Ben Rowswell

Takeaways from the Ditchley Conference On this episode of #TheGlobalExchange, Colin Robertson sits down with Ann Fitz-Gerald, Ben Rowswell, Guy St. Jacques, Thomas J. Timmins and Don McCutchan to discuss their takeaways from the 2025 Ditch

"Soft power," "hard power" - it doesn't matter as long as Canada gets more power. soundcloud.com/user-6094853... My take on debates at the recent Ditchley Canada conference, alongside former Amb to China Guy St-Jacques, Prof Anne Fitz-Gerald, and organizers Tom Timmins and Don McCutchan

Canadians’ clear view of what’s happening to American democracy Alt title: If not fascism, why fascism shaped?

Canada's political leaders don't speak publicly about this, but we voters know very well what's happening in the U.S. - and seek leadership to steer us away from an authoritarian hellhouse in the making

relaywithkyla.substack.com/p/canadians-...

What Canadian Power Felt Like in Kandahar Canada knows how to shape geopolitical outcomes - and what price that can entail

Remembrance Day brings some hard memories. Canada has fought to make the world a better place - and we have the scars to prove it. benrowswell.substack.com/p/what-canad...

We will remember them

Catalyze4 | Our Team Meet the Catalyze4 team—experts in advancing complex projects and supporting transformative change. Committed to helping Canada build better.

Check out the impressive team @andrewbevan.bsky.social l and cofounders have pulled together at www.catalyze4.com/team

Catalyze4 | Our Team Meet the Catalyze4 team—experts in advancing complex projects and supporting transformative change. Committed to helping Canada build better.

Check out the impressive team @andrewbevan.bsky.social and cofounders have pulled together at www.catalyze4.com/team

Thrilled to join a team of nation-builders at Catalyze4, to help firms ready to seize the opportunities in Canada's new role in the global economy. The government has set out a plan spending to catalyze $1T in private investment. I'll lend my help on defence, tech and innovation

CNN analyst: Why Trump made a huge mistake picking a fight with Canada CNN analyst says President Trump is feuding with a country Americans "adore" as tariff rates reach 18%, the highest since 1934.

Polling shows that for Americans, Canada is vastly more popular than their own president. Keep sewaring at our elected leaders, attacking our economy and threatening our sovereignty. You're going to regret it.
www.nj.com/politics/202...

Opinion | In Trump’s America, Are We Losing Our Democracy? Donald Trump has wielded power as no previous president has.

The New York Times has laid out the case authoritatively, over and over again: the U.S. is no longer a democracy. Why bother with the question mark? www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Israel strikes Gaza again after overnight bombardment that killed at least 104 Attacks shatter Palestinians’ short-lived relief since start of ceasefire that now looks increasingly fragile

President Trump's "Peace after 5000 years" didn't even last until the end of the month

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Singaporean PM Alexander Wong says action must be taken now “in building new trade connections and keeping the momentum of trade liberalization. We can’t do it alone, but we will do it with other like-minded countries.” Let’s shift as much of our trade as possible to Asia, Europe and elsewhere

Singapore’s prime minister warns of ‘messy’ transition to post-American order Lawrence Wong says no other country can fill the vacuum left by the US

Great timing that PM Carney is travelling to Asia just as President Trump attempts to cow Canadians into silence with a new 10% tariff. This is where we find our true like-minded today on.ft.com/4nYKFi1 Singapore’s prime minister warns of ‘messy’ transition to post-American order

See the anti-tariff ad Doug Ford has been airing in the U.S. Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government paid around $75 million to air this ad, featuring remarks from former president Ronald Reagan, on U.S. television stations — a move that has angered President Do...

All of Canada should thank the Ontario government for practicing modern diplomacy - taking the message straight to the voters of the United States

www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

Carney meets with opposition leaders ahead of budget address | CBC News Prime Minister Mark Carney met with leaders of the opposition parties ahead of a speech to university students in which he's expected to discuss his government's impending budget.

“It is time to swing for the fences again.” The PM announces that this is a time for the country to take risks. But the Public Service has one overriding priority, deeply encoded in its DNA: Avoid risk at all costs. So who will deliver his agenda?

www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

‘It’s your house. And he’s destroying it’: Trump demolishes White House East Wing President Donald Trump is tearing down the East Wing to build a $250 million ballroom.

So emblematic of what Donald Trump is doing to American democracy www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Opinion: To defend Canadian democracy, reach beyond Canada Amid a rising tide of authoritarianism, Canada can learn from – and help – civic movements around the world

In today’s Globe and Mail by co- authors and I outline an effort by democracy movements from around the world to ally with one another in defending our countries from the authoritarian wave coming from Moscow and Washington www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

6 dead after fresh U.S. strike off Venezuela, Trump says | CBC News The United States struck another small boat accused of carrying drugs in the waters off Venezuela, killing six people, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday.

Another round of extrajudicial killings by a lawless government undermining security in our hemisphere www.cbc.ca/news/world/u...

An intellectual tour de force by U of at Law prof Douglas Sanderson today on the nation-to-nation relations that dominated Indigeous/settler relations prior to Confederation. Since then, “the problem is not colonialism, it is nationalism”

One hour to go! Join Douglas Sanderson at Trinity College Toronto for a masterclass on how diplomacy was practiced for centuries here in this land www.eventbrite.com/e/douglas-sa...

When Venezuelans are once again able to enjoy those rights, it will be because of the tenacity, courage and eloquence of patriots like Maria Corina Machado

But we were undeterred and continued to call on Venezuela’s government to live up to its commitments under the UN Covenants protecting civil and political rights.

When I first arrived in Caracas as Ambassador-designate in 2014, our government had just issued a statement against political persecution of Maria Corina for her support of peaceful protests - and in protest the Maduro government delayed my credentials by 10 months.

So proud of Maria Corina and the entire Venezuelan democracy movement for the recognition the world has given them today with the Nobel Peace Prize.

And proud of the stand Canada has always taken for solidarity with the people of Venezuela in their pursuit of freedom.

After the underwhelming results of yesterday’s PM visit to Washington, it should be clearer than ever that the renegotiation of CUSMA will entail major losses for Canada. We will either face crippling tariffs or surrender a degree of sovereignty

CBC News Network's Andrew Nichols speaks with Former Canadian Diplomat, Ben Rowswell Get the latest on CBCNews.ca, the CBC News App, and CBC News Network for breaking news and analysis.

The era of Canada-U.S. is well and fully dead.

PM Carney is, at best, limiting the damage by refusing to sign bad deals with the U.S. We would do better to focus our energy on reorienting our economy to the emerging EU-Trans Pacific Partnership economic bloc

www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

This argument strikes me as profoundly true. The U.S. is actively attempting to establish dominance over countries that remain democratic. It's not just Europe either ecfr.eu/publication/...

This opens an avenue that Canadians can take in support of a U.S. return to democracy - we should provide shelter for trans Americans fleeing persecution

Transgender Americans are seeing a wave of hate unleashed by Charlie Kirk’s killing | Erin Reed In the aftermath of Kirk’s death, the far-right and Trump administration have turned up attacks on transgender people

U.S. authoritarianism has arrived at the logical next step: organized violence against an innocent but marginalized group scapegoated by the government.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre....

“Free, law-based countries do not shoot people based on only the government’s accusation that they are breaking the law.” Did we need further proof the U.S. is no longer a law-based country?

Opinion | No President Should Have This Kind of Power

The New York Times rightly calls the U.S. Navy’s murder of 17 Venezuelan nationals on the high seas a “moral stain on our country.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...