In 1979, Jeane Kirkpatrick, a Georgetown professor and until then, a lifelong Democrat, published a famous essay in Commentary. Kirkpatrick argued that the Carter administration’s policy of undermining autocrats friendly to the West did not, as intended, produce regimes that respected human rights. Instead, we ended up with the Ayatollah in Iran. Thirty-three years later, C2C Journal highlights that essay and with it this obvious question: Are idealistic Western policies and general hopes for the Arab world doomed to disappointment once again? See Dictatorships and Double-Standards from Commentary.

Ottawa is Playing a Game of Charter Chicken with the Provinces
The federal government has long objected to provinces using the Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ “notwithstanding” clause, arguing it lets them trample over the rights of Canadians. But that view, flawed as it is, is nothing compared to Ottawa’s latest gambit on this issue, writes Andrew Roman. Liberal Justice Minister Sean Fraser’s recent intervention in the case of Quebec’s Bill 21 asks the Supreme Court of Canada to declare limits on the use of the notwithstanding clause. This would amount to a backdoor amendment of the Constitution by the court, one that would give judges even more power and leave elected representatives even less scope to avoid or undo their harmful decisions. More than just an attack on provincial autonomy, writes Roman, it threatens to upset the balance at the heart of Canada’s federal democracy.






