Democracy defenders from around the world trading notes on how to fight authoritarians from Hungary to El Salvador. Up now: the founders of the No Kings movement fighting the authoritarian regime in the U.S.

How does Canada manage relations with a predatory U.S.? Our foreign policy establishment needs a profound reorientation. My thoughts on Edmonton radio 880 CHED pdst.fm/e/traffic.me...

Clever. After the 2020 election, President-elect Biden began communicating with the nation through a new "Office of the President-Elect" to signal certainty in the democratic transition. The legitimate leadership of #Venezuela is doing something similar: @voceriavzla

I was hoping to get through one January 11 without yet another uninformed hagiography of Sir John A MacDonald. Whitewashing does no justice to a country that increasingly knows its history and the harm he did to so many. Please try harder @globeandmail www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

This is the inevitable consequence of the U.S. attacking us all

Glad to hear that @canadiantom.bsky.social

I spent two stressful years living in Iraq after the U.S. violated that country’s sovereignty. I don’t know exactly how it will play out in Venezuela but I sense it will work out just as badly for our American friends. Canada can help, if we are ready to resume our traditional role there

In today's Globe, I argue that Canada faces an opportunity to stand up for the principle of sovereignty in the Americas, simply by resuming our traditional role as the convenor of Venezuela's democratic neighbours in facilitating a democratic transition www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Après l'intervention américaine, les venezuelien(ne)s dans une pire situation que jamais. J'explique dans une entrevue avec la Presse: www.lapresse.ca/internationa...

Canada’s former ambassador to Venezuela @benrowswell.bsky.social joined the show to break down what Ottawa should do next after the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro: pdst.fm/e/traffic.me...

My take on what's at stake for Venezuelans in a transition promised but denied: review.bellmedia.ca/view/780767316

For a Venezuelan take on what is happening in Venezuela, read #AlertaVzlaDDHH. The latest report: en.alertavenezuela.org/a-transition...

Canada has a responsibility to resume our traditional role as a leading country in upholding democracy and human rights in #Venezuela. My interview on CBC Power & Politics at www.cbc.ca/player/play/... (minute 1:09)

In Day Three since the U.S. abducted President Maduro, a new President appears to be consolidating control of a regime that remains very much socialist, corrupt and anti-American. How did the U.S. misplay its hand so badly? See my interview in the Globe: www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

In the meantime, the rest of us can't wait for the U.S. to return to democracy. The damage the U.S. is doing to our economies and to our security is real and lasting. We are taking action to protect ourselves, no matter whether the U.S. remains an authoritarian state or not

Bang on www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit...

J'offre une courte explication de la politique venezuelienne pour nos concitoyen(ne)s francophones: ici.radio-canada.ca/tele/le-tele...

More violence to come in the U.S. war against #Venezuela. My explanation at www.ctvnews.ca/video/2026/0...

Canada has often led regional initiatives to support Venezuelans' aspiration to democracy. As I explained on CP24 earlier today, Latin American countries are likely to ask us to lead. Will be ready to answer? review.bellmedia.ca/view/780767316

Une journée de célébration pour les canadiens et les canadiennes d'origine vénézuelienne. Malgré la violation de la loi internationale commis par les Etats Unis, il faut saluer le départ d'un dictateur qui a détruit son pays ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/221...

www.cbc.ca/player/play/... My first reaction to today’s military action by the U.S. against #Venezuela:

In my latest Substack, I identify a litmus test that Canadians can use to determine whether the eventual trade agreement with the U.S. undermines our sovereignty or not open.substack.com/pub/benrowsw...

The backstory of the G7 Summit last June just coming out now, and it reveals that Canada not only made a major concession to an adversarial U.S. but led the other members in conceding to that Administration's predatory approach to commercial competition with us its allies www.ft.com/content/89b0....

On CBC World Report this morning, I pointed out that the U.S. war against Venezuela is not likely to dislodge the Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro without a significant escalation of force. www.cbc.ca/listen/live-....

On @CBCNational tonight I explained that the primary motive behind the U.S. military threats against #Venezuela is to assert hemispheric dominance. No other explanation fits the evidence. See minute 42 at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snpf...

The case of Judge Duggan reminds me so much of Maria Lourdes Afiuni. A Venezuelan judge, she ruled that an innocent man could go free, but was punished by President Chavez because the ruling contradicted his political demands. The rule of law no longer exists in the U.S. www.cnn.com/2025/12/18/p...

I called CUSMA a "dead man walking", the Globe sees a "ticking clock" to the end of free trade coming in 2026. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/edit... Either way, we must prepare for the end of easy market access because the U.S. will impose a price we cannot accept: submission

“We shall extract any sum, impose any burden, inflict any hardship, oppose any friend and befriend any foe to assure the wealth and freedom of me, my family and friends” www.ft.com/content/b17e... : Trump’s rewording to President Kennedy’s message to Europe, as Martin Wolf paraphrased in the FT

Canada's sovereignty appears to be the principal stumbling block in trade negotiations with the U.S. www.thestar.com/politics/fed...

With today's blockade, the U.S. is now at war with #Venezuela. The war is illegal, by design, as the U.S. no longer accepts any constraint on its ability to use force against neighbours in the Americas. podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/c...

Venezuela is ill-prepared for a fight with the U.S. after a decade of epic corruption. When countries fall to populist authoritarians, they become weaker. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcn-....

The images the U.S. leadership promoted to the world tell the story of a government that wants to dominate all its neighbours, law be damned www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj9H...

President Zelenskyy has shown real courage and tremendous leadership. All countries of the Free World should commit to doing everything in our power to secure Ukrainian sovereignty against Russian aggression. We in the Free World would also welcome U.S. support too www.cnn.com/2025/12/07/e...

My latest Substack explains why CUSMA is a Dead Man Walking benrowswell.substack.com/p/why-cusma-.... Please subscribe

On CBC @thecurrent.org Matt Galloway and Canada-U.S. trade expert @leaderly.bsky.social debate my contention that CUSMA is a “Dead Man Walking.” Laura’s views from minute 16:50 at www.cbc.ca/listen/live-.... She asks what I mean by “sovereignty”; I’ll reply on Substack but please listen to her first

We should level with Canadians:CUSMA is not likely to survive as an agreement between sovereign equals. The US will insist on a show of submission - some kind of political concession to protect our access to their market. www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6yz.... No deal is worth diminishing our sovereignty

The old foreign policy debate was how Canada should balance values and interests. The U.S. President is turning our new debate into how we justify pursuing interests with a government that advances the opposite values of ours. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/u....

At the Rebuild Ukraine conference in Toronto just now, Chrystia Freeland explained how valuable Ukraine will be as an ally to NATO: “as a shield, and an arsenal”

The war in Israel/Palestine rages on, and more Canadian peacemakers are becoming casualties www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

For my take on what's at stake if the U.S. goes to war against Venezuela, listen in to my interview on Global News radio in Vancouver globalnews.ca/national/pro... from minute 38:00 onward

What the U.S. is threatening Venezuela with is called aggression. It's a crime against humanity. International law may seem esoteric to some, but not to the thousands who die when great powers violate it www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

Big budgets deserve thinking big. Since Canada approached our defence buildup backwards, setting a spending target before we knew what to spend it on, the imperative of serious strategic thought is more urgent than ever www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

The war in Gaza rages on www.cbc.ca/news/world/i...

This is not just a current political issue. Charging & punishing these particular perpetrators is vital to keeping the fight against the ongoing abuse & killing of women & children by men in the spotlight. "Me Too" was only a start.

Even now, after the U.S. democratic system has collapsed, there are seeds of a new democracy poking through the ruin. Some Americans have discovered memory culture, the German method for building democracy through honest confrontation with your country's legacy of hatred www.cnn.com/2025/11/24/u...

At a #Ditchley Canada foreign policy conference last month, tech leaders from across the country raised the alarm that Canada has lost its digital sovereignty. Today's Globe makes that warning public www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

A fresh take from the Berlin Security Conference, where Europe is struggling with staggering lack of U.S. commitment to its security even now that a monumental defence buildup is underway open.substack.com/pub/benrowsw...

Saab has offered to base all of its Globaleye Aircraft Warning and Control System (AWACS) system in Canada. The plane is built on Bombardier technology. Best of all, it’s not American. What’s not to like? Time to deepen Canada’s bonds with actual democracies

Listening to Sweden’s PM Kristersson it occurs to me this is the country Canada should emulate. Not for its approach to social welfare but to defence: Deep integration between government and world-class defence production companies like Saab, a dynamic engagement with citizens in Civic Defence

US Ambassador to NATO Whitaker does damage control after his President casts doubt on treaty commitments to defend allies. I don’t envy him the task. Why believe an ambassador when his boss tells the world he will keeps his options open if we are attacked?