Morning Panel: Foreign Intervention

     Why do countries choose to intervene? When do nations decide to interfere in other nations’ foreign policies? Is intervention always done with good intentions? Do the recipient countries always accept the interference?

     To some, intervention is a means by which national security and domestic stability can be attained. To others, intervention is an act of control with the perpetrator bringing suffering and instability to the fragile nations of the world. Recent intervention under the banner of “war on terror” has destabilized the international community further and pitted the East versus the West, the Global North versus the Global South.

     As a result, controversy abounds and emotions run high when interventionism is being discussed. Featuring David Frum (former speechwriter to George Bush), Cheri DiNovo (MPP and outspoken political activist) and John McGarry (author of numerous books on ethnic conflict and the politics of Northern Ireland) the Morning Panel is sure to divide the crowd in ways few other debates can.

     The question is: what’s your opinion?

—Amy Bolt and Kaleem Hawa


     David Frum is the author of six books, including most recently "COMEBACK: Conservatism That Can Win Again." He is a columnist for Canada's National Post and Italy's Il Foglio and a regular contributor to American Public Media's Marketplace. From 2001 to 2002, Frum served as special assistant and speechwriter to President Bush. In 2005, he formed and led the group Americans for Better Justice, which spearheaded the opposition to the nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2007 and 2008, he was a senior policy adviser to the Rudy Giuliani presidential campaign. He is a member of the board of directors of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

—David Frum, Author & Policy Adviser


     Rev. Dr. Cheri DiNovo is the Member of Provincial Parliament for Parkdale – High Park and the Deputy Speaker of the Ontario Legislative Assembly. She is also an award winning author. An outspoken social justice activist and a former United Church Minister, DiNovo is most widely known for her work on poverty related issues and with marginalized groups. She was recognized with the highest medal of honour from the government of Ukraine for her work on the Holodomor bill in Ontario. DiNovo is also an advocate for human rights in Tibet and works closely with local Tibet groups.

—Cheri DiNovo, Member of Provincial Parliament for Parkdale – High Park


     John McGarry is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Nationalism and Democracy in the Dept. of Political Studies at Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He has edited, co-edited and co-authored eleven books on ethnic conflict, nationalism, and the politics of Northern Ireland, the latest of which are European Integration and the Nationalities Question (Routledge 2006); The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq (U. Penn Press 2005); and The Northern Ireland Conflict: Consociational Engagements (Oxford U. Press, 2004). He is a member of the editorial board of Ethnopolitics, the Journal of Conflict Studies, Irish Political Studies, the Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe (JEMIE), and Peace and Conflict Studies, and a member of the advisory board of the European Centre for Minority Issues. During 2008-09, he served as ‘Senior Advisor on Power-Sharing’ to the United Nations (Mediation Support Unit).

—John McGarry, Professor & Canada Research Chair (Nationalism & Democracy)