The World Policy Institute had the distinct pleasure of meeting with the honorable Lloyd Axworthy on February 10th. An avid reader of our Journal , he spoke about Canada's Human Security Agenda. This innovative approach to foreign Policy is aimed at putting people first by developing new concepts, adapting diplomatic practice and updating the institutions on which the international system is based. Overall, the human dimension needs to be more integrated into the work of international institutions. He noted how the International Campaign to Ban Landmines broke the mold and that increased NGO's and grassroots cooperation with government created a movement that is producing global results.
Consciousness stimulates conscience.
Globalization has made individual human suffering an irrevocable universal concern. In our interconnected world, our own security is increasingly indivisible from that of our neighbors - at home and abroad . . . We look forward to cooperating with the Foreign Minister an UN Ambassador on small arms initiatives and combating the trade of licit and illicit weapons. We have reached this point where the senior military generals responsible for nuclear forces are advocating more vocally, more vehemently than our politicians to get down to lower and lower weapons. Think about that.