#EU

Jun 19, 2019

Eine Frage der Leadership

Foto mit freundlicher Genehmigung von Allison Dinner, Getty Images Merkel in Harvard Ich bin schon lange ein Fan von Angela Merkel. Umso mehr bin ich es nach der Eröffnungsrede, die die deutsche Bundeskanzlerinkürzlich im Harvarder Hof gehalten hat. Ich hatte das Glück, unter den Tausenden von Menschen zu sein, die zugehört haben. Es gab einige unvergessliche Momente während ihrer Rede. Merkel erinnerte sich an ihre persönliche Geschichte als junge Physikerin in Ostdeutschlan

Jun 19, 2019

A Question of Leadership

Photo courtesy of Allison Dinner/ Getty Images Merkel at Harvard I have long been a fan of Angela Merkel. I am even more so after the Commencement Address the German Chancellor recently gave on the Harvard Yard. I was fortunate to be among the thousands of people who turned out to listen. There were several memorable moments during her speech. Merkel recalled her personal story as a young physicist in East Germany, walking in the direction of the wall every day on her way to

Aug 1, 2018

Towards Yalta Two

1024px-Yalta_Conference_(Churchill,_Roosevelt,_Stalin)_(B&W) This blog was posted on the CDA-Institute at https://cdainstitute.ca/law-towards-yalta-two/ on 9 August. In February 1945, as it was becoming increasingly clear that Hitler Germany was about to lose World War Two, the leaders of the victory camp – US President Roosevelt, UK Prime Minister Churchill and USSR Communist Party General Secretary and Premier Stalin – met at a much-celebrated meeting in Yalta. Yalta, a res

Oct 21, 2017

Breaking Up is Hard to do

The photo shows Rajoy and Puidgemont shaking hands in easier times. This article was originally posted on the website of the Canadian International Council on 21 October 2017. Things have come to a tipping point in Spain. The head of the Catalonian Generalitat has refused to withdraw the declaration of independence made after the referendum held in the region on 1 October and announced that the regional parliament will be asked to approve the declaration. This comes after the

Apr 16, 2017

Defence Spending Challenges

The election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States has elevated the issue of defence spending performance to a make-or-break issue for the Western security community. The most headline-grabbing aspect concerns the spending level of America’s NATO Allies. President Trump has been right to call for a greater effort on the part of NATO members. But note that the US concern is nothing new. For several years now, top-ranking US officials have delivered repeate

Sep 29, 2016

Brexit or Bremain: a long and winding road ahead?

The partisans in favour of the UK leaving the European Union (EU) prevailed with almost 52 percent of the votes cast in the referendum on 23 June 2016. The turnout was around 72 percent of the electorate, an impressive number. But is the UK really on its way out? I am not so sure. What I am certain of is that this will not be a simple process. It will be complicated, complex and long, probably much longer than the three-year window presently being discussed. If the UK activa

Aug 3, 2016

Coup, Counter-coup, Consequences – Part 4: Where do Turkey’s relations with the West go from here?

In the wake of the coup, Erdogan has thrown down gauntlets to the US and the EU that they will have difficulty picking up. First, Erdogan has demanded the extradition of Fethullah Gulen arguing that he instigated the coup of 15 July. The US is demanding proof. A Minister in the Turkish government has accused Washington of complicity in the coup. Another cabinet member has likened Gulen to Bin Laden. He did not evoke Islamic State (IS) but he could have. At the same time, ther

Aug 2, 2016

Coup, Counter-coup, Consequences – Part 3: The turn towards authoritarianism

The third blog in this series looks at the transition of Erdogan and his AKP party to an overtly Islamist stance It is hard to pinpoint with any exactitude when, let alone why, Recip Erdogan transformed from being a figure seeking to modernize Turkey and its institutions to one pursuing a backward-looking Islamist agenda. Some analysts hold that Erdogan may have been a closet Islamist from the early stages of his career. It is a fact, however, that in 1998, after spending ten

Jul 29, 2016

Coup, Counter-coup, Consequences – Part 2: The Erdogan-Gulen Connection

This, the second in a four-part series on the coup in Turkey, looks at the relationship between the erstwhile allies, President Erdogan and Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish clerical leader living in Pennsylvania, who has been accused of instigating the coup. In his remarkable rise to power, Erdogan has been allied with the Gulen Movement and its leader Fethullah Gulen, a leader of a vast organization that has promoted education in Turkey and in many other countries around the world

Jul 19, 2016

Brexit and the NATO Summit in Warsaw

Coming shortly after the successful referendum on taking the UK out of the EU, the NATO summit on 8-9 July in Warsaw promises to be one of the more challenging ones in its history. This blog looks at some of the more important issues on the Alliance’s agenda. On 8–9 July, 28 NATO Chiefs of State and Government, as well as representatives from the organization’s forty-odd partner countries and organizations, will gather in Warsaw for what promises to be the most important such

Jun 14, 2016

The Future of the European Union: A Brexit wrecks it?

Some thoughts on the impact of a Brexit victory for the future of the European Union. The UK referendum on whether Great Britain stays in the European Union (EU) would be an exacting test for the Union under any strategic circumstances. Coming as it does at a time when EU members are engaged in a number of regional wars, overwhelmed by refugee flows, and only gingerly recovering from a colossal financial crisis, Brexit could be the straw that breaks the Union’s back. Great B

Jun 13, 2016

Ukraine and the Sino-Russian Relationship

How will the relationship between Russia and China affect the future trajectory of Ukraine? This article will appear in a book on the militarization of Russian foreign policy, to be published by the McGill University Press in the fall of 2016. Introduction A young state, founded only in 1991 as the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine has since gone from one crisis to another. Its growth pains assumed a new quality in 2014, however, with Russia’s seizure of Crimea and the incurs

Feb 20, 2016

Reflections on the Sino-Russian Relationship

This article originally appeared at http://www.cdainstitute.ca/images/on_track/On_Track_Winter_2016/On_Track_20.3_-_Law.pdf Whither the relationship between the Russian Federation (RF) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC)? Will the two countries continue on their current strategically ambiguous path? Will their competition in Central Asia lead them to conflict? Will they become full-blooded allies, goose-stepping in unison against the West? One way or the other, it would

Jan 12, 2016

In Defence of Sunnistan: Part 3

This third blog on the situation in the Middle East discusses the proposition to create a Sunni state in parts of Syria and Iraq. On 25 November 2015, John Bolton, US representative to the UN from 2005–2006, neo-con par excellence, published a piece in the New York Times that advocated the creation of a Sunni state in those areas presently occupied by the Islamic State. There is very little that Mr. Bolton and I share politically but on the issue of the future of this region,

Jan 7, 2016

Towards a Grand Anti-terrorist Coalition: Part 2

This second blog in a series of three looks at the ongoing efforts to put together a grand anti-terrorist coalition. January 2016 will see a major new phase in the efforts of the international community to reach a settlement in Syria. On 25 January, the 17-member International Syria Support Group (ISSG) will gather in Geneva armed with UN Security Council Resolution 2254, agreed just before the holiday break. This calls for Syrian unity and independence, a cease-fire, a negot

Nov 13, 2015

An Attack on France, an Attack on Europe, an Attack on the West

To say it is too soon to attempt to understand what has happened in Paris – and what may still be happening as I write these lines from Montreal in the early evening of 13 November – is to state the obvious. But amidst these horrific events, here is an attempt to set out some of the parameters. A first question is who the perpetrators are. According to early reports, the gunmen that have perpetuated the atrocities in Paris cried out Allah Akbar as they went about their evil.

Sep 30, 2015

R2P and the Responsibility to Receive

In 2005, a UN World Summit that brought together governmental leaders from around the world agreed on a statement that broke new ground in the obligations of states and inter-state relations. As theretofore, states were to have the primary responsibility for protecting their populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing. The statement also recognized that the international community had a responsibility to assist a conflicted state in m

Aug 25, 2015

Knocking on the Door of World War IV

Introduction[1] The world is on a precipice. The international community faces a growing array of situations that could precipitate major regional and cross-continental conflict. The norms, patterns of cooperation and the institutions that the West has relied on for over three generations to ensure its protection and rising prosperity – and to spread its benefits to an ever larger part of the world – are under serious fire. The Western track record is anything but pristine:

Jul 21, 2015

Challenges facing the West – Part 5 of the World War IV Series

In this five-part series, I explore the development and scope of what I have termed World War IV. This series is based on my presentation at the CDA Institute Roundtable “Knocking on the Door of World War IV,” held in Ottawa on 10 June 2015. Part 4 of this series looked at the West’s strong points. This concluding post examines the other side of the coin. The situation, while anything but hopeless, is rather less than encouraging. Five issues stand out. First, the credibility

Jul 20, 2015

Strong Points of the West – Part 4 of the World War IV Series

In this five-part series, I explore the development and scope of what I term World War IV. This series is based on my presentation at the CDA Institute Roundtable “Knocking on the Door of World War IV,” held in Ottawa on 10 June 2015. In dealing with the current challenges to international peace and stability, the West currently enjoys several strong suits. Here are what I think to be the most important ones. First, and most obviously, all the members of NATO and the Europea

David M Law

The Way I See it

David M Law

The Way I See it