Outdated metaphors, laws, treaties and norms hamper efforts to deal with the realities of space security Author John Siebert Published in The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 36 Issue 2 Summer 2015 Our topic today is the inadequacy of current space governance instruments—laws, treaties, norms, institutions. It isn’t simply that we have inadequate international legal instruments developed in the 1960s and 1970s, which technological advances …
Perspective and responding to terrorist violence
Author John Siebert Published in The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 36 Issue 1 Spring 2015 Osama bin Laden “hit us where it would hurt the most—right in our sense of perspective” – David Rothkopf The nature of groups that engage in terroristic violence, such as ISIS, has mutated in this second decade of the Great War on Terror. But the lessons …
Civil society can play a key role in preventing and dealing with domestic radicalization
Author John Siebert Published in The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 36 Issue 1 Spring 2013 A small number of Canadians have always been tempted to fight in wars and conflicts in far-off lands, but those currently traveling to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS are causing acute anxiety on the home front. Developing strategies to prevent conversion to extremism, stop travel abroad to join extremist …
Lessons from history: How did Canada respond to homegrown radicals in the 1940s? And what can the experience teach us?
Author John Siebert Published in The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 36 Issue 1 Spring 2015 Islamism or radical Islam or jihadism, as a violent international ideology at odds with Canadian society and its values, is not the first challenge of its kind, nor is it unique in attracting Canadian adherents. The radicals of the Second World War During World War II Canada faced the …
Short-term gain for long-term pain
Author John Siebert Published in The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 35 Issue 4 Winter 2014 Canada’s contribution to peace in Iraq and Syria and the challenge of Islamic State On October 3, 2014 a statement was sent by Project Ploughshares to the Government of Canada and parliamentarians on the proposed military mission to Iraq. Entitled “Short-term gain for long-term pain—Canada’s challenge …
Announcement from the Chair of Project Ploughshares
December 1, 2014 Today, on behalf of the Governing Committee of Project Ploughshares, I have accepted the resignation of Executive Director John Siebert. In tendering his resignation John has indicated to me that the time is right both for Ploughshares to have new leadership and for him to tackle new challenges. On behalf of the Ploughshares Governing Committee and the …
Short-term gain for long-term pain – Canada’s Challenge in responding to Islamic State
By John Siebert October 3 The expressed desire by Canada to act forthrightly and without ambiguity in the face of Islamic State (IS) atrocities is understandable. But 13 years after the horrific assaults of 9/11 we have enough experience with military interventions intended to combat terrorism to give us pause. A military response to a non-state group using terror to …
2015 Peace and Human Security Agenda: Dedicated mediation efforts: A new frontier for Canada
Author John Siebert Published in The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 35 Issue 2 Summer 2014 Since the end of the Second World War, Canada has been a strong supporter of multilateralism to assist in the resolution of armed conflicts and to advance peaceful solutions to conflicts that could result in war. It may be strange, therefore, for people to realize that Canada’s Foreign Ministry, now …
2015 Peace and Human Security Agenda: Gender, human rights, and violent conflict
Author John Siebert Published in The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 35 Issue 2 Summer 2014 In 2010, in response to UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women and Armed Conflict and related UNSC resolutions, Canada created a national plan for implementing Canada’s commitment to enhance the capacity of women to participate in peace processes. UNSC Resolution 1325 established an international normative framework, on which Canada …
Canada’s Space Policy Framework 2014
Author John Siebert Published in The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 35 Issue 2 Summer 2014 Industry support in an international policy vacuum On February 7 Industry Minister James Moore released Canada’s Space Policy Framework: Launching the Next Generation (CSA 2014). This policy document was developed in response to the government-mandated study of Canada’s space industry by former federal Cabinet Minister David Emerson, Reaching Higher: …