http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/topic/2enghttp://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1065http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1065Métropolitain publisher and editor Beryl Wajsman, who is also the founder of The Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal, gave the keynote speech last Thursday to some 1500 participants in McGill's annual Model UN Conference and lost little time sending them a message for a new model for the international system, the bankruptcy of the current one and the moral challenges the future leaders who made up the  the audience had a responsibility not to betray. Attendees at the four-day conference at the Sheraton Centre came from over fifty North American universities. The McGill model UN Conference is held every year, and this year was the biggest such gathering behind only Harvard and Penn State. Harvard and McGill have consistently been the largest over the past decade. A. Hustak & P. SévignyMon, 30 Jan 2012 18:34:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1047http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1047 The U.S. decision to defer decision on the Keystone XL pipeline has tossed an eagle into the dovecot.  A “no brainer” decision regarding the merits of providing secure energy (as well as j-o-b-s) has apparently been adroitly manipulated by the brainless. Consequently, the State Department disclaimer that the delay decision was not “political” is disingenuous at best; it passes neither the sniff nor the giggle test.  After years of review, acres of trees slaughtered in written testimony, and scads of let-it-all-hang-out public hearings, the State Department announced that there were no environmental objections to the pipeline.  Subsequently, President Obama said that he would make the decision—retrospectively a fatal blow to any near term decision.  David T. JonesFri, 16 Dec 2011 20:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1054http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1054Il y a un proverbe/adage anglais qui dit: “What goes around comes around”. Mais lorsqu’il s’agit de mettre en pratique ce dernier dans un pays, tel la Syrie, on est mieux de retourner dans le temps quelques années en arrière pour revoir le passé afin de tenter de prédire l’avenir, car hélas, nul ne connait maintenant la suite de ce que le Proche-Orient va vivre à la suite de la déstabilisation de la presque dernière dictature « républicaine » dans la région.Alain de PerlycroixFri, 16 Dec 2011 19:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1039http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1039 "Who You Are Is Where You Were When" ~ Morris Massey The quotation refers to the events that define you and your generation—life and history altering episodes that are the benchmarks for memory and the iron pole around which your future swingsand conditions your thinking.  For my parents, it was Pearl Harbor.  For me, it was the JFK assassination.  For my children (and for me again), it has been 9/11. David T. JonesWed, 26 Oct 2011 19:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1031http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1031UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s report expressed “serious concern” about Tehran’s record: “...increased executions, amputations, arbitrary arrest and detention, unfair trials, and possible torture and ill-treatment of human rights activists, lawyers, journalists and opposition activists.” Ban deplored the persecution of Iranian minorities, including Arabs, Armenians, Azeris, Balochs, Christians, Jews, Kurds and Baha’is.The Hon. David KilgourWed, 26 Oct 2011 18:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1033http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1033It was nearing Christmas day, 2010. Feeling cold and gloomy in wintery Montreal, I decided to listen to my parents’ pleas and spend the holidays with them in Egypt, my country of origin. As a third-year Master’s student at McGill University, I had no more courses to attend, my only remaining academic duty being to finish my thesis. So I promptly booked a flight to Cairo, with the intention of spending a quiet and uneventful time with my family in Egypt. Little did I know that I was about to witness something historic and, well, revolutionary.Mourad ShalabyWed, 26 Oct 2011 18:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1028http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1028The crackdown on Syrian demonstrators continues, despite growing international condemnation of the Syrian government. More than 2000 civilians have been killed and approximately 3000 have been reported missing. But why is the international community not threatening military intervention as it did in the case of Libya?Rouba al-FattalWed, 26 Oct 2011 17:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1040http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1040Une décennie après les attentats spectaculaires du 11 septembre, la lassitude occidentale à l’égard des « cavaliers d’Allah » encourage le terrorisme et favorise la délégitimation de l’Etat juif. La dernière attaque contre l’ambassade d’Israël au Caire, première délégation diplomatique dans un pays arabe, est un signe grave et inquiétant dans les relations internationales.Amb. Fred EytanWed, 26 Oct 2011 16:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1021http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1021The European Union is beginning to look eerily like Germany under the Weimar Republic. Comparisons are never exact, and anyone could come up with a string of obvious differences, but in the EU many groups of citizens are at odds with their society's principal values, just as they were in Weimar, and by now several have expressed it through acts of political terror, targeted or random, as their soul-mates did in Germany between 1919 and 1933.George JonasFri, 26 Aug 2011 19:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1004http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1004Ainsi donc un bateau canadien se prépare à briser le blocus naval et aérien qu'Israël impose à Gaza. Une coalition canadienne, comprenant entre autres Amir Khadir, Gérald Larose et l'abbé Raymond Gravel, appuie sans nuances ce bateau, contre l'avis du gouvernement canadien. Regardons la question de plus près.Pierre BrassardFri, 26 Aug 2011 18:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1014http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1014President Barack Obama has finally declared his intention tobegin a phased withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, in a gradual process to be completed by 2014. America is thus lowering the curtain on its long, bitter slog through a society that has already stymied more than one imperial interloper. Perhaps more significantly, the US pullout appears to be garnering something approaching bipartisan support. Even some Republican presidential candidates like Mitt Romney are now averring that the president is right to make America scarce in Central Asia. There are obviously countless ways to look at President Obama’s decision, and as many judgments to be made about it.Akil AlleyneFri, 26 Aug 2011 17:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/985http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/985Some things stay with you. More importantly, some people do. They become part of the fabric of who you are. The memory of their piercing glare, their defiant words, their resonant voice and their courageous acts rally your resolve whenever it weakens. It is not even the stirring of memory, for their images never really leave you. Theodore Bikel is all that and more. For in his case there is music, and what music. It is the soundtrack of our lives.Beryl WajsmanFri, 10 Jun 2011 17:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/995http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/995 À priori, lorsqu’on voit les peuples arabes se soulever contre leurs dictateurs, on ne peut que s’en réjouir. Toutefois, à bien y penser, l’on se demande si cela permettra pour autant la mise en place d’une démocratie à l’occidentale ou tout simplement l’implantation d’une autre sorte de dictature masquée, quelle soit religieuse ou laïque pro-occidentale. Effet domino? Pas vraiment!  Alain de PerlycroixFri, 10 Jun 2011 17:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/996http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/996As a Board Member of the EuroArab Forum in Brussels and a “specialist” on the Arab world, I am asked daily of what I think is going to happen in the Middle East. Let me be frank, as much as I wish I could predict the future to my own satisfaction, nobody knows what the final outcomes will be. Political analysts and pundits may quench the public thirst for information by providing their sophisticated forecasts, but their chances of getting it right at this early stage are as good as playing the roulette.Rouba al-FattalFri, 10 Jun 2011 16:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/970http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/970 Washington, DC - So Florida-based pastor Terry Jones is back for another bite at the 15-minutes-of-fame apple.This time, however, the consequences of his campaign against the Qur'an has had fatal effects.  His largely unremarked "trial" and "execution" by burning of a Qur'an occurred almost completely without notice in North America.  One assumes that this lack of media attention in the United States/Canada was deliberate (one 15 minutes of fame per eccentric claimant) with the appreciation that publicity could have invidious effect. David T. JonesThu, 21 Apr 2011 21:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/971http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/971 Ninety nine years to the day after the R.M.S. Titanic hit an iceberg and sank while trying to break a trans-Atlantic speed record on its way to New York, Professor Kimon Valaskakis and his New School of Athens are determined to devise the means by which the world’s assorted economies can avoid similar disasters.“We must face the facts,” said Valaskakis. “The recent financial earthquake caused a socio-political tsunami which has spread all the way from the Persian Gulf to Madison, Wisconsin.” P.A. SévignyThu, 21 Apr 2011 20:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/972http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/972Some may recall the teachings of Joseph Schumpeter, the Austrian economist (1883-1950) who advocated the concept of creative destruction.  Schumpeter argued that old economic models or investments had to be destroyed in order to liberate the financial and human capital to undertake new, innovative and more profitable ventures.  For the first time since the end of WWII, a major developed economy has suffered an economic calamity of the scale deserving an analysis under Schumpeter’s model.  The question is whether Japan, as an economic and social society, is prepared to seize this moment to radically change its economic model, or if it will miss the moment and re-create what has not served it well over the past 20 years.Robert PresserThu, 21 Apr 2011 19:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/963http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/963  A trip to Jerusalem is an act of faith no matter what your convictions.Jerusalem is the capital of Israel but it is not by any stretch of the imagination, an exclusively Jewish city. It throbs with a brash energy, pulsates with Semitic and Slavic rhythms and resonates with a sense of shared history unequalled in any other place on earth. In  the words of one writer, it remains “a golden object of desire,” a site for pleasure, prayer and pilgrimage.  Alan HustakThu, 21 Apr 2011 19:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/961http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/961  Politicians, economists, political scientists and sociologists will be gathering in Montreal  on April 14th to examine the flaws in the world’s financial and social policies and at the same time consider why some countries, Canada in particular, have weathered the recent economic meltdown better than others.The Canadian Model: Strategic lessons for the post-crisis world,  is the second of nine global conferrences sponsored by the New School of Athens and is aimed at determining what about globalization works and what doesn’t.  Alan HustakSun, 27 Mar 2011 10:49:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/942http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/942On December 22, 2010, the Senate having spent much time wailing and gnashing teeth approved the New START Treaty with Russia.  From the language, one could have thought its advocates believed it to be the arms control's Second Coming (or at least a much accelerated new millennium) while its opponents characterized it as a cup of hemlock for the Republic.David T. JonesWed, 16 Feb 2011 18:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/943http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/943 Your hard-earned tax dollars have been pouring into Haiti since the earthquake last year and things have only worsened. Here’s a thought... maybe money and aid aren’t the answer.It is now crystal clear that The Global Fund, although much ballyhooed, is totally corrupt. This is the high profile charity that pretends to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and which benefits from lucrative, high-profile support from the likes of U2 front-man Bono, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and France’s First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. The United States and Canada have pledged to give a whopping $10 billion to this fund for various third-world improvement projects, including Haiti. But if the fund can’t even keep its own affairs straight, we must demand that our politicians stop contributing to it immediately. Mischa PopoffWed, 16 Feb 2011 17:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/944http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/944 As more and more Arab countries turn their backs on autocracy, Canada can be a key player in encouraging democratic governments to take hold.In the 22 member states of the Arab League, many people now appear to be turning their backs on autocracy, declaring to themselves and the world that governance of, by, and for the people is a universal value. The Hon. David KilgourWed, 16 Feb 2011 17:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/904http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/904Washington, DC - The Republican Party, having won a substantial victory in the November 2 election, is about to encounter that existential challenge.  Be careful of what you ask for; you may get it.David T. JonesMon, 27 Dec 2010 21:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/909http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/909As the Taliban now run shadow governments in all but one of Afghanistan’s provinces (the Panjshir) amounting to a government-in-waiting, and one by one NATO governments announce their withdrawal dates, there is a glum resolve here among many aid workers that one day very soon the government we may be dealing with in Kabul will be a Taliban one. And so some are starting to seek engagement with the Taliban now, hoping they might be more accommodating than the miserable years of 1996-2001, when the overwhelming majority of organizations fled, and those who stayed, worked within bizarre and frustrating restrictions, many of which barred aid to women and girls. Overall, the restrictions and the fickle and unpredictable behaviour of the host government then meant aid simply could not reach all of the most vulnerable, and many lives were lost as a result.Lauryn OatesMon, 27 Dec 2010 20:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/913http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/913 Des parlementaires de six continents étaient sur place pour émettre le Protocole d'Ottawa - un document qui représente la coopération globale dans la lutte contre l'antisémitisme à la fin de la deuxième conférence de la Coalition interparlementaire de lutte contre l’antisémitisme (CILA), cofondé par le député de Mont-Royal Irwin Cotler. La conférence était la plus grande de sa sorte, et a donné l'occasion pour que les délégués puissent explorer des données et échanger sur les meilleures manières de combattre l'antisémitisme autour du monde. La CILA rassemble 46 pays et plus de 250 parlementaires du  monde entier pour mener le combat contre la résurgence de l'antisémitisme global.  Beryl WajsmanMon, 27 Dec 2010 20:00:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/908http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/908Two are not fit for a political office: the religious man, if he is sincere, and the true intellectual. The religious system is based on sacred constants, while the political system is chaotic based on constantly changing variables. No compromise can exist on religious dogmas, but politics is the art of negotiation and settlement. Policy maneuvers are not void of plots and deceptions, while bargaining is off-limits to the true religious, either you accept all of God’s commands or you exit the circle of the pure faithful. So, how could a dogmatic cleric turn into a professional politician?Rouba al-FattalMon, 27 Dec 2010 19:30:00 -0500http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/890http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/890  This is the time of "spin." The Democrats sound as if they were victims of an IED blast, delighted to have only lost an arm and a leg instead of two of each.  The Republicans sound like roosters believing that the sun rose because they crowed.The reality check is more complex.  The Democrats were sharply defeated, losing the House of Representatives, but not as catastrophically as was predicted earlier in the summer.  And, they retained control of the Senate, saving their vulnerable majority leader Harry Reid.  Moreover, Democrats gained a great, oft unmentioned prize:  the governorship of California, which will assist them substantially in the 2012 presidential election.  David T. JonesThu, 04 Nov 2010 15:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/891http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/891A steady stream of beer, wine and fried snacks were being served to patrons crammed into the John Sleeman Pub on Peel St. as they watched U.S. election events unfold last week on big-screen TVs, cheering and jeering with every development. The atmosphere had all the markings of a major sporting event, but the crowd wasn’t watching the Canadiens losing to the Blue Jackets. They were watching the Democrats lose the House of Representatives to the Republicans and almost lose the Senate as well.Dan DelmarThu, 04 Nov 2010 14:30:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/883http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/883Pour la majeure partie de la planète, ça fait plus d'une décennie que le monde entier a vu le vidéoclip où le jeune de 12 ans Mohammad Al-Durah a supposément été tué par une volée de balles israéliennes près du carrefour de Netzarim dans la Bande de Gaza. À l’intérieur de quelques heures après que le caméraman Talal Abu Rahma ait filmé le corps du garçon se trouvant à côté de son père blessé, le journaliste français Charles Enderlin a ajouté un commentaire audio où l'histoire entière a été réduite en un court reportage qui a par la suite été télévisé à la télévision française et plus tard diffusé au monde entier à travers l'Internet.P.A. SévignyThu, 04 Nov 2010 14:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/892http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/892 After nine years of carefully navigating between the Scylla of global revenge against the Muslim world for 9/11 and the Charybdis of insisting Islam is inherently peaceful with the 9/11 terrorists depicted as nonreligious miscreants, we have gone aground.  Americans are now impaled on the Constitutional imperative of First Amendment "free speech"-- which we have made even more a national shibboleth than the right to bear arms.  Over the years, it has mattered not that many other countries have scuttled free speech and/or neutered it in practice (if it might be interpreted as "hate speech," it must be foregone or punished).  We have exulted in discord. David T. JonesThu, 04 Nov 2010 13:30:00 -0400