summit

Thursday September 14, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 14, 2023

When Two Tyrants Collide: Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin’s Shadowy Meeting in Vladivostok

September 22, 2022

In the ever-evolving global political landscape, a recent summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok has raised eyebrows and stoked curiosity. The gathering occurred against the backdrop of Vladimir Putin’s contentious war in Ukraine, a conflict that has drawn widespread condemnation and international sanctions. Although the official agenda for the summit revolved around economic cooperation and regional stability, the meeting has left us pondering the implications of two authoritarian leaders coming together.

News: Kim Jong-un offers Putin ‘full support’ in Russia’s ‘sacred fight’ with west  

Held at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, the summit symbolizes a convergence of interests between Kim and Putin, both of whom find themselves locked in confrontations with the United States. Even as North Korea’s missile tests have triggered global concerns, Kim’s visit to Russia was accompanied by missile launches, signalling the regime’s unwavering commitment to advancing its military capabilities. These actions cannot be dismissed lightly, as North Korea potentially possesses tens of millions of aging artillery shells and rockets based on Soviet designs—resources that could substantially bolster Russia’s efforts in Ukraine.

The prospect of a clandestine arms-for-resources arrangement between North Korea and Russia raises troubling questions about the international community’s ability to enforce sanctions effectively. Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has historically endorsed sanctions against North Korea. However, this summit casts a shadow over Russia’s commitment to these sanctions and underscores the daunting challenges of maintaining a united front against rogue states.

March 4, 2022

What adds an intriguing layer to this summit is the mutual admiration expressed by Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin for former U.S. President Donald Trump. Putin, while speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, characterized the legal cases against Trump as political vengeance and a testament to the corruption within American politics. He even suggested that Trump’s potential return to the presidency would be a positive development for Russia, particularly in the context of resolving the Ukraine crisis.

News: Trump embraces Putin’s sympathetic comments to claim political persecution  

May 1, 2018

While it might be tempting to dismiss Putin’s remarks as mere rhetoric, the reality is that Trump’s presidency was marked by an unconventional affinity for strongman leaders, including Kim and Putin. Trump’s claims of having a personal rapport with Kim Jong-un, including declarations that they “fell in love” through letters, were met with skepticism and ridicule. Yet, Trump’s assertion that he maintains contact with Kim, as reported by journalist Maggie Haberman, adds a layer of intrigue to this already intricate web of relationships.

If there is indeed a covert channel of communication between Trump and Kim, the potential implications for U.S. foreign policy are profound. It raises questions about coordination (or the lack thereof) between Trump and his successor, President Joe Biden, concerning North Korea-related issues. This lack of coordination could hinder diplomatic efforts and exacerbate tensions in the region.

In a world where diplomacy and international norms are continually challenged, the meeting between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin serves as a stark reminder of the intricate complexities and inherent dangers of geopolitics. It underscores the pressing need for a cohesive international response to threats posed by rogue regimes and the importance of rigorously addressing potential sanctions violations.

As the world observes the unfolding drama involving Kim, Putin, and Trump, one fact remains clear: the pursuit of power and self-interest knows no bounds, and it is incumbent upon the international community to uphold the principles of peace, stability, and accountability in an ever-evolving global landscape. (AI)  

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro. If you’re creative, give illustration a try:

 

Tuesday January 10, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday January 10, 2023

Three Amigos Summit 2023

February 23, 2017

Mexico draws millions of international tourists each year with its sandy beaches, mountains, rainforests and rich culture.

But travelling anywhere can come with safety risks, as Canadians in the Mexican state of Sinaloa experienced last week following the Jan. 5 arrest of alleged drug trafficker Ovidio Guzman. Guzman is a son of former cartel boss Joaquin Guzman, also known as El Chapo. His capture resulted in explosions of violence in cities across the state, led by members of the Sinaloa cartel.

As a result of the violence in Sinaloa, the Canadian government has issued an advisory warning travellers to avoid non-essential travel to several states in northern, western and central Mexico and to exercise a “high degree of caution” in other parts of the country. (CTV News) 

November 18, 2021

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hoping to champion North America free trade while settling trade irritants at the “Three Amigos” summit in Mexico City, but his priorities might be drowned out by more pressing border issues between the United States and Mexico.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hoping to champion North America free trade while settling trade irritants at the “Three Amigos” summit in Mexico City, but his priorities might be drowned out by more pressing border issues between the United States and Mexico.

“I think as it’s currently framed, the North American Summit is a lot about Mexico,” said Maryscott Greenwood, CEO of the Canadian American Business Council, who noted that Biden preceded his visit to Mexico by inspecting a busy port of entry for migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

In that context, Trudeau’s main challenge as he steps foot in Mexico City will be “to be relevant and to be heard,” added Greenwood.

March 23, 2005

“For Canada to be really heard and noticed, it has to have one priority and it has to be really aggressive about it. And I realize that’s sort of un-Canadian,” she said. “But that’s the way it goes with trying to capture the attention and the imagination of the United States, which has a lot going on.”

Speaking from Mexico City, Louise Blais, a former diplomat and now senior special adviser to the Business Council of Canada, said that while the border issues will be “distracting,” she thinks the Canadian delegation will manage to carve out time for the files it feels are important.

“So that’s a challenge, but that’s not to say that it won’t happen,” said Blais.

Trudeau arrived in Mexico City on Monday for a three-day visit, which will include bilateral meetings Tuesday with Biden and Lopez Obrador as well as meetings with business leaders. (The National Post) 

 

Wednesday August 24, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday August 24, 2022

So, four premiers go into a bar …

October 29, 2019

Something sadly predictable happens whenever a group of premiers gets together to talk, in particular about health care. We have to do better, a Team Canada approach, equal partners blah, blah, blah. And oh, by the way give us money, Ottawa. Loads more money. But don’t attach any strings, because that would intrude on provincial jurisdiction, which health care is.

All this happened this week when Maritime premiers and Doug Ford got together in New Brunswick. Ford said: “We look forward to having a collaborative relationship with the federal government … This is a Team Canada approach that we need to take.”

“The delivery of health care in P.E.I. and across the country is going to be fundamentally different than it used to be,” said the island province’s premier Dennis King.

Tuesday June 15, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 15, 2021

The Wreckage Donald Trump Left Behind

January 16, 2020

Somewhere in China, a company recently received an order for boxes and boxes of reusable face masks with g7 uk 2021 embroidered on them. Over the weekend in Cornwall, in southwest England, these little bits of protective cloth were handed to journalists covering the 2021 summit of some of the world’s most powerful industrial economies—so they could write in safety about these leaders’ efforts to contain China.

August 24, 2019

The irony of the situation neatly summed up the trouble with this year’s G7 summit. The gathering was supposed to mark a turning point, a physical meeting symbolizing not only the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic but also a return to something approaching normalcy after the years of Donald Trump and Brexit. And in certain senses it was. With Joe Biden—the walking embodiment of the traditional American paterfamilias that Trump was not—no one feared a sudden explosion or American walkout as before. Biden is not the sort of person to hurl Starbursts at another leader in a fit of pique. And yet, the reality was that the leaders in attendance were playing their diplomatic games within tram lines graffitied on the floor largely by the former U.S. president, not the incumbent one.

January 12, 2021

Emerging from a weekend of summitry last night, it was hard to avoid the reality that the great questions hanging over the gathering were ones shaped either by Trump or by the years of Trump: Europe’s frustration with American vaccine protectionism (which began under Trump but has been maintained by Biden), ongoing disputes over Brexit, the future of NATO, worries over Russian interference, and, ultimately, China, the great other at this event. As German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in her closing remarks: “Look, the election of Joe Biden as U.S. president doesn’t mean that the world no longer has problems.”

June 9, 2018

Everywhere you looked—whether in the communiqué itself, or the press conferences and summaries of leaders’ meetings—you could see the unresolved questions of the past few years, as presidents and prime ministers reacted to the problems thrown up, exacerbated, or actively caused by Trump. All agreed that they wanted to move on from the instability of his tenure, but they seemed divided and unclear about how, never mind what the new era should look like. With Biden’s congressional majority in doubt and Trump’s future intentions uncertain, Europe retains a latent fear that the U.S. is merely between eruptions, not recovering from one.

May 24, 2017

The leaders seemed to embody this sense of time being paused. Merkel has been chancellor so long, she attended her first G7 summit with George W. Bush and Tony Blair. Italy’s Mario Draghi might be a new prime minister, but he is no stranger to the world’s global establishment—a representative of the old order if ever there was one. Even Biden himself, hailed as a “breath of fresh air” by the summit’s host, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is hardly a new face on the world stage.

Ultimately, this G7 summit seemed to be stuck somewhere between the past and the future—between the era of Trump and the world some of these politicians hope to create. (The Atlantic) 

Tuesday February 23, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday February 23, 2021

Biden to meet virtually with Trudeau on Tuesday in first meeting with a foreign leader

U.S. President Joe Biden’s first official meeting with a foreign head of government will be a virtual encounter on Tuesday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

January 26, 2021

“The president will highlight the strong and deep partnership between the United States and Canada as neighbours, friends and NATO allies,” the White House said in a statement on Saturday.

The Prime Minister’s Office said meeting agenda items include the COVID-19 pandemic, economic recovery, job creation, maintaining cross-border supply chains, climate change, energy, defence and security, and diversity and inclusion.

The U.S. president’s Keystone XL pipeline cancellation is expected to come up but will not likely be a main focus of the meeting. 

June 24, 2020

The detention of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in China is also expected to be raised by Trudeau, according to a source who spoke to CBC News confidentially.

Biden has already had a series of phone conversations with a number of leaders, starting with Trudeau, shortly after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

The new administration has signalled its desire to improve relationships with traditional American partners by scheduling his first calls, and now a first meeting, with the country’s democratic allies. 

Biden has already had a series of phone conversations with a number of leaders, starting with Trudeau, shortly after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

June 22, 2019

The new administration has signalled its desire to improve relationships with traditional American partners by scheduling his first calls, and now a first meeting, with the country’s democratic allies. 

Conversely, Biden has de-emphasized relationships with non-democratic figures that had been cozier during the Trump era.

The White House has said Biden would not deal directly with Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman because the crown prince is not officially the country’s ruler. It also said Biden planned to speak with allied leaders before figures such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin, though he did eventually talk to Putin in the second week of his presidency. (CBC)