Balsillie Papers

Randolph Mank
What is written on paper is of far less value than our actions and the tangible assets we bring to the global table. It often takes a crisis to generate real action.

Jatin Nathwani and Burak Guler
The Russia-Ukraine war raises the question: what should the EU do with its energy infrastructure and fossil-fuels? We argue against massive investments in additional natural gas infrastructure for increasing supply

Ryan Katz-Rosene and Andrew Heffernan
While debates about the true impact of globalization on the global environment continue, some scholars have come to ask about the inverse relationship: How might ecological breakdown influence globalization?

Stephanie DeWitte-Orr & Alan Whiteside This paper offers a brief history of viral pandemics and the science of the COVID-19 virus. After reviewing COVID-19’s economic, social, psychological and political impacts, we touch on the implications for health care. Finally, we look at the need for a global, integrated approach that requires new multi-disciplinary thinking, and what this means for policy makers.

Hind A. Al-Abadleh and Stephen F. Haller As pandemic restrictions ease, will we try to maintain our current lifestyles and familiar economic policies? Or, will we rise to the challenge of our time and meet the responsibility of doing things differently, to address socio-economic inequities and environmental calamities?

Tim Elcombe
Success in high profile international sporting competitions often generates unmatched sources of collective pride and national spirit that can unify a nation. With increased pride and national spirit, however, can also come controversy and division.

Alan Whiteside
In this article, I set out the processes, as they were enforced in May 2021, for the journey from the UK to Canada. It is a reflection on the past year, the lessons learnt, and the bizarre experience of travelling in a time of plague.

Jatin Nathwani and Ann Fitz-Gerald
Canada’s dependence on fossil fuels is both a blessing and a curse: the oil and gas sector currently delivers massive economic benefits, but with an environmental sting that precludes its expansion as global targets for greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) tighten.

Timothy Donais and Sarah Murray
Even as the protection of civilians (PoC) and the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agendas have become part of the UN, the organization still struggles to shed a reputation for being unable to protect women in conflict zones; not only from armed factions but from its own personnel.

Hind Al-Abadleh
Scientific evidence is now mounting on the short-term improvements this ‘natural experiment’ of pandemic lockdowns has had on levels of carbon dioxide and pollutants typically used as air quality indicators.