Derek Quinn
Multilingual retired journalist and international consultant who's passionate about clear, honest, responsible communications as the foundation of democracy. We all have it within us to be better.
Derek Quinn's Latest Posts
Freedom vs Security
This week’s attacks on Canadian soldiers in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Ottawa have raised the levels of fear and uncertainty in Canada. The overall respect for our fellow Canadians has been denigrated as well as our image of ourselves as a peaceful, law-abiding nation. Off-duty members of our Canadian Forces have been ordered not to wear their uniforms in public, the very symbol of pride in defending our country. This only serves to highlight how the tectonic plates of ordinary life in Canada have shifted from relative stability to greater uncertainty. Continue Reading »
Liberté versus Sécurité
Le niveau de peur et d’insécurité au Canada est monté d’une coche cette semaine avec les attentats sur des soldats à St-Jean-sur-Richelieu et à Ottawa. Les plaques tectoniques de la vie ordinaire canadienne se sont déplacées, nous laissant devant l’incertitude. Notre image d’un pays paisible et stable est ternie.
Dans la foulée de ces attentats, il y a un réel danger que les efforts du gouvernement fédéral à renforcer la Loi sur la sécurité nationale nous tombent dessus amenant une érosion des libertés que nous prenons pour acquis.
The Fog of War
The fog of war wafts around us as preparations continue for a US-French military action against Syria. President Barack Obama is failing to gain much support for such a move. According to Obama, a coordinated military response is needed to teach Syria not to use chemical weapons against men, women and children in violation of an international ban against their use. It is not yet clear who is responsible for using them, the regime of Bashar al-Assad or the rebels fighting to bring down his dictatorship. President Vladimir Putin of Russia maintains Syria would not use such weapons especially since an inspection team from the United Nations was on the ground in Damascus at the time.
As the majority of leaders at the G20 Summit in Saint Petersburg balked at the prospect of a cruise missile campaign against Syria, the drums of war beat on. The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, says the Arab League offered to bankroll a military action. That amounts to paying someone else to do the dirty work of getting rid of hard-line Islamists, while making mercenaries of the US military. Iran and its allies, the Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, promise to attack Israel if Washington goes ahead with its plan. Continue Reading »
The Eagle, the Dragon and the Tiger
The world’s geo-economic and geopolitical landscape is changing, especially in Asia. This has a growing impact that extends not only across Central Asia and the Middle East, but also to South-Central Asia, Africa, South America and the United States. These changes represent an ever-quickening shift of the economic centre of gravity away from the United States and European Union toward Asia. Two ancient Asian powers, like slumbering giants, have awoken from a long sleep. China and India, having chosen economic liberalisation, in 1978 and 1991 respectively, are showing unprecedented economic growth, and are rapidly taking on a greater role in the international economy. Continue Reading »
Death and Democracy
Lomé, Togo – After the death of Africa’s longest-serving dictator, Eyadéma Gnassingbé, on the 5th of February 2005, one might be forgiven for thinking that democracy could return to Togo. However, the people living in this small sliver of a country in West Africa nestled betweenGhana and Benin had little reason for hope that day. General Eyadéma had ruled the country with an iron hand for 38 years since seizing power in a coup d’état in January 1967.
Gnassingbé died on a Saturday morning. By Saturday night, state media not only informed them of his death but also that the army had named his son Faure as his successor. Togo’s prime minister at the time, Kofi Sama, referred to General Yadéma’s death as a national castastrophe, and spoke of the need to preserve peace and national unity. While President Jacques Chirac spoke of Gnassingbé’s death in terms of profound sadness and of how France was losing a close friend, the people of Togo learned that the country’s borders were now closed and all land, maritime and air travel into or out of the country forbidden.