Dec 10 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — The captured scene of Justin Trudeau, Emmanuel Macron and Boris Johnson quietly conferring on the actions of Donald Trump created its own sensation, but in many ways served as a microcosm of current global tensions. It was an unfortunately timed incident that nevertheless exposed inevitable realities. The nature of power in a world of nation […]
Dec 3 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — We’ve been hearing it for years, even in the decade before Donald Trump – the end of the American Empire. The analogies to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire have been plenteous and concerning. The America we knew – the better part of it – is gone, we are told, and all that’s […]
Nov 22 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — So, it’s over – for now at least. Thursday was the last day of Congressional public hearings on the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Some things are now clear: Whether rising to impeachment levels or not, Donald Trump is in a lot of trouble The professional intelligence and diplomatic presentations were something of a […]
Nov 20 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — Last year at this time everyone was talking about populism, the Alt-Right movement, authoritarianism and what seemed like the slide towards global anarchy. These were, and remain, significant enough to undo more enfeebled democracies around the world. While the outsized dealings of Donald Trump continue to sow confusion and alarm, other developed nations face their […]
Nov 6 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — In a time when little seems predictable, when democracy delivers untenable outcomes and citizenship collapses in on itself in order to protect what it believes it is losing, there remains this latent, almost invisible, desire to find something that is definite and that we can count on. This is where populism is born and could […]
Oct 30 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — It used to be that we thought of revolutions as periods of episodic anger in history, where enough angst had built up to overthrow systems – political, economic, religious, cultural – in order to bring about change. But we are now comprehending that revolutions in the modern globalized era can also take a different direction. […]
Oct 23 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — The heat of the federal election is now over and cold morning of reality has begun to set in. All that energy. All those voiced aspirations of what a great country this is. All those promises that our democracy now matters more than ever. Unfortunately, such noble ideals were drowned out by a context that […]
Oct 15 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — During the 40 years between 1970 and 2010, new democracies suddenly erupted across the globe. The turbulent year of 1973 saw only 45 of the world’s 151 nations were reported by Freedom House to actually be “free.” Portugal, Spain and Greece were subjected to dictatorships, the Soviet Union and its satellite nations appeared secure, Mao […]
Oct 9 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — Electoral contests are hardly ever about the world in which Canada seeks to excel. This election is no different. A decade ago, one leadership candidate for a national party touted the idea of Canada being the world’s first international nation. He spoke of how millions in the world wanted to migrate to our shores, how […]
Oct 2 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — There is little question that global democracy has hit a speed bump. The many flirtations with populism cascading through Europe and America were too often accompanied by an extremism that made general populations uncomfortable. As hatred, racism and alt-right movements used political turbulence and vulnerabilities to show their true colours, millions of voters and citizens […]
Sep 10 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — For political junkies, there’s been no time like it. The embroiled happenings in Britain, America, and less frequently France, Germany and Russia have turned these days into a kind of madness that hasn’t been seen in decades. The spectacle of democracy falling apart on countless screens in real time, hour upon hour, can bring one […]
Aug 27 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — The G7 in France, now concluded, held little in the way of significance. There was the odd surprise (Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s drop-in visit) and Justin Trudeau’s pledge of over half the group’s combined total to fight the Amazon forest fires, but ultimately the summit was about containing any damage instilled by the American […]
Aug 20 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — We are all endeavouring to enjoy the fading days of summer before the hyper-activity of the federal election fires up. The political parties have used the warmer days to hit the hustings in an attempt to tenderize voters for the melee that is about to ensue. But this election will be held against a backdrop […]
Aug 15 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — We know it’s coming and it will be confounding. The use of fake news, “Black Ops,” and digital algorithms designed to skew reality are about to become part and parcel of the next federal election campaign scheduled for a few months from now. We look on, aghast, at the social media shenanigans south of the […]
Aug 5 2019 — Glen Pearson — National Newswatch — “Well, Mr. Pearson, you might be in the wrong business.” Deepak Obhrai said the words in such a genial manner that I could only smile in return. It was early in my political time as an MP in Parliament when Obhrai stopped me on my way down the stairs leading to the underground tunnel between […]