Canada's Election Result

This week saw Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party swoop to power in the Canadian elections. The Liberals started the campaign in third place but in a stunning turnaround now command a majority. Addressing his cheering supporters Mr Trudeau said 'We beat fear with hope, we beat cynicism with hard work. Most of all we defeated the idea that Canadians should be satisfied with less.' There has been much speculation as to the policy changes Mr Trudeau will implement, and Canada has already withdrawn from the war coalition against ISIS.

Will Trudeau live up to Canadian expectations, and how will his policies alter Canada's relationship with the US and position on the world stage? Whatever your view, send it in - via Twitter, Facebook or our website. The contributors best insights will be invited to explore their views further for our journal Sir!

Violence in Jerusalem

Recent violence in Israel and Palestine has been marked by its brutal but sporadic nature, with over forty Palestinians and seven Israelis killed. Many attacks have involved Palestinians armed with knives, many being shot by Israeli forces or indeed armed civilians. Unlike much past violence, these attacks have not been linked to active militant groups but seem rather to be the actions of independent individuals. As with much of the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict, social media presents many different accounts of events, with people disagreeing frequently on whether those killed were armed or presenting a danger to others.

s the violence symptomatic of Israeli oppression, or are Palestinians becoming more violent? And what role is social media coverage playing in the coverage and the violence itself? Whatever your view, send it in - via Twitter, Facebook or our website. The contributors best insights will be invited to explore their views further for our journal Sir!

An Argument for U.S.-Cuba Academic Relations

Allen Schaidle

In July, the White House announced a major relaxation of the travel, commerce, and investment restrictions previously imposed against Cuba. This signals a new era for U.S.-Cuban affairs, including academic relations, after nearly 50 years of estrangement from one another ended this last December. Cuba’s proximity, combined with the eroding Communist Party control, underlines a fundamental moment to strengthen Cuba and avoid economic turmoil. 

Academic relations, particularly those involving higher education, are effective and meaningful methods of diplomacy. Look at similar cases, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China, Vietnam, and the United Arab Emirates: higher education exchanges significantly abetted in developing and securing these relationships. Unsurprisingly, the countries with which the U.S. engages the largest student exchanges are correspondingly some of the most vital economic allies for the U.S. (such as China, South Korea and Saudi Arabia). Investing in U.S.-Cuban academic relations can improve economic ties, foster greater understanding of Cuban society, and provide each country with new educational opportunities.  The U.S. has the chance to cultivate foreign relations with Cuba once again and the importance of academic connections should not be overlooked. 

The strength of previous academic relations with Cuba suggests that it may be a fruitful partnership to enter once again. In 1961, the U.S. severed diplomatic relations with Cuba after Fidel Castro signed a trade agreement with the Soviet Union. Following the Cuban Missile crisis in 1962, presidential administrations fluctuated in the restrictions that they imposed on Cuba. Consequently, the number of Cuban students studying at U.S. higher education institutions plummeted and American scholars overwhelmingly lost access to Cuba. Despite never explicitly prohibiting academic relations, Cuba’s status as a “hostile” country dramatically halted academic relations. In 2004, academic relations reached rock bottom with only 169 educational exchange participants (e.g. research participants or students on study-abroad schemes) between the U.S. and Cuba recorded by the Institute of International Education (IIE), down from 2,148 just the previous year. However, in recent years, numbers have increased. By 2011, the number had risen roughly 300% to 1,454. 

Despite this impressive resurgence, the number of Cuban students actually enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions in 2014 was only 69 students. While in recent decades the number of Cuban students studying in the U.S. has been fairly stable, the influx in educational exchange participants radically fluctuated due to the shifts between President Bush’s and President Obama’s administrations. Without meaningful and long-term student exchanges, academic relations floundered and are thus where the U.S. needs to focus. Student exchanges crucial for fostering younger generations with new cultural and international perspectives outside of their native countries. 

As relations thaw, Florida higher education institutions can lead. Only 90 miles from Cuba, with high concentrations of Cuba-Americans, Florida is geographically and culturally best prepared. Florida International University and the University of Miami are eager to increase student exchanges with Cuba’s nearly three-dozen higher education institutions. In addition, they have even hinted at the potential construction of branch campuses in Havana. Yet, the Florida Board of Governors continues to block educational travel to Cuba, despite federal renewal of diplomatic relations, through the state’s “Travel to Terrorist States Act,” passed in 2006, which largely affects public institutions. By easing Florida schools into Cuba, this can act as the initial step needed for further academic relations. 

Cuban students largely lack access to university entrance exams. This June marked the first time five Cuban students enrolled to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) in Havana, a test offered and administered by New Jersey based non-profit Educational Testing Service (ETS). ETS should follow this with tests such as the American College Test (ACT), Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), Graduate Record Examination (GRE), and Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) in order to help Cuban students applying to U.S. institutions. Once access has been increased to Cuban students, deeper exchanges will follow. 

Before forging fresh U.S.-Cuban academic relations, institutions should take advantage of connections NGOs have previously established. This should not heavily side with science-orientated pathways, but needs to be inclusive with all disciplines. NGOs like the Ford Foundation, Social Science Research Council, World Affairs Council, and IIE all have previous initiatives focused on Cuba. These pathways can guide the navigation for future academic relations and serve as the foundation.   

Cultural awareness and respect toward Cuban society must be a priority in all U.S.-Cuban relations. Despite lacking material resources, Cuban academic institutions offer intellectual and cultural resources through their academic scholars and students. If a U.S.-Cuban academic partnership can be successfully nurtured in a culturally cognisant manner, the renewed relations with Cuba can lead to endless possibilities benefiting both countries. 

Russia in Syria

The news this week has been dominated by Russia’s escalating intervention in Syria, beginning with airstrikes on the 30th of September. Reversing the trend of President Assad’s declining fortunes, the operations have heightened tensions with NATO, especially since Russian aircraft flew over Turkish airspace on Saturday, and NATO has since doubled the size of its Response Force to 40,000. However, Putin maintains that his actions are supporting the only credible opposition to the growing threat of Islamic extremism in the Middle East. 

Has Russia, with its already burdened economy, bitten off more than it can chew? Does Putin have an end-game in sight, and can he reconcile it with the goals of the West? Whatever your view, send it in - via Twitter, Facebook or our website. The contributors best insights will be invited to explore their views further for our journal Sir!

Foreign Policy: The View from Oxford University Liberal Democrats

Guy Butler and Matt Sumption, Writing for OULD

It is vitally important for the Liberal Democrats to develop a coherent and trust-worthy foreign policy, as this will be one of the primary topics of debate over the next parliament. 

The Liberal Democrats have long been in favour of greater cooperation with our European counterparts. This is often characterised as an unqualified pro-EU stance, but as with all characterisations, it misses the nuance of the stance. It is true that the Lib Dems will campaign for the UK to remain in the EU, principally on the basis of the economic security that the common market affords us, the added security to deal with threats such as cross border crime, and the necessity of a supra-national body to coordinate responses to problems that cross national borders. Europe cannot deal with problems like climate change and mass migration on an ad-hoc basis. But that does not mean that the EU is perfect. Lib Dem MEPs have been shown to be the most hardworking members of the European Parliament through their work to reform Europe, to push environmental protection, to reform the Common Agricultural Policy and to move towards a common market in services. Given the huge storms that are brewing on the horizon, we should not be retreating inwards, but instead be looking outwards to take a leading role in setting the European agenda. 

“Given the huge storms that are brewing on the horizon, we should not be retreating inwards””

There are many Liberal Democrats who feel strongly that our nuclear deterrent should be scrapped unilaterally, given its destructive potential, cost and the fact that it is very likely that it will ever be used. However, now is not the time for us to advocate dumping our nuclear deterrent. With Iran having finally buckled in negotiations after intense haggling with nuclear-armed powers such as ourselves, there is a good case for maintaining our nuclear deterrent for the leverage that it affords to Britain’s negotiating position. Renewed Russian aggression in Eastern Europe and now Syria means that we must think about the kind of message we would send to others if we engaged in unilateral disarmament. It is one thing to lead by example, but quite another to ignore our allies in Europe and NATO at the very time when their security is being called into question. If we want to be taken seriously in vital negotiations on subjects such as the refugee crises, we need to build up a reputation for fostering consensus and goodwill. 

At conference, a motion proposing the scrapping of Trident was amended, delaying our party’s final decision on the matter for at least 18 months. This is sensible, given the shifting nature of geopolitics at the moment.  We are the only prominent national party that looks likely to clearly oppose the like-for-like replacement of Trident.  While it appears to be a ‘fudge’, the public will respond better to a measured stance on security than an ideological abject opposition to the renewal of any part of our nuclear stock. 

If less money is to be spent on Trident, we must consider what kind of nature alternative defence spending would take. We have brand-new aircraft carriers but we lack suitable aircraft for them, a crucial deficiency. However, if the Liberal Democrats are serious about establishing legal channels for refugees to come to Europe, we need to set aside an appropriate sum from the defence budget in order to make sure that these are secured, and that the horror of Mediterranean people-smuggling is properly tackled. 

A lot has been made about the moral cause for military intervention abroad, particularly since the disasters of Iraq and Libya. Liberals have always had strong differences over foreign policy, and Liberalism as an ideology has been used to support Imperialism and non-intervention alike over the past century and a half. A consistent, moral foreign policy is always difficult to pursue, but the Liberal Democrats should make clear that this is what we would offer. 

“Liberal countries should not stand idly by as despots massacre thousands of their own people””

We must follow Kennedy’s example by only championing humanitarian intervention abroad when it is undertaken legally and in concert with the right allies. We should remember the example of Bosnia, where we were one of the first parties to advocate intervention. But we struggle to justify any intervention abroad, even when it is clearly undertaken with humanitarian interest, when we simultaneously sell weapons to countries with poor human rights records such as Saudi Arabia and subsequently promote those countries to the head of UN human-rights councils. Liberal countries should not stand idly by as despots massacre thousands of their own people, but any intervention we do take, be it by establishing no-fly zones, providing aid or deploying troops, must be done within the context of a broader foreign policy that consistently upholds liberal, ethical values. 

A foreign policy that is founded on a desire to work with our partners to seek common solutions, that has sought to uphold universal human rights, and that is not afraid to champion the voices of the vulnerable, wherever they are, is a liberal one, and one that is in the best interests of the UK.