Armchair Generals and War Games

ByDoug Anderson International Relations

… where Netanyahu is the puppet master

Doug Anderson

Mar 03, 2026

Benjamin Netanyahu has once again called on big brother Trump to go beat up the bully that Bibi doesn’t like.

Just last year he called on Trump to fly a bomber all the way from North America to Iran to drop a bunch of bombs on what he said was their uranium enrichment facility. They said it was a phenomenal success – that the facility was ‘obliterated’. Well, was it?

We really don’t know because we are relying on (probably) Israeli intelligence – which can be incredibly accurate at times but is also capable of spinning any scenario they like if it suits their purpose – as we have seen many times in the last few years in Gaza. And right now Israel wants to grind Iran into the ground.

But regardless of the reality, Netanyahu was telling … More

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Financing the United Nations

ByDoug Anderson International Relations, Money

Towards a formula which is dependable and politics proof

Doug Anderson

Jan 18, 2026

The United Nations has numerous problems but all have been exacerbated by financial considerations. Every member is supposed to pay its “mandatory assessed contributions” which are calculated by a complicated formula based on the country’s gross national income, population size and external debt, among other factors.

The problem is that not all countries pay up when they should and some withhold their payments as a way of expressing their displeasure with the decisions made and/or actions taken by the UN.

The UN budget for 2025 was $3.72 billion plus peacekeeping which is a separate budget of $5.38 billion. The United States and China have by far the highest dues which together cover more than 40% of the UN budget.

Over the last two years the United States has an accumulated debt of $3.86 billion, China … More

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… like a 10-year old kid with the hottest new Video Game … except this was real

ByDoug Anderson International Relations, Media, Communications, Politics

Who’s next?

Doug Anderson

Jan 04, 2026

I can picture it – a dimly lit room at Mar-a-lago, locked doors, numerous large video screens around the walls, with Trump, his senior generals and other minions watching the invasion of Venezuela with giddy anticipation. The extraction was swift and successful – no Americans lost. (But an estimated 40 Venezuelans killed and a lot of damage to infrastructure).

I’m sure the testosterone was flowing at a fever pitch. Even the perp-walk in New York was staged as a victory lap for the TV networks with motorcades, flashing lights and armoured cars.

But that’s the easy part. Now that he’s in New York, the lawyers will have to prosecute him and that’s hardly a slam dunk. Maduro will claim immunity on a number of grounds all of which will be litigated, quite possibly right up to the Supreme Court. And then there’s the … More

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Imagine a World at peace – without the Security Council Veto

ByDoug Anderson Canada, Government Policy, International Relations, Politics

It could happen – a brave contingent of UN members have launched an effort to implement Article 109

Doug Anderson

Dec 07, 2025

We live in precarious times … not unlike the early 1960s when the cold war was at its peak. The Cuban missile crisis was 1962; The Cold War was at its height and Viet Nam was brewing.

Not unlike today.

In the early 60s while I was in high school, I was president of the World Affairs Club at my school and like 60-70 other high schools in Toronto we were participating in a model United Nations. Each school represented a different country. We met every Sunday to discuss/debate the issues of the day. I still have my copy of the UN charter.

Back then the UN was only a decade and a half old, but already it was clear that the Security Council veto was … More

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Israel’s Conundrum – the World’s Conundrum

ByDoug Anderson International Relations, Politics

UN GA backs 2-state solution – a important 1st step

Doug Anderson

Sep 21, 2025

Normally when I start writing an article, I have an endpoint in mind but in the case of Israel and its war in Gaza, there isn’t one. There are so many contradictions in its actions that I find it impossible to find any logic.

What is their goal? Do they really want to eliminate Hamas? Well, yes, but we have to remember that Hamas ‘success’ was largely due to Israel’s desire to keep the Palestinians divided in order to stifle any chance of a Palestinian state. They may be physically divided now by walls, fences and checkpoints but they are more united in spirit today than ever before.

Also, and most rational people know this intuitively, for every Palestinian killed, there are two or more that will seek to retaliate in revenge – that’s a … More

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Deal or No Deal

ByDoug Anderson International Relations, Politics
Cusma is dead! Long live the new world order!

Doug Anderson

Aug 16, 2025

The gyrations of Trump’s trade war remind me of the popular Howie Mandel TV show from the early 2000s (it has been reprised a few times and reruns were still running on closed circuit at my doctor’s office a few months back). Contestants had to blindly choose suitcases with various amounts of cash up to a million dollars, gradually whittling down the number of cases in the hopes of hitting the jackpot. Trump is playing a similar huckster deal maker role as the US’s trading ‘partners’ scramble for their ‘deal’.

But that’s where the similarity ends. Reality takes over.

Canada’s failure to make a deal by August 1 is not the end of the world – it heralds a new era which will probably be better in the long run. Canada is unique among contestants. No … More

The UN and Bully Politics

ByDoug Anderson International Relations

Stumbling towards a World Federation in which NO country can veto Peace

Doug Anderson

Jun 30, 2025

When I was in high school in the early 60s, The United Nations Association of Canada was running a model UN for High School students. There were 70 or 80 high schools in Toronto at the time including public, separate and private, and each school sent a delegation representing a member country of the UN. Each school studied their country and its foreign policy and debated the issues accordingly.

It was a big deal involving several hundred students. We met on Sunday mornings through the school year and developed policies to solve the world’s problem. We tackled the world’s thorniest issues like Nuclear Disarmament, Refugees (there were already 100s of thousands of Palestinian refugees living in camps throughout the Middle East), Human Rights (apartheid in S. Africa was an emerging issue – Nelson … More

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ICYMI – Exposing Trump’s Tariff Fraud

ByDoug Anderson Economics, International Relations

The last week and a half have been dominated by Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs. You may recall his charts that showed what they said other countries were charging the US and the lower figure (usually 1/2) that the US was going to charge them.

Except it was all a sham. After some pushback they came up with this equation.

Looks impressive doesn’t it with all those Greek letters. Except it doesn’t have anything to do with tariffs. The equation was cracked by financial journalist James Surowiecki within a few hours and later validated by several other analysts. The equation takes the the US total trade deficit with a given country (Xi – Mi) and divides it by the value of the goods said country exports to the US (Mi).  The other factors were set so they cancel out, and the delta Ti is the supposed tariff rate.… More

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Bring These $$ Home

ByDoug Anderson Canada, Economics, International Relations, Money

Trump has poked the Canadian bear and has unleashed a level of patriotism that we haven’t seen before – perhaps ever.  So while the tariffs may eventually get  withdrawn and things may seem to go back to normal we can never again leave ourselves this vulnerable. We need to harden our economy.

Ironically this situation presents Canada with some incredible opportunities. This current wave of nationalism must be harnessed.

50 years ago the government of Justin’s father Pierre, created the Canada Development Corp in order to stem the tide of foreign ownership of Canadian companies and a similar idea is needed today but for different reasons. The Canada Development Corporation was created to invest in strategic industries in order to increase Canadian ownership. The CDC had some success but the Mulroney government shut it down when they took office in the mid 80s. The problem of foreign ownership is still … More