Canada's official position per Mark Carney is that all parties to the Iran conflict, including the United States, must respect the international law of armed conflict. If there were ever a good day for Canada and like-minded partners to reiterate this position, it is today.

My comments on the Carney government's cuts to Canada's foreign ministry in this article: www.hilltimes.com/2026/03/18/f...

I enjoyed chatting with @mattgalloway.bsky.social and @bmomani.bsky.social today about Mark Carney's foreign policy and Trump's reckless war in Iran. on.soundcloud.com/Wz6iup0Sx68w...

I just read this wonderful (and interesting) review of my mother Erna Paris' posthumous memoir: reviewcanada.ca/magazine/202...

This Carney statement is puzzling. If, as he says, we must accept "the world as it is" – including the purported failure of previous diplomatic efforts and of the international order – then why call for a diplomatic solution, de-escalation, and respect for international law?

I was pleased to host foreign minister Anita Anand today at @uottawa.ca on the 4th anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. www.youtube.com/watch?v=T85E...

The Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs may have removed one instrument from his tariff toolkit — but it has done nothing to make US trade policy more predictable. Read @rolandparis.bsky.social's analysis for Chatham House⤵️

Chatham House asked for my quick assessment of the US Supreme Court tariff decision. Here's what I wrote:

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A reminder of the risks of relying exclusively on the F35. Trump will use any available leverage to apply pressure, including on America’s closest allies. Derisking is essential.

Amazing how many international relations "realists" who've spent decades arguing that material power not ideas matter in international affairs, are suddenly recognizing that destroying trust (an idea) and perceptions of the US (more ideas) may be materially damaging to the US.

Fact check: The US trades a lot more with China than Canada does - not just in absolute $ but also relative to each country's total trade. * US trade with China = 10.9% of total US trade * Canada's trade with China = 7.9% of total Canadian trade Data sources: x.com/rolandparis/...

I discussed the Carney speech and what might come next with Matt Galloway on CBC The Current this morning. To listen: on.soundcloud.com/NELsuOsg8awM...

To me, this was the most interesting and telling part of Trump's Davos speech. He doesn't even try to hide his imperial ambitions because he doesn't see any real problems with imperialism - now or in the past. Listen to his words.

In this post-“rupture” world, the Canadian government must be more publicly transparent about the specific functions being performed by Canadian exchange officers inside the US military.

Translation: “Nice country you got there, Canada. Watch yourself.”

Trump says his desire to acquire Greenland fits a long history of US territorial expansion—and likens it to Europe’s imperial expansion, which he frames as normal. He even seems to fault European countries for giving up their empires.

What can “middle powers” actually do? I wrote about this for @chathamhouse.org during the first Trump Admin, when the threats were less severe and the rules-based order more intact, but the same principles apply: hang together or hang separately. www.chathamhouse.org/2019/06/can-...

Excellent analysis of the Carney speech.

Bizarre as it seems, Trump may genuinely be unable to grasp that the Nobel Committee is independent - because the very idea of an institution remaining outside political control is alien to him.

This is a good moment for Mark Carney to reconsider cuts to Canada's foreign ministry. He says that we face unprecedented, even existential, challenges and must manage very complex relationships while building new ones. Yet we're *reducing* our diplomatic capacity?

Listen till the very end! Luister Tot het einde! #Davos #WEF

Some thoughts from me on Mark Carney’s important speech in Davos. youtu.be/Xj1VHwVgsAY?...

This is one of the sharpest analyses of international affairs that I've heard from a Canadian leader - or any national leader - in a long time. And I suspect he wrote the main bits himself. paulwells.substack.com/p/the-carney...

History will judge, but this Greenland episode feels like a tipping point for a lot of things.

It makes sense this model would include irregular warfare. Canada couldn’t hold off even a small US invasion conventionally – but it’s a vast country, and occupying and controlling it would be another matter entirely. All hypothetical, of course.

Even by Trump’s standards, this is astonishing petty and childish. The neuroses of the most powerful man in the world are once again on full display to everyone – other than himself, that is. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/u...

Reports that the Carney government pulled backbench Liberal MPs from an ongoing visit to Taiwan (ahead of Carney’s trip to China) are not an encouraging signal from the Canadian PM.

Trump says his so-called Donroe Doctrine "supersedes" the Monroe Doctrine "by a lot." And he might be right: His version is more openly avaricious and arbitrary - in short, more imperial. Read more below.

My commentary for @chathamhouse.org on Carney's trip to China amid growing concerns about the "Donroe Doctrine." www.chathamhouse.org/2026/01/carn...

Stealing Venezuela’s oil at gunpoint isn’t enough. Trump now seems to want Machado to hand over her Nobel Prize too. He’s a villain, but utterly pathetic: His appetite – his neediness – couldn’t be sated by all the gold or prizes in the world.

If the US moves to take over Greenland – a threat we’d be foolish to dismiss – Canada would be forced to rethink every aspect of its relations with the US. Canadian officials need to start thinking though this nightmarish scenario now, not later. It would be a seismic event.

@rolandparis.bsky.social is bang on about Canada's approach to Trump: "Now, if we speak up, we put our economic security at risk, but if we retreat into silence, we risk losing the very international norms that protect our sovereignty, along with a sense of who we are.”

This is good and timely. I hope other Canadian ministers will accompany her to Greenland – to underscore Canada’s support.

Careful silence when the US started killing people in international waters. Careful silence when a Canadian ICC justice was sanctioned by the US. Now we mumble vague things about international law and Venezuela. We’re losing more than just our voice.

For those Canadians cheering on Trump's military action in Venezuela, it might be worth recalling that you live in a country that Trump wishes to bend to his will through "economic force" and in a region that Trump says the US must "dominate."

Shared some thoughts about the implications of US military action in Venezuela, including legality and international reverberations, in a radio interview this morning: on.soundcloud.com/cYfhraqheMK7...

So far the biggest parallel seems to be more Panama 1989 than Iraq 2003. Will depend on whether the US actually tries to “run” Venezuela.

Carefully worded statement from Canada’s foreign minister.

I’ll be interested to see the Carney government’s statement today…

I’m prohibited from traveling to Russia, have been advised not to travel to China, and have chosen not to travel to the United States. Great-power tourism in 2025 isn’t what it used to be.

I support a lot of PM Carney’s agenda, but I can’t decide what’s the greater surprise: the apparent downgrading of climate change as one of his top policy priorities, or the public quiescence of so many Liberal MPs & cabinet ministers who didn’t used to support drill-baby-drill.

So happy to launch my late mother Erna Paris's memoir in Toronto earlier this month. More here: www.indigo.ca/en-ca/huntin...

I look forward to hosting Kevin Lynch and Jim Mitchell tomorrow at @gspia-esapi.bsky.social to discuss their book: "A New Blueprint for Government: Reshaping Power, the PMO, and the Public Service." Info & registration: www.uottawa.ca/faculty-soci...

Earlier today I spoke with Matt Galloway on CBC radio's The Current about the Carney government's foreign policy, including the challenges of "resetting" relations with China and India. on.soundcloud.com/APAZWSI0gmyF...

The seemingly outsized cuts to Global Affairs Canada in Budget 2025 are hard to square with the government’s repeated call to expand and deepen Canada's international partnerships. Reinvesting in the military is welcome – but defence is just one tool of our international policy.

I was happy to join Leslie Vinjamuri (@leslievinjamuri.bsky.social) of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Professor Robert Howse from NYU’s Law School on this week’s Deep Dish podcast to discuss "Trump - Canada's Friend or Foe?" Listen: brnw.ch/21wX4N6

That Trump would send this man to represent him in Canada is neither surprising nor very consequential. While our government must respect his office, private groups have no obligation to give him a platform so that he can pour scorn on Canadians. globalnews.ca/news/1145250...

As the multilateral order falters, which elements can and should be protected, adapted or built anew? On Monday, Sept. 22 experts will debate this question at @gspia-esapi.bsky.social. In-person registrations are full, but you can register to watch this event online: www.cips-cepi.ca/event/worksh...

Have you registered for the upcoming workshop titled “Saving the Furniture: Which Elements of the Multilateral System Must Be Sustained – and How?” @senboehm.bsky.social will provide the opening remarks, reflecting on "Multilateralism in a Fracturing World". Register here >>> bit.ly/3V9kNmY