed an eagle into the dovecot.  A “no brainer” decision regarding the merits of providing secure energy (as well as j-o-b-s) has apparently been adroitly manipulated by the brainless.

Consequently, the State Department disclaimer that the delay decision was not “political” is disingenuous at best; it passes neither the sniff nor the giggle test.  After years of review, acres of trees slaughtered in written testimony, and scads of let-it-all-hang-out public hearings, the State Department announced that there were no environmental objections to the pipeline.  Subsequently, President Obama said that he would make the decision—retrospectively a fatal blow to any near term decision.

 

Le printemps arabe: Qu’a-t-on appris de la Leçon?

Par Alain de Perlycroix le 16 décembre 2011

MIddle_east_map.jpgIl y a un proverbe/adage anglais qui dit: “What goes around comes around”. Mais lorsqu’il s’agit de mettre en pratique ce dernier dans un pays, tel la Syrie, on est mieux de retourner dans le temps quelques années en arrière pour revoir le passé afin de tenter de prédire l’avenir, car hélas, nul ne connait maintenant la suite de ce que le Proche-Orient va vivre à la suite de la déstabilisation de la presque dernière dictature « républicaine » dans la région.



Remembering 9/11 - Ten Years After

Par David T. Jones le 26 octobre 2011

"Who You Are Is Where You Were When"

~ Morris Massey

The quotation refers to the events that define you and your generation—life and history altering episodes that are the benchmarks for memory and the iron pole around which your future swingsand conditions your thinking.  For my parents, it was Pearl Harbor.  For me, it was the JFK assassination.  For my children (and for me again), it has been 9/11.

Ahmadinejad and Human Dignity

Par The Hon. David Kilgour le 26 octobre 2011

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s report expressed “serious concern” about Tehran’s record: “...increased executions, amputations, arbitrary arrest and detention, unfair trials, and possible torture and ill-treatment of human rights activists, lawyers, journalists and opposition activists.” Ban deplored the persecution of Iranian minorities, including Arabs, Armenians, Azeris, Balochs, Christians, Jews, Kurds and Baha’is.

Witnessing the Egyptian revolution

Par Mourad Shalaby le 26 octobre 2011

cairo-tahrir-square.jpgIt was nearing Christmas day, 2010. Feeling cold and gloomy in wintery Montreal, I decided to listen to my parents’ pleas and spend the holidays with them in Egypt, my country of origin. As a third-year Master’s student at McGill University, I had no more courses to attend, my only remaining academic duty being to finish my thesis. So I promptly booked a flight to Cairo, with the intention of spending a quiet and uneventful time with my family in Egypt. Little did I know that I was about to witness something historic and, well, revolutionary.

The Myth of Non-Intervention in Syria

Par Rouba al-Fattal le 26 octobre 2011

The crackdown on Syrian demonstrators continues, despite growing international condemnation of the Syrian government. More than 2000 civilians have been killed and approximately 3000 have been reported missing. But why is the international community not threatening military intervention as it did in the case of Libya?

Les «cavaliers d’Allah» au grand galop! - 9/11 - Ten Years After

Par Amb. Fred Eytan le 26 octobre 2011

Une décennie après les attentats spectaculaires du 11 septembre, la lassitude occidentale à l’égard des « cavaliers d’Allah » encourage le terrorisme et favorise la délégitimation de l’Etat juif. La dernière attaque contre l’ambassade d’Israël au Caire, première délégation diplomatique dans un pays arabe, est un signe grave et inquiétant dans les relations internationales.

Europe has known such violence before

Par George Jonas le 26 août 2011

The European Union is beginning to look eerily like Germany under the Weimar Republic. Comparisons are never exact, and anyone could come up with a string of obvious differences, but in the EU many groups of citizens are at odds with their society's principal values, just as they were in Weimar, and by now several have expressed it through acts of political terror, targeted or random, as their soul-mates did in Germany between 1919 and 1933.

L'indécent cirque médiatique des flottilles pour Gaza

Par Pierre Brassard le 26 août 2011

gaza_flotilla.jpgAinsi donc un bateau canadien se prépare à briser le blocus naval et aérien qu'Israël impose à Gaza. Une coalition canadienne, comprenant entre autres Amir Khadir, Gérald Larose et l'abbé Raymond Gravel, appuie sans nuances ce bateau, contre l'avis du gouvernement canadien. Regardons la question de plus près.


To War or Not to War

Par Akil Alleyne le 26 août 2011

President Barack Obama has finally declared his intention tobegin a phased withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, in a gradual process to be completed by 2014. America is thus lowering the curtain on its long, bitter slog through a society that has already stymied more than one imperial interloper. Perhaps more significantly, the US pullout appears to be garnering something approaching bipartisan support. Even some Republican presidential candidates like Mitt Romney are now averring that the president is right to make America scarce in Central Asia. There are obviously countless ways to look at President Obama’s decision, and as many judgments to be made about it.

Theodore Bikel and the soundtrack of our lives

Par Beryl Wajsman le 10 juin 2011

IMG_0900_01.jpgSome things stay with you. More importantly, some people do. They become part of the fabric of who you are. The memory of their piercing glare, their defiant words, their resonant voice and their courageous acts rally your resolve whenever it weakens. It is not even the stirring of memory, for their images never really leave you. Theodore Bikel is all that and more. For in his case there is music, and what music. It is the soundtrack of our lives.


De Tunisie jusqu’en Syrie La révolte de la peur et… le moment de vérité!

Par Alain de Perlycroix le 10 juin 2011

map.jpgÀ priori, lorsqu’on voit les peuples arabes se soulever contre leurs dictateurs, on ne peut que s’en réjouir. Toutefois, à bien y penser, l’on se demande si cela permettra pour autant la mise en place d’une démocratie à l’occidentale ou tout simplement l’implantation d’une autre sorte de dictature masquée, quelle soit religieuse ou laïque pro-occidentale.

Effet domino? Pas vraiment!

 

Chaos theory for political order in the Arab world

Par Rouba al-Fattal le 10 juin 2011

Al-Fatal_Ruba.jpgAs a Board Member of the EuroArab Forum in Brussels and a “specialist” on the Arab world, I am asked daily of what I think is going to happen in the Middle East. Let me be frank, as much as I wish I could predict the future to my own satisfaction, nobody knows what the final outcomes will be. Political analysts and pundits may quench the public thirst for information by providing their sophisticated forecasts, but their chances of getting it right at this early stage are as good as playing the roulette.

Once Again-Burning Qu'rans

Par David T. Jones le 21 avril 2011

Washington, DC - So Florida-based pastor Terry Jones is back for another bite at the 15-minutes-of-fame apple.
This time, however, the consequences of his campaign against the Qur'an has had fatal effects.  His largely unremarked "trial" and "execution" by burning of a Qur'an occurred almost completely without notice in North America.  One assumes that this lack of media attention in the United States/Canada was deliberate (one 15 minutes of fame per eccentric claimant) with the appreciation that publicity could have invidious effect.

Montreal’s ‘Socratic’ dialogues City conference cites ‘Canadian Model’ as a working plan for a ‘post-crisis world’

Par P.A. Sévigny le 21 avril 2011

bandage_globe.jpgNinety nine years to the day after the R.M.S. Titanic hit an iceberg and sank while trying to break a trans-Atlantic speed record on its way to New York, Professor Kimon Valaskakis and his New School of Athens are determined to devise the means by which the world’s assorted economies can avoid similar disasters.
“We must face the facts,” said Valaskakis. “The recent financial earthquake caused a socio-political tsunami which has spread all the way from the Persian Gulf to Madison, Wisconsin.”

Creative Destruction in Japan

Par Robert Presser le 21 avril 2011

Some may recall the teachings of Joseph Schumpeter, the Austrian economist (1883-1950) who advocated the concept of creative destruction.  Schumpeter argued that old economic models or investments had to be destroyed in order to liberate the financial and human capital to undertake new, innovative and more profitable ventures.  For the first time since the end of WWII, a major developed economy has suffered an economic calamity of the scale deserving an analysis under Schumpeter’s model.  The question is whether Japan, as an economic and social society, is prepared to seize this moment to radically change its economic model, or if it will miss the moment and re-create what has not served it well over the past 20 years.

...THIS YEAR IN JERUSALEM

Par Alan Hustak le 21 avril 2011

 

wall.jpgA trip to Jerusalem is an act of faith no matter what your convictions.
Jerusalem is the capital of Israel but it is not by any stretch of the imagination, an exclusively Jewish city. It throbs with a brash energy, pulsates with Semitic and Slavic rhythms and resonates with a sense of shared history unequalled in any other place on earth.
In  the words of one writer, it remains “a golden object of desire,” a site for pleasure, prayer and pilgrimage.

 

The Montreal Dialogues: Solutions for the post-crisis world New School of Athens global initiative brings leaders to Montreal on April 14th at ICAO

Par Alan Hustak le 27 mars 2011

 

NSOA_02.jpgPoliticians, economists, political scientists and sociologists will be gathering in Montreal  on April 14th to examine the flaws in the world’s financial and social policies and at the same time consider why some countries, Canada in particular, have weathered the recent economic meltdown better than others.The Canadian Model: Strategic lessons for the post-crisis world,  is the second of nine global conferrences sponsored by the New School of Athens and is aimed at determining what about globalization works and what doesn’t.

 

New START Had It Easy

Par David T. Jones le 16 février 2011

On December 22, 2010, the Senate having spent much time wailing and gnashing teeth approved the New START Treaty with Russia.  From the language, one could have thought its advocates believed it to be the arms control's Second Coming (or at least a much accelerated new millennium) while its opponents characterized it as a cup of hemlock for the Republic.

Haiti and the scandal of The Global Fund

Par Mischa Popoff le 16 février 2011

Your hard-earned tax dollars have been pouring into Haiti since the earthquake last year and things have only worsened. Here’s a thought... maybe money and aid aren’t the answer.It is now crystal clear that The Global Fund, although much ballyhooed, is totally corrupt. This is the high profile charity that pretends to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and which benefits from lucrative, high-profile support from the likes of U2 front-man Bono, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and France’s First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. The United States and Canada have pledged to give a whopping $10 billion to this fund for various third-world improvement projects, including Haiti. But if the fund can’t even keep its own affairs straight, we must demand that our politicians stop contributing to it immediately.

Democracy in the Arab world

Par The Hon. David Kilgour le 16 février 2011

As more and more Arab countries turn their backs on autocracy, Canada can be a key player in encouraging democratic governments to take hold.
In the 22 member states of the Arab League, many people now appear to be turning their backs on autocracy, declaring to themselves and the world that governance of, by, and for the people is a universal value.


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