The relationship between celebrities from the entertainment/sports world and politics is fraught with difficulty. Celebrities have been drawn repeatedly into political life on a global basis. Yet an image remains of unpredictability and under-performance. When Clint Eastwood’s cameo performance — addressing an…
Great Nations Don’t Share Embassies, Harper
Published on: Nov 10, 2012 The sharing of some embassy services between Canada and the U.K. has already received a lot of attention. But it seems to me that the attention has focused on traditional considerations that have to do more with…
Posted in Canadian Foreign Policy, Diplomacy
Does it Even Matter What Celebs Think About Politics?
The intense controversy over the praise accorded to Fidel Castro by Ozzie Guillen, manager of baseball’s Miami Marlins (in an interview with Time magazine) illustrates the wide-spectrum of reactions to the intrusion of figures from the world of entertainment into the world of global…
Posted in Celebrity Activism
The Trouble With Twiplomacy
Publications sometimes hit on an important topic that leaves more questions than answers. A good illustration is the release over the summer of a study from the PR firm Burson-Marsteller on “Twiplomacy.” How diplomats respond to new technology to reach diverse…
Posted in Celebrity Activism, Diplomacy
Mark Carney Appointment: A Victory for Technocrats
This piece first appeared in the Toronto Star. The striking appointment of Mark Carney as the new governor of the Bank of England can be interpreted in a wide number of ways — from a view that highlights the global governance dimension…
