Saturday, February 01, 2014
Wednesday, January 01, 2014
Opinion pieces by Henry Srebrnik, listed chronologically:
(Please visit as well: “I Told You So Long Ago,” at http://i-told-you-so-long-ago.blogspot.com)
March 27, 2003 – Canadian Jewish News:
Canadian Jews Should Rethink Alliances
April 23, 2003 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Will the Kurds Seize the Day and Attempt to Create a Sovereign State?
August 25, 2003 – The Calgary Herald:
"We Are Transitioning Towards the Truth"
October 21, 2003 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Defining Ourselves by Government: Permanent Liberals: PC – Alliance Merger May Provide Serious Opposition, But Don’t Bet On It
December 11, 2003 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Canada Faces Problems of National Identity, Regionalism and Legislative Ineptitude
January 3, 2004 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Living a Life of Western Guilt: Some Professors, Journalists Seem Embarrassed by their Privileged Status
January 29, 2004 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Are Iranian Rulers Ready for Democracy and Rapprochement with the U.S.?
March 23, 2004 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Stephen Harper’s Experience Makes Him the Right Person for the Job: The New Leader of the Conservative Party Has Served for Many Years in the Political Trenches
April 17, 2004 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Just How Far Would the Liberals Have Gone to ‘Save’ Canada?
May 20, 2004 – [Calgary] Jewish Free Press:
Winning, and Then Losing, in Iraq
May 27, 2004 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
What Do the Political Contours of the Federal Election Look Like?
May 31, 2004 – The Calgary Herald:
‘Party of State’ Pegs its Future on Felling Harper
June 8, 2004 - [Charlottetown , PEI
Taking a Look at the Winners and Losers in the Global Propaganda Wars
September 30, 2004 – [Charlottetown , PEI
Taking a Closer Look at the Selection of Judges
October 6, 2004 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The State of Politics and the New Parliamentary Session
October 6, 2004 - Canadian Jewish News:
We Need to Think Clearly about Islamism
November 1, 2004 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Why John Kerry Will Win the American Presidency
November 5, 2004 - The Calgary Herald:
Lament from the Ivory Tower
November 18, 2004 – [Calgary] Jewish Free Press:
What does the Bush victory mean for Israel and the Mideast?
December 30, 2004 – The Calgary Herald:
Is Stronger Canada Chretien’s Legacy?
April 21, 2005 – [Calgary] Jewish Free Press:
Jerusalem and the Three Abrahamic Faiths
August 19, 2005 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Canada and Hans Island: Is It Worth Fighting For?
September 7, 2005 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Is It Fair to Criticize the New Occupants of Rideau Hall?
September 24, 2005 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
No Matter What, Canadians Think Liberal Rule Is Just Fine
October 18, 2005 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Defying Laws of Politics When It Comes to Quebec and Alberta
December 27, 2005 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Let's Try Changing Our Political Architecture: Why Not Create a Bicameral Parliament for PEI?
January 5, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Who Is Responsible for Canada’s Slide Towards National Disintegration?
January 17, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
When Did ‘Canadian Values’ Become Such an Issue?
January 25, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
An Analysis of Why the Liberals Lost
February 10, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Conservatives Should Remove Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage from their Agenda
February 22, 2006 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Different Reasons Why Some Approved, Others Condemned the Danish Cartoons
March 11, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Examining Our Role in Afghanistan: Should We Be There?
March 22, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The U.S. is on the Verge of Losing the War in Iraq
March 23, 2006 - [Calgary] Fast Forward Weekly:
Nationalism Persists as a Mobilizing Force; Ethnic and Religious Conflict Remains the Primary Cause of War in the World
http://www.ffwdweekly.com/Issues/2006/0323/view.htm
April 2006 - Newsletter of the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship (SAFS):
UPEI Faculty Opposes Gag Laws
http://www.safs.ca/april2006/srebrink.html
April 20, 2006 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Federal Liberals Should Choose Ignatieff as Leader
May 5, 2006 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
As Fijians Go to the Polls
May 16, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
A Few Brickbats
August 4, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Pondering What Will Happen Next for Lebanon
August 31, 2006 - [Calgary] Jewish Free Press:
Hezbollah's Strength
October 18, 2006 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Liberals, Israel and the Issue of War Crimes
October 19, 2006 - [Calgary] Jewish Free Press:
Are Quebec's Political Elites too Sensitive to Criticism? A Personal Recollection
November 2, 2006 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
A Changing Political Landscape?
November 22, 2006 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Is Quebec Really a Nation?
December 20, 2006 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Harper’s Motion Poses the Question: Who is a Québécois?
March 29, 2007 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
What of Quebec's Anglophones?
April 6, 2007 – The Calgary Herald:
Greens Must Keep Focused on Cause
April 28, 2007 – The Calgary Herald:
Gov. Gen. Has Power to Thwart an Election
August 3, 2007 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Barack Obama: Trailblazer for Black Americans
August 4, 2007 - The Calgary Herald:
A Strong Dollar, and Short Memory
August 16, 2007 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Does Israel Have a Right to Exist?
August 25, 2007 - TheCalgary
Israel
September 6, 2007 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Endless American Vote
October 1, 2007 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Strong Dollar, but Where are the Savings?
November 1, 2007 – [Charlottetown , PEI
The Loonie versus the U.S. Dollar
December 17, 2007 - [Charlottetown , PEI
The American Presidential Race - So Far
December 27, 2007 – [Toronto
Back to the Future in a ConsociationalPalestine
February 6, 2008Charlottetown PEI
“Banal” Nationalism:America Canada Quebec
February 19, 2008Charlottetown , PEI
Is Hillary Clinton a Democrat?
March 3, 2008 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Clinton and Obama: Who's Been More Oppressed?
March 10, 2008Charlottetown , PEI
Hillary Clinton’s Mud Sticks to Obama
March 15, 2008Summerside , PEI
A Caustic Look at the Never-Ending Primary War
March 25, 2008Summerside PEI
John McCain: A Political Resurrection?
March 25, 2008Charlottetown PEI
The Year 1968: Where Did the Time Go?
April 3, 2008Toronto
Carville and the J-Word
April 4, 2008 – [Summerside PEI
The Democratic Party Race: The Beat Goes On...and On...and On
April 25, 2008Summerside PEI
Has Running for theU.S.
April 30, 2008Charlottetown PEI
Hillary WinsPennsylvania
May 6, 2008Summerside , PEI
Indiana and North Carolina Vote . . . What Next?
May 8, 2008Toronto
The Delayed Reaction to the Holocaust
May 22, 2008 - [Halifax, Nova Scotia] Chronicle-Herald:
Clintons' Shady Dealings Have Taken the Shine off Two-for-One-Deal, Part 2
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Letters/1057351.html
June 6, 2008 – [Charlottetown PEI
June 24, 2008 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Will Gender Rivalries Impact Institution of Marriage?
http://www.jewishtribune.ca/TribuneV2/content/view/730/53/
June 25, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
How Would Clinton Fit on the Vice-Presidential Ticket?
July 4, 2008 – [Summerside , PEI
Barack and Bill: Not a Good Match
August 15, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
A Tale of Goose and Gander
September 4, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Obama and the Clintons: A Convention Hijacking
September 22, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Crisis in the American Financial System
September 29, 2008 – [Summerside , PEI
The Economic Chickens Come Home to Roost
October 14, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
McCain Carrying a Load of Ethical Baggage
October 24, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Quebec Marches to Its Own Electoral Drummer
October 30, 2008 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Just What Does it Take to Run the Office These Days?
November 19, 2008 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Closing Thoughts on the American Presidential Election
December 2, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Is Stéphane Dion About to Become PM?
December 8, 2008 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Bye Bye Parliamentary Legitimacy
December 18, 2008 - [Toronto] Jewish-Tribune:
A Letter from Jerusalem - circa 1972
December 27, 2008 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Is Our Governor General Up to the Job?
January 8, 2009 - [Toronto] Jewish-Tribune:
The Hitler-Stalin Pact: Two Years of Infamy
January 22, 2009 - [Toronto] Jewish-Tribune:
Where Do Israel, Jewish People Stand at This Moment?
January 30, 2009 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Middle Eastern Apocalypse in the Offing?
February 2, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Library of Unwritten Books
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=217703&sc=104
March 10, 2009 - [Toronto] Jewish-Tribune:
Are Canadian Jews Savvy?
March 30, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Only Glimmer of Hope for an Israeli-Palestinian Peace
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=237212&sc=104
Thursday, April 9, 2009 - [Toronto] Jewish-Tribune:
Who Are the Real Criminals?
http://www.jewishtribune.ca/TribuneV2/index.php/200904071553/Who-are-the-real-criminals.html
April 16, 2009 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The "New" Age of Piracy
April 20, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Rush Limbaugh and the Party of "No"
April 23, 2009 - [Toronto
Anti-Zionist Israelis Would Turn Jewish State Into Another Diaspora
May 5, 2009 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Will Somali Piracy Spark Further Mideast Conflict?
http://www.journalpioneer.com/index.cfm?sid=248406&sc=123
May 6, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Will the Problem of Piracy Only Get Worse?
May 12, 2009 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A One-State Palestine or Two Nation-States?
http://www.journalpioneer.com/index.cfm?sid=250266&sc=123
June 1, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Ignatieff the Expatriate - or Aristocrat?
July 8, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Less Bread, More Circuses for America
August 10, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Are the Russians Still Defending the Pact that Led to the Second World War?
September 11, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
A Troubled America
September 24, 2009 - [Toronto
Name Changes in Montreal Should Work Both Ways
October 19, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The End of Communist Rule in Eastern Europe
November 3, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Fall of East Germany: A Retrospective
November 24, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Is Canada Really a Paragon of Democracy?
January 25, 2010 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
What's Next for Haiti?
January 27, 2010 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer
Israel Pitches in With Help for Haiti
February 11, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
Central Asia Should Not be Ignored
March 2, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
Look Around at the De Facto States by "Stealth"
March 9, 2010 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer
Inuit Have Become Self-Ruling Body
April 28, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
The Perils of Predicting the Future
April 29, 2010 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune
Irredentism: A Potent Form of Nationalism
May 25, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
New York Women and the U.S. Supreme Court
June 29, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
The Troubles to Our South
July 16, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
Obama's High Hopes
August 30, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
California Dreaming . . . or is it Just a Nightmare
October 5, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
End of Trudeauism
December 2, 2010 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer
Elections Not Always the Answer for Troubled Countries
December 10, 2010 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer
China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region is Really the Sixth “Stan”
December 23, 2010 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune :
Nazi Germany Fought Many Different Wars in WW II
December 27, 2010 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Should Ideology of Human Rights Trump Nationalism?
January 4, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Gulf War of 1991 and its Aftermath
January 5, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
From Mugabe to Mubarak, Many African Dictators Still Reign
January 20, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Power Structure Built on Sand
January 27, 2011 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune :
Will Islamist Parties Vie for Power in Tunisia?
January 31, 2011 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Little Portugal Created a Lusophone World
February 1, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Is History Repeating Itself?
February 22, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Arab Awakening Arrives in Libya
February 24, 2011 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune :
Portugal's Jewish Diaspora and Its Lessons for Our Times
February 24, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Who Will Replace Today's Middle Eastern Rulers?
February 25, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Gadhafi’s Son Reveals ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ Persona
February 28, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Unable to Avoid Criticism, U.S. Should Do the Right Thing
March 10, 2011 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
A New Chapter in the Assault on Israel
March 12, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Four Main Types of States on the World Map
March 15, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Is President Obama Playing the Role of Hamlet?
March 19, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Gadhafi Should Be Removed Now
March 21, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Gadhafi and His Enablers
March 29, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The "Chelm" War
March 31, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Coalition’s War Aims Remain Confusing
April 4, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Libyan War Becomes an Unnecessary Stalemate
April 18, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Voters Would Welcome Majority
April 19, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Should Hawaii Belong to the U.S.?
April 27, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Aid Group Failed Wartime Jews
May 5, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Swept Away by the "Orange Crush"
June 9, 2011 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
The American South Today
June 13, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Canadian Jewish Congress Future Uncertain
June 17, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Is "Arab Spring" Now Stalled?
June 17, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Uprising Highlights Ethnic, Religious Divisions
June 22, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
No "Arab Spring" in Yemen
June 27, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Libyan War Could Signal NATO's Collapse
June 30, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
In the Company of Microstates, P.E.I. Is a Giant
July 2, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Canada Courts a World Power
July 18, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Case for Israel
July 25, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Reshaping the State to Avoid Secession
August 1, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Hold 'Em or Fold 'Em?
August 2, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The State that Gets No Respect
August 20, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Woodstock and America, Then and Now
August 22, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Tribal Revenge a Worry in Post-Gadhafi Libya
August 31, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Three Down, Two to Go? Apparently Not
September 6, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Iran is a Regional Power in the Middle East
September 8, 2011 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
The Lasting Impact of the Iran-Iraq War
September 10, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Does One Have to Return to British Symbolism to be Conservative
September 19, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Is Turkey Creating an ‘Ottosphere’ in Middle East?
September 27, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Positioning to be Major Player
also available on the Guardian website
October 3, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Cyprus Could Be New Flashpoint
October 18, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Locked in Ethnic and Territorial Disputes
October 21, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Still Trying to Figure out why Quebec Chose the NDP
November 16, 2011 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Reflections on the Demise of the So-Called “King of Kings”
November 22, 2011 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
What's to Become of Mideast's Christians?
December 1, 2011 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
A Student Newspaper Best Indicator of Intellectual Vibrancy on Campus
December 5, 2011 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Is the Middle East Edging Towards War?
December 9, 2011 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Arguing for Real Gender Equality
December 16, 2011 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Palestinians Are a Nation
December 19, 2011 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Political Culture More Important than Formal Structures
December 28, 2011 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Questioning Civil and Ethnic Nationalism
January 3, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Four Divided Cities, Then and Now
January 16, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
To Name Is to Claim
January 17, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Can Romney Win the Presidency?
January 21, 2012 - Calgary Herald:
MADD Represents Modern-Day McCarthyism
January 23, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Crusade Against Drunk Driving
January 25, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
"Mister One Per Cent" Loses South Carolina Primary
February 17, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Soviet-Style Disproportion
February 23, 2012 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
A Vanished Ideology: Jewish Communism 1917 - 1956
March 3, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Tale of Two Capitals
March 19, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Cautionary Tale of Ethnic Nationalism
March 22, 2012 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Were We Once the Stepchildren in the Canadian Family?
March 28, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
When Will Afghanistan War End?
March 30, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Who Will Control the 'World Island'?
April 5, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Dismal History of Tropical Islands
April 10, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Why the Republican Adulation of Ronald Reagan?
April 30, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Dual Functions of a University Professor
May 17, 2012 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
The Jews, Israel and the Left
May 30, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Montreal Then and Now
June 5, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Old and New Lefts in America
June 9, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Tale of Two Provincial Identities
June 14, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Was the War of 1812 an American Religious Crusade?
June 28, 2012 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Does Rejection of Israel in the Muslim World Have Religious Roots?
July 4, 2012 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Will Israel Turn to Russia?
July 16, 2012 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Albania Has Come a Long Way This Decade
July 20, 2012 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Future of Sovereign Nation-States
August 9, 2012 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Is and Indian-Israeli-Russian Entente Being Formed?
August 23, 2012 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Is Islam Inherently Anti-Jewish?
July 20, 2012 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
California Doesn’t Loom Large in the 2012 Election
August 29, 2012 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Is the United States an "Idea-State"?
August 31, 2012 - Calgary Jewish Free Press:
Do American Values Stem from Judaism?
September 20, 2012 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
The Diverse Jewish Community of Los Angeles
October 17, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Control of Senate Vital in U.S. Election
October 22, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
In the Middle East, the Future Remains Unpredictable
October 29, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Obama's Biography Is Unique Among American Presidents
November 12, 2012 - Summerside, [PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Radical Right-Wing Forces Make Gains in Europe
November 20, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Don't Cry for Me, America
November 22, 2012 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Two Competing Views of Israel in the Middle East
November 26, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Gaza War and the New Egypt
November 29, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Examining America's Asia-Pacific Policy
December 31, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
1973 Was Politically Momentous Year
January 7, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Israel Then and Now
January 10, 2013 - [Halifax, N.S.] Chronicle Herald:
European Disunion
January 14, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
In Jordan, The Politics of Moderation Are Eroding
January 24, 2013 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Algerian Hostage Drama Highlights Crisis in Sahel Region
January 28, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Israel's Election Produces No Clear Winner
February 4, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Political Philosopher's Analysis of Nazi Totalitarianism
February 11, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Two African Countries That Descended into Anarchy
February 19, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
An "English Canada" in the South Pacific
February 25, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
When Was the State of Israel Established?
March 5, 2013 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Our Growing Concern for Animal Rights
March 11, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
What Does the Future Hold for Northern Ireland?
March 15, 2013 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Falkland Islands Remain Resolutely British
March 18, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Contending Territorial Claims are a Result of the Vestiges of Empire
March 25, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Some of the Reasons Why Nations Fail
March 28, 2013 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Where Is Cuba Heading as Castro Era Draws to a Close?
April 1, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Legacies of Empire Fuel Conflict Among Southeast Asian States
April 8, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Detroit Continues to FacePoverty-Related Challenges
April 15, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Imperial Conquests Were Less One-Sided Than People Think
April 22, 2013 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Worse Things Get the Less They Are Noticed
April 22, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
What Constitutes Sovereignty in Today's World?
April 29, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Unique Version of Governance in Switzerland
May 2, 2013 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
The Demise of the Canadian Jewish News
May 6, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Nigeria's Ethnic and Religious Divisions Are Difficult to Manage
May 13, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
America: Land of Guns and Murders
(Please visit as well: “I Told You So Long Ago,” at http://i-told-you-so-long-ago.blogspot.com)
March 27, 2003 – Canadian Jewish News:
Canadian Jews Should Rethink Alliances
April 23, 2003 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Will the Kurds Seize the Day and Attempt to Create a Sovereign State?
August 25, 2003 – The Calgary Herald:
"We Are Transitioning Towards the Truth"
October 21, 2003 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Defining Ourselves by Government: Permanent Liberals: PC – Alliance Merger May Provide Serious Opposition, But Don’t Bet On It
December 11, 2003 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Canada Faces Problems of National Identity, Regionalism and Legislative Ineptitude
January 3, 2004 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Living a Life of Western Guilt: Some Professors, Journalists Seem Embarrassed by their Privileged Status
January 29, 2004 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Are Iranian Rulers Ready for Democracy and Rapprochement with the U.S.?
March 23, 2004 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Stephen Harper’s Experience Makes Him the Right Person for the Job: The New Leader of the Conservative Party Has Served for Many Years in the Political Trenches
April 17, 2004 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Just How Far Would the Liberals Have Gone to ‘Save’ Canada?
May 20, 2004 – [Calgary] Jewish Free Press:
Winning, and Then Losing, in Iraq
May 27, 2004 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
What Do the Political Contours of the Federal Election Look Like?
May 31, 2004 – The Calgary Herald:
‘Party of State’ Pegs its Future on Felling Harper
June 8, 2004 - [
Taking a Look at the Winners and Losers in the Global Propaganda Wars
September 30, 2004 – [
Taking a Closer Look at the Selection of Judges
October 6, 2004 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The State of Politics and the New Parliamentary Session
October 6, 2004 - Canadian Jewish News:
We Need to Think Clearly about Islamism
November 1, 2004 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Why John Kerry Will Win the American Presidency
November 5, 2004 - The Calgary Herald:
Lament from the Ivory Tower
November 18, 2004 – [Calgary] Jewish Free Press:
What does the Bush victory mean for Israel and the Mideast?
December 30, 2004 – The Calgary Herald:
Is Stronger Canada Chretien’s Legacy?
April 21, 2005 – [Calgary] Jewish Free Press:
Jerusalem and the Three Abrahamic Faiths
August 19, 2005 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Canada and Hans Island: Is It Worth Fighting For?
September 7, 2005 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Is It Fair to Criticize the New Occupants of Rideau Hall?
September 24, 2005 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
No Matter What, Canadians Think Liberal Rule Is Just Fine
October 18, 2005 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Defying Laws of Politics When It Comes to Quebec and Alberta
December 27, 2005 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Let's Try Changing Our Political Architecture: Why Not Create a Bicameral Parliament for PEI?
January 5, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Who Is Responsible for Canada’s Slide Towards National Disintegration?
January 17, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
When Did ‘Canadian Values’ Become Such an Issue?
January 25, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
An Analysis of Why the Liberals Lost
February 10, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Conservatives Should Remove Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage from their Agenda
February 22, 2006 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Different Reasons Why Some Approved, Others Condemned the Danish Cartoons
March 11, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Examining Our Role in Afghanistan: Should We Be There?
March 22, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The U.S. is on the Verge of Losing the War in Iraq
March 23, 2006 - [Calgary] Fast Forward Weekly:
Nationalism Persists as a Mobilizing Force; Ethnic and Religious Conflict Remains the Primary Cause of War in the World
http://www.ffwdweekly.com/Issues/2006/0323/view.htm
April 2006 - Newsletter of the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship (SAFS):
UPEI Faculty Opposes Gag Laws
http://www.safs.ca/april2006/srebrink.html
April 20, 2006 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Federal Liberals Should Choose Ignatieff as Leader
May 5, 2006 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
As Fijians Go to the Polls
May 16, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
A Few Brickbats
August 4, 2006 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Pondering What Will Happen Next for Lebanon
August 31, 2006 - [Calgary] Jewish Free Press:
Hezbollah's Strength
October 18, 2006 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Liberals, Israel and the Issue of War Crimes
October 19, 2006 - [Calgary] Jewish Free Press:
Are Quebec's Political Elites too Sensitive to Criticism? A Personal Recollection
November 2, 2006 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
A Changing Political Landscape?
November 22, 2006 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Is Quebec Really a Nation?
December 20, 2006 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Harper’s Motion Poses the Question: Who is a Québécois?
March 29, 2007 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
What of Quebec's Anglophones?
April 6, 2007 – The Calgary Herald:
Greens Must Keep Focused on Cause
April 28, 2007 – The Calgary Herald:
Gov. Gen. Has Power to Thwart an Election
August 3, 2007 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Barack Obama: Trailblazer for Black Americans
August 4, 2007 - The Calgary Herald:
A Strong Dollar, and Short Memory
August 16, 2007 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Does Israel Have a Right to Exist?
August 25, 2007 - The
Israel
September 6, 2007 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Endless American Vote
October 1, 2007 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Strong Dollar, but Where are the Savings?
November 1, 2007 – [
The Loonie versus the U.S. Dollar
December 17, 2007 - [
The American Presidential Race - So Far
December 27, 2007 – [
Back to the Future in a Consociational
February 6, 2008
“Banal” Nationalism:
February 19, 2008
Is Hillary Clinton a Democrat?
March 3, 2008 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Clinton and Obama: Who's Been More Oppressed?
March 10, 2008
Hillary Clinton’s Mud Sticks to Obama
March 15, 2008
A Caustic Look at the Never-Ending Primary War
March 25, 2008
John McCain: A Political Resurrection?
March 25, 2008
The Year 1968: Where Did the Time Go?
April 3, 2008
Carville and the J-Word
The Democratic Party Race: The Beat Goes On...and On...and On
April 25, 2008
Has Running for the
April 30, 2008
Hillary Wins
May 6, 2008
Indiana and North Carolina Vote . . . What Next?
May 8, 2008
The Delayed Reaction to the Holocaust
May 22, 2008 - [Halifax, Nova Scotia] Chronicle-Herald:
Clintons' Shady Dealings Have Taken the Shine off Two-for-One-Deal, Part 2
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Letters/1057351.html
June 6, 2008 – [
June 24, 2008 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Will Gender Rivalries Impact Institution of Marriage?
http://www.jewishtribune.ca/TribuneV2/content/view/730/53/
June 25, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
How Would Clinton Fit on the Vice-Presidential Ticket?
July 4, 2008 – [
Barack and Bill: Not a Good Match
August 15, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
A Tale of Goose and Gander
September 4, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Obama and the Clintons: A Convention Hijacking
September 22, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Crisis in the American Financial System
September 29, 2008 – [
The Economic Chickens Come Home to Roost
October 14, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
McCain Carrying a Load of Ethical Baggage
October 24, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Quebec Marches to Its Own Electoral Drummer
October 30, 2008 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Just What Does it Take to Run the Office These Days?
November 19, 2008 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Closing Thoughts on the American Presidential Election
December 2, 2008 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Is Stéphane Dion About to Become PM?
December 8, 2008 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Bye Bye Parliamentary Legitimacy
December 18, 2008 - [Toronto] Jewish-Tribune:
A Letter from Jerusalem - circa 1972
December 27, 2008 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Is Our Governor General Up to the Job?
January 8, 2009 - [Toronto] Jewish-Tribune:
The Hitler-Stalin Pact: Two Years of Infamy
January 22, 2009 - [Toronto] Jewish-Tribune:
Where Do Israel, Jewish People Stand at This Moment?
January 30, 2009 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Middle Eastern Apocalypse in the Offing?
February 2, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Library of Unwritten Books
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=217703&sc=104
March 10, 2009 - [Toronto] Jewish-Tribune:
Are Canadian Jews Savvy?
March 30, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Only Glimmer of Hope for an Israeli-Palestinian Peace
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=237212&sc=104
Thursday, April 9, 2009 - [Toronto] Jewish-Tribune:
Who Are the Real Criminals?
http://www.jewishtribune.ca/TribuneV2/index.php/200904071553/Who-are-the-real-criminals.html
April 16, 2009 – [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The "New" Age of Piracy
April 20, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Rush Limbaugh and the Party of "No"
April 23, 2009 - [
Anti-Zionist Israelis Would Turn Jewish State Into Another Diaspora
May 5, 2009 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Will Somali Piracy Spark Further Mideast Conflict?
http://www.journalpioneer.com/index.cfm?sid=248406&sc=123
May 6, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Will the Problem of Piracy Only Get Worse?
May 12, 2009 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A One-State Palestine or Two Nation-States?
http://www.journalpioneer.com/index.cfm?sid=250266&sc=123
June 1, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Ignatieff the Expatriate - or Aristocrat?
July 8, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Less Bread, More Circuses for America
August 10, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Are the Russians Still Defending the Pact that Led to the Second World War?
September 11, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
A Troubled America
September 24, 2009 - [
Name Changes in Montreal Should Work Both Ways
October 19, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The End of Communist Rule in Eastern Europe
November 3, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Fall of East Germany: A Retrospective
November 24, 2009 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Is Canada Really a Paragon of Democracy?
January 25, 2010 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
What's Next for Haiti?
January 27, 2010 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer
Israel Pitches in With Help for Haiti
February 11, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
Central Asia Should Not be Ignored
March 2, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
Look Around at the De Facto States by "Stealth"
March 9, 2010 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer
Inuit Have Become Self-Ruling Body
April 28, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
The Perils of Predicting the Future
April 29, 2010 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune
Irredentism: A Potent Form of Nationalism
May 25, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
New York Women and the U.S. Supreme Court
June 29, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
The Troubles to Our South
July 16, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
Obama's High Hopes
August 30, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
California Dreaming . . . or is it Just a Nightmare
October 5, 2010 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian
End of Trudeauism
December 2, 2010 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer
Elections Not Always the Answer for Troubled Countries
December 10, 2010 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer
China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region is Really the Sixth “Stan”
December 23, 2010 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune :
Nazi Germany Fought Many Different Wars in WW II
December 27, 2010 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Should Ideology of Human Rights Trump Nationalism?
January 4, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Gulf War of 1991 and its Aftermath
January 5, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
From Mugabe to Mubarak, Many African Dictators Still Reign
January 20, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Power Structure Built on Sand
January 27, 2011 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune :
Will Islamist Parties Vie for Power in Tunisia?
January 31, 2011 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Little Portugal Created a Lusophone World
February 1, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Is History Repeating Itself?
February 22, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Arab Awakening Arrives in Libya
February 24, 2011 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune :
Portugal's Jewish Diaspora and Its Lessons for Our Times
February 24, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Who Will Replace Today's Middle Eastern Rulers?
February 25, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Gadhafi’s Son Reveals ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ Persona
February 28, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Unable to Avoid Criticism, U.S. Should Do the Right Thing
March 10, 2011 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
A New Chapter in the Assault on Israel
March 12, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Four Main Types of States on the World Map
March 15, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Is President Obama Playing the Role of Hamlet?
March 19, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Gadhafi Should Be Removed Now
March 21, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Gadhafi and His Enablers
March 29, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The "Chelm" War
March 31, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Coalition’s War Aims Remain Confusing
April 4, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Libyan War Becomes an Unnecessary Stalemate
April 18, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Voters Would Welcome Majority
April 19, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Should Hawaii Belong to the U.S.?
April 27, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Aid Group Failed Wartime Jews
May 5, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Swept Away by the "Orange Crush"
June 9, 2011 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
The American South Today
June 13, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Canadian Jewish Congress Future Uncertain
June 17, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Is "Arab Spring" Now Stalled?
June 17, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Uprising Highlights Ethnic, Religious Divisions
June 22, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
No "Arab Spring" in Yemen
June 27, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Libyan War Could Signal NATO's Collapse
June 30, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
In the Company of Microstates, P.E.I. Is a Giant
July 2, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Canada Courts a World Power
July 18, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Case for Israel
July 25, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Reshaping the State to Avoid Secession
August 1, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Hold 'Em or Fold 'Em?
August 2, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The State that Gets No Respect
August 20, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Woodstock and America, Then and Now
August 22, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Tribal Revenge a Worry in Post-Gadhafi Libya
August 31, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Three Down, Two to Go? Apparently Not
September 6, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Iran is a Regional Power in the Middle East
September 8, 2011 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
The Lasting Impact of the Iran-Iraq War
September 10, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Does One Have to Return to British Symbolism to be Conservative
September 19, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Is Turkey Creating an ‘Ottosphere’ in Middle East?
September 27, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Positioning to be Major Player
also available on the Guardian website
October 3, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Cyprus Could Be New Flashpoint
October 18, 2011 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Locked in Ethnic and Territorial Disputes
October 21, 2011 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Still Trying to Figure out why Quebec Chose the NDP
November 16, 2011 – [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Reflections on the Demise of the So-Called “King of Kings”
November 22, 2011 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
What's to Become of Mideast's Christians?
December 1, 2011 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
A Student Newspaper Best Indicator of Intellectual Vibrancy on Campus
December 5, 2011 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Is the Middle East Edging Towards War?
December 9, 2011 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Arguing for Real Gender Equality
December 16, 2011 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Palestinians Are a Nation
December 19, 2011 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Political Culture More Important than Formal Structures
December 28, 2011 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Questioning Civil and Ethnic Nationalism
January 3, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Four Divided Cities, Then and Now
January 16, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
To Name Is to Claim
January 17, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Can Romney Win the Presidency?
January 21, 2012 - Calgary Herald:
MADD Represents Modern-Day McCarthyism
January 23, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Crusade Against Drunk Driving
January 25, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
"Mister One Per Cent" Loses South Carolina Primary
February 17, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Soviet-Style Disproportion
February 23, 2012 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
A Vanished Ideology: Jewish Communism 1917 - 1956
March 3, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Tale of Two Capitals
March 19, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Cautionary Tale of Ethnic Nationalism
March 22, 2012 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Were We Once the Stepchildren in the Canadian Family?
March 28, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
When Will Afghanistan War End?
March 30, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Who Will Control the 'World Island'?
April 5, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Dismal History of Tropical Islands
April 10, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Why the Republican Adulation of Ronald Reagan?
April 30, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Dual Functions of a University Professor
May 17, 2012 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
The Jews, Israel and the Left
May 30, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Montreal Then and Now
June 5, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Old and New Lefts in America
June 9, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Tale of Two Provincial Identities
June 14, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Was the War of 1812 an American Religious Crusade?
June 28, 2012 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Does Rejection of Israel in the Muslim World Have Religious Roots?
July 4, 2012 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Will Israel Turn to Russia?
July 16, 2012 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Albania Has Come a Long Way This Decade
July 20, 2012 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Future of Sovereign Nation-States
August 9, 2012 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Is and Indian-Israeli-Russian Entente Being Formed?
August 23, 2012 -- [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Is Islam Inherently Anti-Jewish?
July 20, 2012 -- [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
California Doesn’t Loom Large in the 2012 Election
August 29, 2012 -- [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Is the United States an "Idea-State"?
August 31, 2012 - Calgary Jewish Free Press:
Do American Values Stem from Judaism?
September 20, 2012 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
The Diverse Jewish Community of Los Angeles
October 17, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Control of Senate Vital in U.S. Election
October 22, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
In the Middle East, the Future Remains Unpredictable
October 29, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Obama's Biography Is Unique Among American Presidents
November 12, 2012 - Summerside, [PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Radical Right-Wing Forces Make Gains in Europe
November 20, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Don't Cry for Me, America
November 22, 2012 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
Two Competing Views of Israel in the Middle East
November 26, 2012 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Gaza War and the New Egypt
November 29, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Examining America's Asia-Pacific Policy
December 31, 2012 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
1973 Was Politically Momentous Year
January 7, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Israel Then and Now
January 10, 2013 - [Halifax, N.S.] Chronicle Herald:
European Disunion
January 14, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
In Jordan, The Politics of Moderation Are Eroding
January 24, 2013 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Algerian Hostage Drama Highlights Crisis in Sahel Region
January 28, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Israel's Election Produces No Clear Winner
February 4, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
A Political Philosopher's Analysis of Nazi Totalitarianism
February 11, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Two African Countries That Descended into Anarchy
February 19, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
An "English Canada" in the South Pacific
February 25, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
When Was the State of Israel Established?
March 5, 2013 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Our Growing Concern for Animal Rights
March 11, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
What Does the Future Hold for Northern Ireland?
March 15, 2013 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Falkland Islands Remain Resolutely British
March 18, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Contending Territorial Claims are a Result of the Vestiges of Empire
March 25, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Some of the Reasons Why Nations Fail
March 28, 2013 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
Where Is Cuba Heading as Castro Era Draws to a Close?
April 1, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Legacies of Empire Fuel Conflict Among Southeast Asian States
April 8, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Detroit Continues to FacePoverty-Related Challenges
April 15, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Imperial Conquests Were Less One-Sided Than People Think
April 22, 2013 - [Charlottetown, PEI] Guardian:
The Worse Things Get the Less They Are Noticed
April 22, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
What Constitutes Sovereignty in Today's World?
April 29, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
The Unique Version of Governance in Switzerland
May 2, 2013 - [Toronto] Jewish Tribune:
The Demise of the Canadian Jewish News
May 6, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
Nigeria's Ethnic and Religious Divisions Are Difficult to Manage
May 13, 2013 - [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer:
America: Land of Guns and Murders
Monday, May 13, 2013
America: Land of Guns and Murders
Henry Srebrnik, [Summerside, PEI] Journal Pioneer
Many years ago, an author whose name I’ve since forgotten, figuratively threw up his hands in despair at the increasingly fractured American political landscape, and remarked in a magazine article that “there is New York City, a couple of neighbourhoods in Boston, and the rest of the country is the South.” (Actually, he could have included a few more liberal cities, such as San Francisco.)
By this he meant that the United States was becoming ideologically an increasingly right-wing country. Imagine what he would be saying today.
Despite two horrific mass shootings last year, one in a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado, the other in an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, by young men with military-grade assault weapons, the United States Senate on April 17 refused to even consider the possibility of tightening gun controls. Even background checks seem too radical!
This defeat occurred despite the fact that upwards of 90 per cent of Americans, according to recent public opinion polls, backed the failed legislation. One wonders whether the National Rifle Association, which opposed the legislation, not Congress, is the legislative branch of American government.
Today the NRA, with five million members, is arguably the most powerful lobbying organization in the nation’s capital and certainly one of the most feared. Annual revenue tops $200 million. Its mission, states the organization, is “to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution, to promote public safety, law and order and the National defense.” To that end, it produces numerous pamphlets, magazines and television shows.
The NRA is heavily supported by the country’s thousands of gun manufacturers and dealers. NRA lobbying in the 1980s led to American manufacturers increasing the production of military-style weapons, including semiautomatic assault rifles and high-capacity pistols.
One Pennsylvania gun maker, Keystone Sporting Arms, even produces rifles geared toward children!
In the 2012 election cycle, the NRA spent $18.6 million, according to the Sunlight Foundation, which tracks money in political races, backing (mostly Republican) opponents of gun control.
The NRA has turned the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in 1791, which refers, somewhat vaguely, to the “right to bear arms,” into a rigid doctrine that proclaims the right of every individual American to, effectively, be armed to the teeth. Today’s guns, of course, have firepower unimaginable to the founding fathers.
Its solution to gun violence is – more guns. After the Newtown massacre, it recommended placing armed guards in American schools, and suggested that even teachers carry weapons.
Americans today possess some 270 million privately held firearms. They have the highest gun ownership per capita rate in the world, with an average of about nine guns for every 10 Americans. There are four times as many federally licensed firearms and ammunition dealers in the U.S. as there are grocery stores.
Not surprisingly, the country’s gun-related murder rate is the highest in the developed world. There are approximately 45 murders committed in the United States every day, mostly with guns.
The U.S. is a statistical outlier: Americans are 20 times more likely to be killed by a gun than is someone from another developed country.
It wasn’t always this way. Until the cultural upheavals of the 1960s, guns were not a major cultural issue in the country.
True, there was a history of violence: after all, the United States emerged after an armed revolution against Britain.
This continued as Americans moved across the West, battling native peoples, Mexico, and each other in the Civil War. Hollywood films often glorified the John Wayne loner settling matters with a rifle.
But by the mid-20th century, it was assumed that this was all in the past, a matter of temporary lawlessness before proper political institutions were in place.
The culture wars following the 1960s changed that. In rural America, in the old South, and elsewhere, people frightened by the rapid changes in American life and fearful that they were “losing the country” to rich elitists on the coasts, new immigrants, and minorities, became easy targets for the purveyors of guns.
Some, spinning conspiracy theories, even formed militias, convinced that “Washington” had fallen into the hands of “un-American” enemies willing to abandon them to a UN-based “world government” that would take away their rights and impose “socialism” on the country.
We saw echoes of this type of thinking in the debate over “Obamacare” a few years ago, though the president’s health care reforms were, by the standards of most of the Western world, very mild indeed.
The NRA held its 142 annual convention in Houston the first weekend of May, attended by some 70,000 members. “This is not a battle about gun rights,” incoming president James Porter told them, but rather part of a larger “culture war.” Added Wayne LaPierre, the association’s executive vice president, “We are in the midst of a once-in-a-generation fight for everything we care about.”
In 1964 the American historian Richard J. Hofstadter published The Paranoid Style in American Politics. He asserted that American politics “has often been an arena for angry minds.” Such people emerge into the political arena whenever they perceive “enemies at the gates.”
The NRA and the gun lobbyists did not gain their power by accident – they have had fertile fields to plow.
Many years ago, an author whose name I’ve since forgotten, figuratively threw up his hands in despair at the increasingly fractured American political landscape, and remarked in a magazine article that “there is New York City, a couple of neighbourhoods in Boston, and the rest of the country is the South.” (Actually, he could have included a few more liberal cities, such as San Francisco.)
By this he meant that the United States was becoming ideologically an increasingly right-wing country. Imagine what he would be saying today.
Despite two horrific mass shootings last year, one in a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado, the other in an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, by young men with military-grade assault weapons, the United States Senate on April 17 refused to even consider the possibility of tightening gun controls. Even background checks seem too radical!
This defeat occurred despite the fact that upwards of 90 per cent of Americans, according to recent public opinion polls, backed the failed legislation. One wonders whether the National Rifle Association, which opposed the legislation, not Congress, is the legislative branch of American government.
Today the NRA, with five million members, is arguably the most powerful lobbying organization in the nation’s capital and certainly one of the most feared. Annual revenue tops $200 million. Its mission, states the organization, is “to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution, to promote public safety, law and order and the National defense.” To that end, it produces numerous pamphlets, magazines and television shows.
The NRA is heavily supported by the country’s thousands of gun manufacturers and dealers. NRA lobbying in the 1980s led to American manufacturers increasing the production of military-style weapons, including semiautomatic assault rifles and high-capacity pistols.
One Pennsylvania gun maker, Keystone Sporting Arms, even produces rifles geared toward children!
In the 2012 election cycle, the NRA spent $18.6 million, according to the Sunlight Foundation, which tracks money in political races, backing (mostly Republican) opponents of gun control.
The NRA has turned the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed in 1791, which refers, somewhat vaguely, to the “right to bear arms,” into a rigid doctrine that proclaims the right of every individual American to, effectively, be armed to the teeth. Today’s guns, of course, have firepower unimaginable to the founding fathers.
Its solution to gun violence is – more guns. After the Newtown massacre, it recommended placing armed guards in American schools, and suggested that even teachers carry weapons.
Americans today possess some 270 million privately held firearms. They have the highest gun ownership per capita rate in the world, with an average of about nine guns for every 10 Americans. There are four times as many federally licensed firearms and ammunition dealers in the U.S. as there are grocery stores.
Not surprisingly, the country’s gun-related murder rate is the highest in the developed world. There are approximately 45 murders committed in the United States every day, mostly with guns.
The U.S. is a statistical outlier: Americans are 20 times more likely to be killed by a gun than is someone from another developed country.
It wasn’t always this way. Until the cultural upheavals of the 1960s, guns were not a major cultural issue in the country.
True, there was a history of violence: after all, the United States emerged after an armed revolution against Britain.
This continued as Americans moved across the West, battling native peoples, Mexico, and each other in the Civil War. Hollywood films often glorified the John Wayne loner settling matters with a rifle.
But by the mid-20th century, it was assumed that this was all in the past, a matter of temporary lawlessness before proper political institutions were in place.
The culture wars following the 1960s changed that. In rural America, in the old South, and elsewhere, people frightened by the rapid changes in American life and fearful that they were “losing the country” to rich elitists on the coasts, new immigrants, and minorities, became easy targets for the purveyors of guns.
Some, spinning conspiracy theories, even formed militias, convinced that “Washington” had fallen into the hands of “un-American” enemies willing to abandon them to a UN-based “world government” that would take away their rights and impose “socialism” on the country.
We saw echoes of this type of thinking in the debate over “Obamacare” a few years ago, though the president’s health care reforms were, by the standards of most of the Western world, very mild indeed.
The NRA held its 142 annual convention in Houston the first weekend of May, attended by some 70,000 members. “This is not a battle about gun rights,” incoming president James Porter told them, but rather part of a larger “culture war.” Added Wayne LaPierre, the association’s executive vice president, “We are in the midst of a once-in-a-generation fight for everything we care about.”
In 1964 the American historian Richard J. Hofstadter published The Paranoid Style in American Politics. He asserted that American politics “has often been an arena for angry minds.” Such people emerge into the political arena whenever they perceive “enemies at the gates.”
The NRA and the gun lobbyists did not gain their power by accident – they have had fertile fields to plow.
Monday, May 06, 2013
Nigeria's Ethnic and Religious Divisions Are Difficult to Manage
Henry Srebrnik, [Summerside, PEI] Journal Pioneer
Africa’s most populous country, independent since 1960, is also one of its most troubled.
The 923,768 square kilometre nation of Nigeria is riven by ethnic rivalries, religious divisions, and extremism. Officially a federal republic of 36 states plus the capital, Abuja, for much of its post-colonial history Nigeria has been ruled by military men and kleptocrats.
Europeans, particularly the British, brought Christianity to the south, while in the north powerful Muslim entities like the Kano emirate and the Sokoto caliphate became bastions of Islam.
Frederick Lugard, who was the British governor from 1912 to 1919, developed the policy of indirect rule. If the emirs accepted British authority, the colonial power was willing to confirm them in office.
Though Nigeria’s 170 million people comprise some 500 ethnic groups, the three most powerful (and rival) ones are the Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa.
In the north, the Hausa, numbering 40 million, are almost entirely Muslim. Nine northern Muslim-majority states, as well as parts of three Muslim-plurality ones, adhere to various forms of figure in Nigeria.Islamic shari’a law; Sa’adu Abubakar, the current sultan of Sokoto, remains the most powerful religious
The Yoruba, in the southwest, are more divided religiously, with some two-thirds of their population of 35 million professing Christianity (mainly Protestant faiths), and one-third Islam.
The 30 million Igbo, living mainly in the southeast, are mainly Roman Catholic Christians. Subjected to horrific massacres following a coup in 1966, in which tens of thousands were killed, they formed the breakaway nation of Biafra in 1967, which was crushed by the Nigerian army three years later.
Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who became Biafra’s president, fled but returned to Nigeria from exile in 1982 and died two years ago. The world-renowned Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, also an Igbo, published There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra, not long before his own death this year.
Altogether, the country is about evenly divided between Christianity and Islam, with the so-called middle belt of the country an area of mixed Christian-Muslim population.
Attempts of extend Islamic law elsewhere in the country has been a major source of discord. Recurring religious conflict has claimed many thousands of lives over the years. In the city of Jos alone, thousands of people have died and tens of thousands have lost their homes in the last decade.
Much of the violence is attributed to Boko Haram, the Islamist armed group operating in northern Nigeria, in particular in Kano. Boko Haram’s main goal is to overthrow the federal government and impose Islamic law throughout northern Nigeria.
Formed in 2002, the group has killed thousands of people, including more than 2,600 in the past two years alone. Clashes in April in the northeastern town of Baga between Nigerian security forces and Boko Haram left more than 200 people dead and some 2,000 homes destroyed. Many people accused the army of dousing houses with gasoline, setting them on fire, and shooting residents when they tried to flee.
The government is hoping to strike a deal with Boko Harem which would include an amnesty as well as a ceasefire. But previous attempts at dialogue have failed. As well, Ansaru, an even more extreme jihadist group that broke away from Boko Haram, is also now active in the north.
Corruption has been deeply engrained in the political culture of this oil-rich country. While those in power grew fabulously rich, most Nigerians remain poor, and the Nigerian state itself has been blamed for the inequality.
The most corrupt of Nigeria’s presidents was General Sani Abacha, from Kano, who ruled from 1993 until 1998. After his death from a heart attack, it was alleged that he and his family had enriched themselves to the tune of $3 billion, reportedly siphoned out of the country’s coffers and sent abroad. Some $473 million was discovered in Swiss bank accounts alone.
After emerging from nearly three decades of uninterrupted military dictatorship, the country returned to civilian rule under Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.
Upon the death in 2010 of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a Muslim Hausa from the north, his vice-president, Goodluck Jonathan, assumed the office. He is a Christian from the Niger delta region in the southeast, a member of one of the country’s smaller ethnic groups, the Ijaw.
Militants in Boko Haram, displeased with the idea of a Christian as head of state, in August 2011 bombed the UN building in Abuja. Jonathan asserted that it was not merely an attack on Nigeria, but on the international community.
Given the immense problems that beset Nigeria, Jonathan needs all the luck he can get.
Africa’s most populous country, independent since 1960, is also one of its most troubled.
The 923,768 square kilometre nation of Nigeria is riven by ethnic rivalries, religious divisions, and extremism. Officially a federal republic of 36 states plus the capital, Abuja, for much of its post-colonial history Nigeria has been ruled by military men and kleptocrats.
Europeans, particularly the British, brought Christianity to the south, while in the north powerful Muslim entities like the Kano emirate and the Sokoto caliphate became bastions of Islam.
Frederick Lugard, who was the British governor from 1912 to 1919, developed the policy of indirect rule. If the emirs accepted British authority, the colonial power was willing to confirm them in office.
Though Nigeria’s 170 million people comprise some 500 ethnic groups, the three most powerful (and rival) ones are the Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa.
In the north, the Hausa, numbering 40 million, are almost entirely Muslim. Nine northern Muslim-majority states, as well as parts of three Muslim-plurality ones, adhere to various forms of figure in Nigeria.Islamic shari’a law; Sa’adu Abubakar, the current sultan of Sokoto, remains the most powerful religious
The Yoruba, in the southwest, are more divided religiously, with some two-thirds of their population of 35 million professing Christianity (mainly Protestant faiths), and one-third Islam.
The 30 million Igbo, living mainly in the southeast, are mainly Roman Catholic Christians. Subjected to horrific massacres following a coup in 1966, in which tens of thousands were killed, they formed the breakaway nation of Biafra in 1967, which was crushed by the Nigerian army three years later.
Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who became Biafra’s president, fled but returned to Nigeria from exile in 1982 and died two years ago. The world-renowned Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, also an Igbo, published There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra, not long before his own death this year.
Altogether, the country is about evenly divided between Christianity and Islam, with the so-called middle belt of the country an area of mixed Christian-Muslim population.
Attempts of extend Islamic law elsewhere in the country has been a major source of discord. Recurring religious conflict has claimed many thousands of lives over the years. In the city of Jos alone, thousands of people have died and tens of thousands have lost their homes in the last decade.
Much of the violence is attributed to Boko Haram, the Islamist armed group operating in northern Nigeria, in particular in Kano. Boko Haram’s main goal is to overthrow the federal government and impose Islamic law throughout northern Nigeria.
Formed in 2002, the group has killed thousands of people, including more than 2,600 in the past two years alone. Clashes in April in the northeastern town of Baga between Nigerian security forces and Boko Haram left more than 200 people dead and some 2,000 homes destroyed. Many people accused the army of dousing houses with gasoline, setting them on fire, and shooting residents when they tried to flee.
The government is hoping to strike a deal with Boko Harem which would include an amnesty as well as a ceasefire. But previous attempts at dialogue have failed. As well, Ansaru, an even more extreme jihadist group that broke away from Boko Haram, is also now active in the north.
Corruption has been deeply engrained in the political culture of this oil-rich country. While those in power grew fabulously rich, most Nigerians remain poor, and the Nigerian state itself has been blamed for the inequality.
The most corrupt of Nigeria’s presidents was General Sani Abacha, from Kano, who ruled from 1993 until 1998. After his death from a heart attack, it was alleged that he and his family had enriched themselves to the tune of $3 billion, reportedly siphoned out of the country’s coffers and sent abroad. Some $473 million was discovered in Swiss bank accounts alone.
After emerging from nearly three decades of uninterrupted military dictatorship, the country returned to civilian rule under Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.
Upon the death in 2010 of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a Muslim Hausa from the north, his vice-president, Goodluck Jonathan, assumed the office. He is a Christian from the Niger delta region in the southeast, a member of one of the country’s smaller ethnic groups, the Ijaw.
Militants in Boko Haram, displeased with the idea of a Christian as head of state, in August 2011 bombed the UN building in Abuja. Jonathan asserted that it was not merely an attack on Nigeria, but on the international community.
Given the immense problems that beset Nigeria, Jonathan needs all the luck he can get.
Thursday, May 02, 2013
The Demise of the Canadian Jewish News
Henry Srebrnik, [Toronto] Jewish Tribune
The demise of the Canadian Jewish News (CJN) is as sad as it is unexpected. Obviously the major reason for this has to do with the changing nature of the newspaper business. The rise of the internet has enabled people to get their news (mostly for free) on various electronic devices from all over the Jewish world.
I was a long-time contributor to the CJN – from 1975 to 2006 I published 91 articles, mostly op-eds, in the paper. I have been a very close friend, for 55 years now, of their best journalist (in my opinion). Since 2006, though, I’ve been writing for the Jewish Tribune.
Living far away from the Jewish centres of Toronto and Montreal, people like me have no inside knowledge about the business decisions that may have prompted this move.
But is it possible the changing face of the Canadian Jewish community might also be a factor? There has always been a perception – one to which I subscribe – that the CJN tended to be a voice of the Jewish ‘establishment,’ one closely tied to the Liberal Party. These people were particularly enamoured of the country forged by Pierre Trudeau, and many of them supported his son Justin in the recent party leadership contest.
The Jewish Tribune, on the other hand, has backed the Conservative Party of Stephen Harper, in particular for its steadfast support of Israel. In the last federal election, much of the community followed suit.
But one senses that many of the ‘machers’ still hanker for the ‘good old days’ of Liberal hegemony and have some disdain for the Tribune. In one e-mail I received, a well-known Toronto communal figure made some unflattering references to its publisher, Frank Dimant, and bemoaned the fact that with the closure of the CJN the community will lose “the voices of some of our esteemed” figures.
Are the contributors to the Jewish Tribune just burnt toast? I’m sure the Tribune will continue to do its best to continue to serve the community well.
The demise of the Canadian Jewish News (CJN) is as sad as it is unexpected. Obviously the major reason for this has to do with the changing nature of the newspaper business. The rise of the internet has enabled people to get their news (mostly for free) on various electronic devices from all over the Jewish world.
I was a long-time contributor to the CJN – from 1975 to 2006 I published 91 articles, mostly op-eds, in the paper. I have been a very close friend, for 55 years now, of their best journalist (in my opinion). Since 2006, though, I’ve been writing for the Jewish Tribune.
Living far away from the Jewish centres of Toronto and Montreal, people like me have no inside knowledge about the business decisions that may have prompted this move.
But is it possible the changing face of the Canadian Jewish community might also be a factor? There has always been a perception – one to which I subscribe – that the CJN tended to be a voice of the Jewish ‘establishment,’ one closely tied to the Liberal Party. These people were particularly enamoured of the country forged by Pierre Trudeau, and many of them supported his son Justin in the recent party leadership contest.
The Jewish Tribune, on the other hand, has backed the Conservative Party of Stephen Harper, in particular for its steadfast support of Israel. In the last federal election, much of the community followed suit.
But one senses that many of the ‘machers’ still hanker for the ‘good old days’ of Liberal hegemony and have some disdain for the Tribune. In one e-mail I received, a well-known Toronto communal figure made some unflattering references to its publisher, Frank Dimant, and bemoaned the fact that with the closure of the CJN the community will lose “the voices of some of our esteemed” figures.
Are the contributors to the Jewish Tribune just burnt toast? I’m sure the Tribune will continue to do its best to continue to serve the community well.
Monday, April 29, 2013
The Unique Version of Governance in Switzerland
Henry Srebrnik, [Summerside, PEI] Pioneer Journal
Arguably the most successful, and certainly the most peaceful, nation in Europe, is the Swiss Confederation, or Switzerland.
Since it is rarely in the news, most people, if they think of Switzerland at all, call to mind the Alps, banks, cheese, chocolates, cuckoo clocks, Geneva-based international organizations like the Red Cross, watches, and the story of William Tell. (Also, in my case, Swiss postage stamps, which I collected as a youth; they are artistic gems.)
But there’s a lot more. It is a country which, though diverse in ethnicity, language, and religion, has held together in relative peace for centuries – perhaps a model for less fortunate places.
Switzerland comprises three distinct ethnic groups -- Germans, French and Italians; four official languages – German, French, Italian, plus Romansh (a Romance language); and two established religions – the Protestant Swiss Reformed Church and Roman Catholicism.
About two thirds of the country’s eight million citizens speak German, some 20 per cent French and seven per cent Italian. The country is historically about evenly balanced between Catholic and Protestant regions.
Switzerland is a true confederation. The 1999 constitution guarantees the sovereignty of the 26 cantons, leaving the federal government only those powers that the cantons entrust to it. Each canton has its own constitution, and its own parliament, government and courts.
Most of the cantons are historical entities that predate the formation of the confederation and hence have first call upon the patriotism of their citizens -- in a quarrel between themselves and the confederation, they take precedence in terms of the loyalty of their population.
There is no overall state religion, though all of the cantons except for Geneva and Neuchatel recognize either the Catholic Church or the Swiss Reformed Church as official churches.
It is also the cantons, not the country, that preserve ethnicity and language. Language rights in Switzerland are accorded on a strictly territorial basis, by canton, and in 22 of them, territorial unilingualism is the price of linguistic peace. (All but nine cantons are in their official language German only.)
Indeed, since the French and German language communities make few concessions towards each other, when francophones and German speakers do business, they often end up speaking English to each other!
The nucleus of the Swiss confederation dates back to three cantons which came together some seven centuries ago. From 1515 to 1798 there was a Helvetic Confederation of 13 cantons. French armies imposed a unitary republic in 1798 but in 1815 the Congress of Vienna recognized the modern state, with its 25 cantons. (In 1980 this rose to 26 when the French-speaking Jura was carved out of German-majority Berne.) The modern Swiss state dates back to a constitution promulgated in 1848, following a brief civil war.
Cantons strengthen the feeling of localism in many ways. For example, there is a hereditary cantonal citizenship that existed prior to the creation of the modern confederation. There are all sorts of professional and other qualifications that vary from one canton to the next, making mobility difficult. Switzerland has no capital city as such -- Berne, Zurich, and Geneva all house different government branches and offices.
Also, referenda have been a central component of Swiss cantonal decision-making since the 1830s; they have existed at the country-wide level since 1891.
Given all this, politics at the national arena are relatively unimportant. The members of the country’s 200-member lower house, the National Council, are elected via proportional representation, but the constituencies into which the country is divided are the cantons.
The Council of States, the 46-member upper house, also represents the cantons. Twenty cantons elect two members each, while the remaining six – the so-called half-cantons -- elect one each.
The Federal Council is a collegial body of seven members, elected by the two houses of parliament, and functions as the Swiss collective head of state, with each councilor, in rotation, serving a one-year term as confederation president. So at the top, in an arrangement known as the “magic formula,” a coalition of parties (now five) has governed by consensus since 1959.
In 1848 Switzerland declared itself neutral and, though bordered by Austria, France, Germany, and Italy, managed to keep out of both 20th century world wars. It is not a member of the European Union and only joined the United Nations in 2002.
The Swiss are an insular people and have not been overly welcome to outsiders. Swiss officials said recently that they planned to restrict immigration from Western European countries; they already impose quotas on residence permits for people from eight Eastern European countries.
Situated in the heart of the continent, Switzerland is indeed a European country like no other.
Arguably the most successful, and certainly the most peaceful, nation in Europe, is the Swiss Confederation, or Switzerland.
Since it is rarely in the news, most people, if they think of Switzerland at all, call to mind the Alps, banks, cheese, chocolates, cuckoo clocks, Geneva-based international organizations like the Red Cross, watches, and the story of William Tell. (Also, in my case, Swiss postage stamps, which I collected as a youth; they are artistic gems.)
But there’s a lot more. It is a country which, though diverse in ethnicity, language, and religion, has held together in relative peace for centuries – perhaps a model for less fortunate places.
Switzerland comprises three distinct ethnic groups -- Germans, French and Italians; four official languages – German, French, Italian, plus Romansh (a Romance language); and two established religions – the Protestant Swiss Reformed Church and Roman Catholicism.
About two thirds of the country’s eight million citizens speak German, some 20 per cent French and seven per cent Italian. The country is historically about evenly balanced between Catholic and Protestant regions.
Switzerland is a true confederation. The 1999 constitution guarantees the sovereignty of the 26 cantons, leaving the federal government only those powers that the cantons entrust to it. Each canton has its own constitution, and its own parliament, government and courts.
Most of the cantons are historical entities that predate the formation of the confederation and hence have first call upon the patriotism of their citizens -- in a quarrel between themselves and the confederation, they take precedence in terms of the loyalty of their population.
There is no overall state religion, though all of the cantons except for Geneva and Neuchatel recognize either the Catholic Church or the Swiss Reformed Church as official churches.
It is also the cantons, not the country, that preserve ethnicity and language. Language rights in Switzerland are accorded on a strictly territorial basis, by canton, and in 22 of them, territorial unilingualism is the price of linguistic peace. (All but nine cantons are in their official language German only.)
Indeed, since the French and German language communities make few concessions towards each other, when francophones and German speakers do business, they often end up speaking English to each other!
The nucleus of the Swiss confederation dates back to three cantons which came together some seven centuries ago. From 1515 to 1798 there was a Helvetic Confederation of 13 cantons. French armies imposed a unitary republic in 1798 but in 1815 the Congress of Vienna recognized the modern state, with its 25 cantons. (In 1980 this rose to 26 when the French-speaking Jura was carved out of German-majority Berne.) The modern Swiss state dates back to a constitution promulgated in 1848, following a brief civil war.
Cantons strengthen the feeling of localism in many ways. For example, there is a hereditary cantonal citizenship that existed prior to the creation of the modern confederation. There are all sorts of professional and other qualifications that vary from one canton to the next, making mobility difficult. Switzerland has no capital city as such -- Berne, Zurich, and Geneva all house different government branches and offices.
Also, referenda have been a central component of Swiss cantonal decision-making since the 1830s; they have existed at the country-wide level since 1891.
Given all this, politics at the national arena are relatively unimportant. The members of the country’s 200-member lower house, the National Council, are elected via proportional representation, but the constituencies into which the country is divided are the cantons.
The Council of States, the 46-member upper house, also represents the cantons. Twenty cantons elect two members each, while the remaining six – the so-called half-cantons -- elect one each.
The Federal Council is a collegial body of seven members, elected by the two houses of parliament, and functions as the Swiss collective head of state, with each councilor, in rotation, serving a one-year term as confederation president. So at the top, in an arrangement known as the “magic formula,” a coalition of parties (now five) has governed by consensus since 1959.
In 1848 Switzerland declared itself neutral and, though bordered by Austria, France, Germany, and Italy, managed to keep out of both 20th century world wars. It is not a member of the European Union and only joined the United Nations in 2002.
The Swiss are an insular people and have not been overly welcome to outsiders. Swiss officials said recently that they planned to restrict immigration from Western European countries; they already impose quotas on residence permits for people from eight Eastern European countries.
Situated in the heart of the continent, Switzerland is indeed a European country like no other.
Monday, April 22, 2013
What Constitutes Sovereignty in Today's World?
Henry Srebrnik, [Summerside, PEI] Journal Pioneer
We think of nations as being either independent or not. But in actual fact, some jurisdictions that are not entirely sovereign possess many -- in some cases most -- of the attributes of statehood.
They are to all intents and purposes independent actors in the global community, unconstrained by the fact that they are legally still bound to some other entity. But for a variety of economic, ethnic, geographic or political reasons, they choose not to become fully sovereign states. Most are small islands.
This is the case with many British territories, such as Bermuda and the Isle of Man. These islands run their own show with virtually no interference from London. Denmark allows the Faroe Islands and Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) complete autonomy. The Swedish-speaking Aland archipelago is part of Finland, but enjoys a high degree of “home rule.”
Caribbean islands such as Aruba and Curaçao are constituent self-governing units of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The African island of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, which united with mainland Tanganyika in 1964, is a self-governing region that elects its own president, who has control over internal matters.
The Caribbean island of Puerto Rico has the anomalous status of a “Commonwealth.” Its inhabitants are American citizens but it has no representation in the U.S. Congress. Whereas some Puerto Ricans wish to opt for full independence, others would like to see the island become the 51st American state.
Even more curious is the relationship between the U.S. and three former island chains in the Pacific that it governed as United Nations trusteeships. Now fully sovereign states, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, have entered into Compacts of Free Association (COFAs) with the United States.
These allow the U.S. to station armed forces in Compact areas; Washington is also responsible for administering all international defense treaties and other relations. In turn, the U.S. provides financial assistance and access to many U.S. domestic programs. Citizens of these three countries are also able to work in the U.S.
Queen’s University political scientist Ronald Watts has noted that some 87 islands or archipelagoes are involved in some combination of autonomous self-government combined with formal collaboration in a wider political partnership.
Such mutual interdependence may be more suitable for many islands. The trick, he maintains, is to find the appropriate collaborative institutions and processes that take into account the circumstances of each case, thus surmounting the limitations of the independence/dependence dichotomy.
In federations, of course, there is a constitutional division of powers. The self-governing status of the component units, as well as the division of power between them and the central government, are typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of either party.
Federations often include members that have a very powerful sense of their own identity, and which may even at one time have been countries – for instance, Quebec in Canada, Bavaria in Germany, and Texas in the United States. Devolution in the United Kingdom has given Scotland and Wales their own assemblies.
Really, sovereignty exists on a continuum, rather than being a binary “yes” or “no” attribute.
I’ve come up with what I call a “sovereignty index” which can be used to establish the degree of independence which a sub-unit of a larger state possesses. These are the variables:
The degree of constitutionally entrenched jurisdictional autonomy the entity is accorded, including executive powers, legislative powers, and judicial powers, including control over the legal system, both civil and criminal.
The territory’s ability to engage in autonomous relations with other jurisdictions, including the ability to sign international agreements and have representation abroad.
Its right to a separate electoral system and political parties.
The degree of control it has over the following:
Customs, duties, taxation and other revenues and fiscal resources; banking and insurance; the currency; international trade; the environment and natural resources (including offshore resources); citizenship, immigration, and rights of residency; land ownership and use; aviation, communications, postal services and transportation; defence, foreign affairs and security; culture and language; education and institutions of higher learning.
And, perhaps most important, the population’s sense of a distinct identity and shared history.
The diverse forms of governance around the world are more complex than is often realized.
We think of nations as being either independent or not. But in actual fact, some jurisdictions that are not entirely sovereign possess many -- in some cases most -- of the attributes of statehood.
They are to all intents and purposes independent actors in the global community, unconstrained by the fact that they are legally still bound to some other entity. But for a variety of economic, ethnic, geographic or political reasons, they choose not to become fully sovereign states. Most are small islands.
This is the case with many British territories, such as Bermuda and the Isle of Man. These islands run their own show with virtually no interference from London. Denmark allows the Faroe Islands and Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) complete autonomy. The Swedish-speaking Aland archipelago is part of Finland, but enjoys a high degree of “home rule.”
Caribbean islands such as Aruba and Curaçao are constituent self-governing units of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The African island of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, which united with mainland Tanganyika in 1964, is a self-governing region that elects its own president, who has control over internal matters.
The Caribbean island of Puerto Rico has the anomalous status of a “Commonwealth.” Its inhabitants are American citizens but it has no representation in the U.S. Congress. Whereas some Puerto Ricans wish to opt for full independence, others would like to see the island become the 51st American state.
Even more curious is the relationship between the U.S. and three former island chains in the Pacific that it governed as United Nations trusteeships. Now fully sovereign states, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, have entered into Compacts of Free Association (COFAs) with the United States.
These allow the U.S. to station armed forces in Compact areas; Washington is also responsible for administering all international defense treaties and other relations. In turn, the U.S. provides financial assistance and access to many U.S. domestic programs. Citizens of these three countries are also able to work in the U.S.
Queen’s University political scientist Ronald Watts has noted that some 87 islands or archipelagoes are involved in some combination of autonomous self-government combined with formal collaboration in a wider political partnership.
Such mutual interdependence may be more suitable for many islands. The trick, he maintains, is to find the appropriate collaborative institutions and processes that take into account the circumstances of each case, thus surmounting the limitations of the independence/dependence dichotomy.
In federations, of course, there is a constitutional division of powers. The self-governing status of the component units, as well as the division of power between them and the central government, are typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of either party.
Federations often include members that have a very powerful sense of their own identity, and which may even at one time have been countries – for instance, Quebec in Canada, Bavaria in Germany, and Texas in the United States. Devolution in the United Kingdom has given Scotland and Wales their own assemblies.
Really, sovereignty exists on a continuum, rather than being a binary “yes” or “no” attribute.
I’ve come up with what I call a “sovereignty index” which can be used to establish the degree of independence which a sub-unit of a larger state possesses. These are the variables:
The degree of constitutionally entrenched jurisdictional autonomy the entity is accorded, including executive powers, legislative powers, and judicial powers, including control over the legal system, both civil and criminal.
The territory’s ability to engage in autonomous relations with other jurisdictions, including the ability to sign international agreements and have representation abroad.
Its right to a separate electoral system and political parties.
The degree of control it has over the following:
Customs, duties, taxation and other revenues and fiscal resources; banking and insurance; the currency; international trade; the environment and natural resources (including offshore resources); citizenship, immigration, and rights of residency; land ownership and use; aviation, communications, postal services and transportation; defence, foreign affairs and security; culture and language; education and institutions of higher learning.
And, perhaps most important, the population’s sense of a distinct identity and shared history.
The diverse forms of governance around the world are more complex than is often realized.
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