I just read this wonderful (and interesting) review of my mother Erna Paris' posthumous memoir: reviewcanada.ca/magazine/202...
I just read this wonderful (and interesting) review of my mother Erna Paris' posthumous memoir: reviewcanada.ca/magazine/202...
This Carney statement is puzzling. If, as he says, we must accept "the world as it is" β including the purported failure of previous diplomatic efforts and of the international order β then why call for a diplomatic solution, de-escalation, and respect for international law?
I was pleased to host foreign minister Anita Anand today at @uottawa.ca on the 4th anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. www.youtube.com/watch?v=T85E...
The Supreme Courtβs decision to invalidate Donald Trumpβs emergency tariffs may have removed one instrument from his tariff toolkit β but it has done nothing to make US trade policy more predictable.
Read @rolandparis.bsky.social's analysis for Chatham House‡οΈ
Chatham House asked for my quick assessment of the US Supreme Court tariff decision. Here's what I wrote:
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While itβs true that eventually Trump will no longer be president, the American public voted for him not just once but twice β and he has defined a type of politics that others will imitate. It would be foolish to assume that MAGA will disappear when he leaves the stage.
A reminder of the risks of relying exclusively on the F35. Trump will use any available leverage to apply pressure, including on Americaβs closest allies. Derisking is essential.
Amazing how many international relations "realists" who've spent decades arguing that material power not ideas matter in international affairs, are suddenly recognizing that destroying trust (an idea) and perceptions of the US (more ideas) may be materially damaging to the US.
Fact check: The US trades a lot more with China than Canada does - not just in absolute $ but also relative to each country's total trade.
* US trade with China = 10.9% of total US trade
* Canada's trade with China = 7.9% of total Canadian trade
Data sources: x.com/rolandparis/...
I discussed the Carney speech and what might come next with Matt Galloway on CBC The Current this morning. To listen: on.soundcloud.com/NELsuOsg8awM...
To me, this was the most interesting and telling part of Trump's Davos speech. He doesn't even try to hide his imperial ambitions because he doesn't see any real problems with imperialism - now or in the past. Listen to his words.
In this post-βruptureβ world, the Canadian government must be more publicly transparent about the specific functions being performed by Canadian exchange officers inside the US military.
Translation: βNice country you got there, Canada. Watch yourself.β
Trump says his desire to acquire Greenland fits a long history of US territorial expansionβand likens it to Europeβs imperial expansion, which he frames as normal. He even seems to fault European countries for giving up their empires.
What can βmiddle powersβ actually do? I wrote about this for @chathamhouse.org during the first Trump Admin, when the threats were less severe and the rules-based order more intact, but the same principles apply: hang together or hang separately. www.chathamhouse.org/2019/06/can-...
Excellent analysis of the Carney speech.
Bizarre as it seems, Trump may genuinely be unable to grasp that the Nobel Committee is independent - because the very idea of an institution remaining outside political control is alien to him.
This is a good moment for Mark Carney to reconsider cuts to Canada's foreign ministry. He says that we face unprecedented, even existential, challenges and must manage very complex relationships while building new ones. Yet we're *reducing* our diplomatic capacity?
We'll see. Many our asking themselves the same question.
Listen till the very end!
Luister Tot het einde!
#Davos #WEF
Some thoughts from me on Mark Carneyβs important speech in Davos. youtu.be/Xj1VHwVgsAY?...
This is one of the sharpest analyses of international affairs that I've heard from a Canadian leader - or any national leader - in a long time. And I suspect he wrote the main bits himself. paulwells.substack.com/p/the-carney...
History will judge, but this Greenland episode feels like a tipping point for a lot of things.
It makes sense this model would include irregular warfare. Canada couldnβt hold off even a small US invasion conventionally β but itβs a vast country, and occupying and controlling it would be another matter entirely. All hypothetical, of course.
Even by Trumpβs standards, this is astonishing petty and childish. The neuroses of the most powerful man in the world are once again on full display to everyone β other than himself, that is. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/u...
Reports that the Carney government pulled backbench Liberal MPs from an ongoing visit to Taiwan (ahead of Carneyβs trip to China) are not an encouraging signal from the Canadian PM.
Trump says his so-called Donroe Doctrine "supersedes" the Monroe Doctrine "by a lot." And he might be right: His version is more openly avaricious and arbitrary - in short, more imperial. Read more below.
My commentary for @chathamhouse.org on Carney's trip to China amid growing concerns about the "Donroe Doctrine." www.chathamhouse.org/2026/01/carn...
Stealing Venezuelaβs oil at gunpoint isnβt enough. Trump now seems to want Machado to hand over her Nobel Prize too. Heβs a villain, but utterly pathetic: His appetite β his neediness β couldnβt be sated by all the gold or prizes in the world.