|
"The great need of the hour" by Barack Obama On January 20, the Sunday before Martin Luther King Day, Senator Barack Obama delivered this extraordinary speech at Dr. King’s church, the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in Atlanta. "America's renaissance of hope" by Robin V. Sears Contributing Writer Robin Sears opens our cover package with an overview of the American political landscape, and how the remaining three candidates, McCain, Clinton and Obama represent a turning of the page from the failed presidency of George W.Bush. John McCain is an authentic maverick. With strong appeal for independent voters, he suddenly in 2008 became the choice of the Republican establishment, and represents whatever hopes the GOP has of retaining the White House. Hillary Clinton represents continuity as well as change, continuity with her husband’s presidency and change as a woman in the Oval Office. But it is Barack Obama, Sears writes, who represents America’s renaissance of hope. “Obama has changed everything,” he writes. “How did this happen?” Read on. "Clinton versus Obama - a race for the ages" by David Herle David Herle, former national Liberal campaign co-chair, sees Clinton versus Obama as a race for the ages — exciting, dramatic, with one unpredicted twist and turn after another. A pollster himself, he feels “morally compelled to begin with a discussion of the problems the polling industry has had this primary season.” Far too often, the polls have been getting it wrong, and spectacularly wrong, in both directions. First they overestimated Obama’s vote in New Hampshire, then they underestimated it in South Carolina, before predicting a double-digit win for him in California, a state he lost by 10 points. Then there’s the media coverage, both “earned media” around the tours, paid media in advertising, and new media platforms on the Internet. Finally, there's the Obama effect: “There are so many things to consider,” including “the fact that he is the best orator of his generation.” "'Yes we can': is Barack Obama changing politics?" by Graham Fox Contributing Writer Graham Fox considers the Obama effect, and how he changes the political paradigm. His rousing oratory and big rallies have brought excitement and new voters into the US presidential campaign, and an Obama presidency would definitely turn the page from George Bush in terms of American foreign policy. But given both Obama and Clinton’s vows to reopen NAFTA, a Democratic presidency would not necessarily be a good thing for Canada’s trade-dependent economy. Yet the power and appeal of Obama’s campaign is clear. As Fox concludes: “His message is one of empowerment and mutual accountability between citizens and elected officials. We’re in this together.” "The inevitability of change" by John Parisella All three remaining candidates in the US presidential race represent change, and have the potential to be transformational presidents, writes John Parisella, a close observer of US politics and former chief of staff to two Quebec premiers. From the Republican side, John McCain has a history of “reaching across the aisle,” and has often defied conventional wisdom in his party. For the Democrats, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama obviously represent historic change, in terms of both gender and race. However, she is a more conventional figure, closely identified with her husband’s presidency, while he is a movement candidate, who has galvanized a new generation of voters around his message of hope and change. "Vers la présidence : un chemin parsemé d'embûches pour les démocrates" by Pierre Martin It has been widely assumed that 2008, after the failed presidency of George W. Bush, would be the year of the Democrats to win the White House. And clearly, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are marquee candidates. Which is not to say the Republicans, with John McCain as their nominee, won’t be competitive. Or that the Democrats don’t risk a bitter floor fight on seating Michigan and Florida delegates or the nomination being decided by “superdelegates” overturning the will of the elected ones. Université de Montréal’s Pierre Martin, currently a resident scholar at the Wilson Center in Washington, examines the prospects of both parties. "Jusqu'où ira Obama ?" by Richard Nadeau The American presidential race sometimes holds surprises. The election of Jimmy Carter in 1976 is one example. But most of the time it is the candidates who are best known or close to the party establishment who end up winning. The surge of Barack Obama and the very heated battle he is conducting with Hillary Clinton are the distinguishing features of the current US electoral race. Far from losing wind, the campaign of the senator from Illinois seems to be gaining in intensity. Richard Nadeau looks at the causes of Barack Obama’s rise and attempts to assess his chances of success in the future. "Change and continuity in US foreign policy" by David T. Jones From Washington, David Jones looks ahead at the prospect of a new administration next January, beginning from the observation that this presidential election is very much the Democrats’ to lose. Quite apart from the historic odds against the Republicans securing a third consecutive term in office, “no one can argue that George W. Bush has a level of popularity that would convey benefits on a Republican nominee.” But how would Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in the White House conduct US foreign policy differently? In what respects would US interests prevail? And how would events, always unpredictable, determine policy outcomes? "Fighting for the superdelegates" by Stephen J. Farnsworth Once all the pledged delegates to the Democratic convention have been elected by voters, the balance of power in a close race between Obama and Clinton could well be held by 796 “superdelegates” — Democrats holding elective office, senior party officials, and even Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and Al Gore. Stephen Farnsworth writes that all sorts of dubious inducements could “be offered in the desperate struggle for the final few delegates to reach the magic number of 2,025 votes.” "Should Canada create elite universities?" by Michael Atkinson Some observers of Canadian universities would like to see more stratification in higher education, especially the creation of a few internationally renowned institutions. In this article, Michael Atkinson, former vice-president, academic, at the University of Saskatchewan, surveys the arguments supporting this proposition from a public policy point of view. He suggests why governments have been reluctant to pursue this goal in the past and raises doubts about the advisability of their doing so in the future. He says that neither selecting certain universities for research intensiveness nor allowing them to capitalize on conspicuous consumption represents sound policy. He suggests some other ways that governments can help universities compete internationally. "Health insurance for international students: taxation without representation" by Sylvia Reitmanova In June 2007, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador extended health care coverage to international post-secondary students in the province. While this is good news, says Sylvia Reitmanova of Memorial University, international students are still excluded from public health coverage in four provinces. This causes these students financial hardship and puts the health of many at risk. In this piece, she examines Canadian health, immigration and family legislation and concludes that rather than doing students a favour, St. John’s merely did what is required by law. Given this, she argues that Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island must follow St. John’s lead. "Mondialisation et internationalisation en éducation supérieure" by Sophie Morin While questions relating to financing and accessibility of post-secondary education are frequently the subject of public debate, other issues, such as the internationalization of higher education and the impact of globalization on universities’ and colleges’ missions, are often neglected. Sophie Morin looks at some of the transformations that have taken place over the past few years, in particular the transnational activities of universities, and the strategies proposed to deal with them. In this context, she says, one of the big challenges will be to find a balance between an utilitarian view of university and universities’ humanist mission. She suggests that we might be wise to adopt international standards based on a UNESCO accord, because, as she says, “at present the absence of supranational structures favours some institutions over others whose commercial practices are less developed and whose financial resources are limited.” "Alberta's love-hate relationship with big oil" by Todd Hirsch [summary not available] "Kosovo: after the party, the hangover" by Jeremy Kinsman Once Kosovars stopped celebrating their declaration of independence, and once the West had recognized Kosovo over Russian objections, there will be the hard work of moving forward, and reconciling its troubled past to an uncertain future. Jeremy Kinsman, a former Canadian ambassador to Russia, notes, “the heart-rending struggles” of Kosovo in the past, notably the ethnic cleansing in which 100,000 people died a decade ago before NATO bombed Serbia into submission. Kosovo has its own ethnic minority, a Serbian community, within its new borders. "Ottawa misses Manley's best points" by Arthur Kent The Manley report focused mainly on the need for NATO to step up with 1,000 additional troops to reinforce the Canadian mission in Kandahar as a condition of Canada staying on in the south past next February. But Arthur Kent, who has covered Afghanistan for nearly three decades, writes that the Harper government and the West are not addressing “the real weaknesses: the misguided US commandand- control efforts; chaos and corruption in the Western-sponsored Karzai regime, and the Taliban leadership’s continuing holiday in the borderlands of Pakistan,” from which the insurgency is directed and supplied. Not to mention the poppy trade, Afghanistan's largest cash crop, a source of power as well as money. "Hillier and the new generation of generals: the CDS, the policy and the troops" by Douglas Bland General Rick Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) of the Canadian Forces, is to some a larger-than-life personality who dominates every aspect of Canada’s commitment to the Afghan people. No previous CDS has commanded such close attention from the prime minister or played as central a role in the direction of Canada’s defence and foreign policies. Is he merely an eccentric aberration or is he the first of the “new breed” of post-Cold-War senior military officers who will occupy the CDS’s office? Douglas Bland considers this fundamental question as politicians in Ottawa begin to ask: “After Hillier, who commands?” "Climate change: the case for a carbon tariff/tax" by Thomas J. Courchene and John R. Allan The opting-on voluntarism of Kyoto, while admirable, is not adequate for addressing the climate-change challenge. This is because it excludes many of the highest polluting countries and, relatedly, because it cannot cope with the serious environmental-free-riding issues. The first of our proposed two tiers addresses free riding via a nationally imposed carbon import tariff combined with an equivalent domestic carbon tax. This “tradables” tier would engage global exporters (and importers) and not governments. The second tier would involve governments and could be Kyoto-like with commitments related to emissions, standards, cap-and-trade systems, etc. The first tier would, constitutionally, fall under federal jurisdiction, while all levels of government would hopefully play key roles in the second tier. "Éliminer le pouvoir de dépenser" by Alain Noël [summary not available] |
