[KWPeace-groups] 21 Upcoming events for peace, earth & justice

[Tamara Lorincz]

Hello everyone!

Hope you all had a good weekend. I wanted to share these 21 upcoming events with you in KW area. I'll be at the "Fridays for our Future" outside of MP Chagger's office at 12:30 this Friday, Feb 1 if you'd like to join. Please feel free to share this list.

Also, please sign the petition "Stop Doug Ford's cuts to OSAP - before too late" and help reach 300,000 signatures: https://www.change.org/p/stop-doug-ford-s-cuts-to-osap-before-it-s-too-late

Thanks & have a great week!
-Tamara

(1)
THE DOCUMENTARY, "THE OCCUPATION OF THE AMERICAN MIND"
Monday, January, 28, 2019 at 7:00 pm
Community Room, Conrad Grebel University College.
Israel's ongoing military occupation of Palestinian territory and repeated invasions of the Gaza strip have triggered a fierce backlash against Israeli policies virtually everywhere in the world -- except the United States. The Occupation of the American Mind takes an eye-opening look at this critical exception, zeroing in on pro-Israel public relations efforts within the U.S. Narrated by Roger Waters and featuring leading observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. media culture, the film explores how the Israeli government, the U.S. government, and the pro-Israel lobby have joined forces, often with very different motives, to shape American media coverage of the conflict in Israel's favor. From the U.S.-based public relations campaigns that emerged in the 1980s to today, the film provides a sweeping analysis of Israel's decades-long battle for the hearts, minds, and tax dollars of the American people in the face of widening international condemnation of its increasingly right-wing policies. Narrated by Roger Waters, and featuring Amira Hass, M.J. Rosenberg, Stephen M. Walt, Noam Chomsky, Rula Jebreal, Henry Siegman, Rashid Khalidi, Rami Khouri, Yousef Munayyer, Norman Finkelstein, Max Blumenthal, Phyllis Bennis, Norman Solomon, Mark Crispin Miller, Peter Hart, and Sut Jhally.
More info: https://www.occupationmovie.org/

(2)
DAY OF REMEMBRANCE: COMMEMORATING QUEBEC'S MOSQUE SHOOTING
Tuesday, January 29 at 5:30 PM - 7 PM
Kitchener City Hall
200 King Street West, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 4G7
Public · Hosted by Coalition of Muslim Women - KW and Hate Crimes Project - Coalition of Muslim Women of KW
Day of Remembrance: Commemorating the Quebec City Mosque shooting and Call to Action
Join hands and hearts in solidarity with your neighbours and friends against all forms of hate
Do bring your children to participate in Salaams Canada Cookie Campaign.
We are also endorsing the Push Back the Darkness Campaign - https://pushbackthedarkness.ca/
For questions / to get more information, contact Sarah Shafiq at cmw.kw.info at gmail.com<mailto:cmw.kw.info at gmail.com> or 226-989-0060
https://www.facebook.com/events/2747200892171216/

(3)
PLAYING NOW: "ON THE BASIS OF SEX: ABOUT SUPREME COURT JUSTICE RBG"
January 28-31
Princess Theatre, Waterloo
http://www.princesscinemas.com/movie/on-the-basis-of-sex
"A winning, inspirational crowd-pleaser à la Hidden Figures, Leder's film follows the early accomplishments of the young Ginsburg (an assured Felicity Jones, convincingly slipping into the trailblazer's shoes), beginning in 1956." - Time Out
Today, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a long-serving and respected Supreme Court Justice. But her first encounters with the nation's highest court came years before she was nominated to it. On the Basis of Sex is the story of Ginsburg as a young lawyer and one of her numerous groundbreaking gender-discrimination wins in the Supreme Court.
This year, audiences flocked to the celebrated documentary RBG - and now, Ginsburg's early days of legal advocacy come to life. Director Mimi Leder dramatizes the landmark Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld case - which gave all parents equal status as caregivers under the law - while exploring the personal and family life of Ginsburg herself.
Rogue One's Felicity Jones stars as Ginsburg, joined by Justin Theroux, Kathy Bates, and Armie Hammer as her husband Marty, in a powerful biographical drama that, despite being set in the 1970s, speaks volumes to America today. A century of discrimination is hard to overcome, but On the Basis of Sex shows how one woman managed to turn things around - and change the future of America.

(4)
TURNING BACK THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2019 - 7:00 PM TO 9:00 PM EST
Kitchener Public Library
Doomsday Clock image showing 2 minutes to midnightIt's no joke. The Doomsday Clock is a widely recognized indicator of global threats from nuclear weapons, climate change, and disruptive technologies.
Join Doug Peers, Dean of Arts, for a discussion with Faculty of Arts scholars in political science, sociology, and English to understand the real threats and possible actions for turning back the clock.
Speakers
Alexander LanoszkaAlexander Lanoszka, Political Science
Back to the Future? Nuclear weapons modernisation and great power competition seem to make global politics more dangerous than ever. But what, if anything, is different about our current situation from what we experienced during the Cold War?
Andrew McMurryAndrew McMurry, English Language and Literature
Everybody talks about climate change but nobody does anything about it. Why are we failing to adequately address this existential threat to the planet? It turns out that communicating the threat of climate change is as challenging as the problem itself. How do our favoured narratives and metaphors condition us to do nothing as the catastrophe unfolds?
Kate HenneKate Henne, Sociology and Legal Studies
Disruption, Debilitation, Doom? What threats do disruptive technologies pose? According to the Doomsday Clock settings, they undermine democracy and political institutions. But, how do they disrupt other aspects of everyday life? Looking at their mundane effects may tell us a lot about risk and social change.
Host: Faculty of Arts; University Relations; Kitchener Public Library
Free - everyone welcome
Kitchener Public Library
Main branch theatre
85 Queen Street North
Kitchener,
More info: https://uwaterloo.ca/arts/events/turning-back-doomsday-clock

(5)
THE SDGS: A POLITICAL ECONOMIC TAKE
January 31 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Balsillie School of International Affairs * Room 1-43
The global Sustainable Development Goals require us to make sure "no one is left behind." That means reaching the hardest to reach. We know how to deliver health to the so-called lowest hanging fruit, but what about the highest hanging fruit - the poorest of the poor, those who lack ID, the marginalized, the invisible? In this talk, Professor Wong will discuss the challenges of delivering health to the hard to reach, the innovations to reach, and the political and economic obstacles in our way.
About the speaker
Professor Joseph Wong was appointed Associate Vice-President and Vice-Provost, International Student Experience on January 1, 2017. Professor Wong is currently the Ralph and Roz Halbert Professor of Innovation at the Munk School of Global Affairs, a Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Arts and Science, and held the Canada Research Chair in Health, Democracy, and Development for two full terms, 2006 to 2016. He was the Director of the Asian Institute at the Munk School from 2005 to 2014.
Professor Wong is the author of many academic articles and several books, including Healthy Democracies: Welfare Politics in Taiwan and South Korea and Betting on Biotech: Innovation and the Limits of Asia's Developmental State, both published by Cornell University Press. He is the co-editor, with Edward Friedman, of Political Transitions in Dominant Party Systems: Learning to Lose, published by Routledge, and recently co-edited with Dilip Soman and Janice Stein Innovating for the Global South with the University of Toronto Press. Professor Wong's articles have appeared in journals such as the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Perspectives on Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Politics and Society, and Governance, among many others.
More info: https://www.balsillieschool.ca/event/the-sdgs-a-political-economic-take/

(6)
FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE CLIMATE STRIKE: KITCHENER-WATERLOO
Friday, February 1
12:30-2pm
Waterloo City Hall, 100 Regina St S - Waterloo, ON
Friday strikes happening all over the world
https://www.facebook.com/events/1163394617169359/

(7)
STEADYING THE HANDS THAT ROCK THE CRADLE: EXPLORING THE ROLES OF AFRICAN GRANDMOTHERS IN THE STABILITY AND SUSTENANCE OF DIASPORIC AFRICAN FAMILIES
February 4 @ 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Free
The presentation explores how the nuclearization, therefore atomization of the family system in North America, as an off-shoot of individualism presents as a serious attenuation of support systems ordinarily. This finding portends even more challenges for Diasporic families, especially those from Africa, which social carpets have been ripped from under their feet owing to migration. Migration conveys stress-laden concomitants for Diasporic entities, which must, among other integration rites of passage, enter the labor force, adjust to the norms and mores of the new culture, balance their socialization and parenting repertoire with the conflicting types decreed by their host country, including endure revision of gender roles. Pertinently, it explores how African grandmothers as an often gender discountenanced social capital and support system, paradoxically attenuates spousal conflicts, including violence, impart culture relevant socialization to the grandchildren and assist to forge and maintain family homeostasis.
About the speaker:
Dr. Buster Ogbuagu has worked as a radio broadcaster, high school teacher, social worker in child protection, juvenile justice, as well as a clinical practitioner in polysubstance dependence and concurrent disorder, and as a new émigré to Canada, he worked as an office cleaner. Dr. Ogbuagu holds a BSc. [Hons] in Sociology & Anthropology from the University of Nigeria. He also earned a BSW, MSW and PhD from McGill University. Philosophically, he is passionate about intersectionalities and anti-oppressive epistemologies to social work practice, which underscore and inform his teaching and practice. As a Diasporic Transnationalist, his current and ongoing research and professional interests include, but are not limited to Social Policy/Welfare, Ethics, Race, Anti-racist/Anti-Oppression, Minority & Gender Issues, Multiculturalism, Refugees, Refugee/Resettlement/Transnational migration, Community Organizing and Advocacy; Child Protection; Mental Health, including Addictions and Disability. Dr. Ogbuagu has documented some of his many lived experiences in several published journal articles and books.
More info: https://www.balsillieschool.ca/event/steadying-the-hands-that-rock-the-cradle-exploring-the-roles-of-african-grandmothers-in-the-stability-and-sustenance-of-diasporic-african-families/

(8)
THE ESCAPE LINE BY DR. MEGAN KOREMAN
Date: February 5
7:00 PM - End Time: 8:00 PM
Waterloo Public Library
Come listen to Dr. Megan Koreman, the author of "The Escape Line: How the ordinary heroes of Dutch-Paris Resisted the Nazi Occupation of Western Europe." The author will speak about he Dutch-Paris Escape Line, which was one of the most effective resistance groups in World War II. It was run by a group of ordinary citizens who smuggled Dutch Jews and others into France, and then to Switzerland. The book is based on recently declassified archives and is a story that has never been told before.
Library: John M. Harper Branch
Location: Community Room
More info: http://calendar.wpl.ca/eventcalendar.asp

(9)
NURSING FOR VICTORY? CANADA'S VOLUNTEER NURSES DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Linda Quiney | University of British Columbia
Wednesday February 6th, 7:00 pm
Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies
232 King Street North, Waterloo
Some 2,000 Canadian and Newfoundland women enlisted as Voluntary Aid Detachment, or VAD, nurses during the First World War, serving as auxiliary nurses in homefront and British military hospitals overseas. Undertaking the only 'active service' work open to women without nursing qualifications, the VADs often saw themselves more as soldiers on the wards than real nurses, but at times felt acutely aware of their amateur status. "Nursing for Victory?" examines the history, work, and experience of this shadow army of women who helped to fill a critical gap in the often overwhelmed wartime military medical services.
Linda Quiney is an Affiliate of the Consortium for Nursing History Inquiry at the University of British Columbia School of Nursing. She is the author of This Small Army of Women (UBC Press, 2017), as well as a number of articles and chapters on Canadian and Newfoundland women's wartime voluntary work in support of the military medical services with the St. John Ambulance and Canadian Red Cross.
More info: http://canadianmilitaryhistory.ca/

(10)
EMPTY PLANET: PREPARING FOR THE GLOBAL POPULATION DECLINE
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2019 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Cigi Campus Auditorium, 67 Erb Street West, Waterloo, Canada
Public Event: Community Event
Speakers: Darrell Bricker John Ibbitson
https://www.cigionline.org/events

(11)
OUR WATER OUR FUTURE
Thursday, February 7, 2019 at 7 PM - 9 PM
First United Church 16 William St W, Waterloo, ON N2L 1J3
Public · Hosted by Divest Waterloo and 2 others
piece of legislation. Bill 66 would allow developers to bypass important environmental protections and land use controls established under other provincial laws, plans and policies, such as the Clean Water Act and the Greenbelt Act, that protect our environment and our health.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/2282245212099570/
The Canadian Environmental Law Association has said that Bill 66 together with other recent "laws to eliminate or dilute important environmental statutes, regulations and programs... constitutes the biggest and most significant environmental rollback to occur in a generation in Ontario."
Join us to learn more about the Implications of Bill 66 for our water and for our future.
https://www.facebook.com/events/2282245212099570/

(12)
FIGHTING AGAINST FORD
Social and Environmental Justice Symposium
February 8 - 10 2019
University of Guelph
ebel Knowledge 2019, OPIRG Guelph's Symposium of Ideas and Action, is taking place the weekend of February 8 - 10 2019 in the University Centre at the University of Guelph. This event is always FREE and provides free food and child care.  The space is physically accessible, with accessible and gender neutral washrooms.  Everyone Welcome! This year's theme is The Fight Against Ford: Resisting the Tory Attack!  Please join us if you're involved or want to get involved in the fight against the Ontario government, or if you're looking for inspiration. We hope to come out of the weekend with a stronger and more vibrant movement for the years ahead. If you're interested in volunteering at the Symposium email mandy at volunteer at opirgguelph.org<mailto:volunteer at opirgguelph.org>.
You can also visit our website:
http://symposium.opirgguelph.org/
More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/586274201828656/

(13)
HANDS OFF VENEZUELA
Saturday, February 9, 2019 at 11 AM - 12 PM
Kitchener Farmers Market
Join us as we hold a info picket demanding that the Canadian state stop interfering in the internal affairs of Venezuela
300 King St E, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 2L3
https://www.facebook.com/events/2382492741966076/

(14)
BLACK HISTORY MONTH: MY PLACE IS RIGHT HERE
February 10 at 3pm
Registry Theatre, 122 Frederick St., Kitchener
A original play written by Aaron Haddad, and performed by the Flex We Talent Players. The powerful story of one of Canada's first civil rights activists. Hugh Burnett was a key figure in the fight for anti-discrimination legislation in Ontario. Through the 1940s and early 1950s, he organized tirelessly against racial discrimination in public service in his hometown of Dresden, Ontario, rising to prominence as a leader and organizer of the National Unity Association (NUA), a coalition of black community members who advocated for equal rights.
February 10, 2019 at 3:00 pm
Tickets: $10 in advance $12 at the door
Tickets are available at the door or you can Buy Online
https://www.registrytheatre.com/ourworld/

(15)
CINEMA SERIES: "DAWNLAND"
Wednesday, February 20, 2019 7:00 Pm - 9:00 Pm
Cigi Campus Auditorium, 67 Erb Street West, Waterloo, Canada
Public Event: Cinema Series
For most of the 20th century, government agents systematically forced Native American children from their homes and placed them with white families. As recently as the 1970's, one in four Native children nationwide were living in non-Native foster care, adoptive homes, or boarding schools. Many children experienced devastating emotional and physical harm by adults who mistreated them and tried to erase their cultural identity.
Now, for the first time, they are being asked to share their stories.
In Maine, a historic investigation-the first government-sanctioned truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) in the United States-begins a bold journey. For over two years, Native and non-Native commissioners travel across Maine. They gather testimony and bear witness to the devastating impact of the state's child welfare practices on families in Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribal communities. Collectively, these tribes make up the Wabanaki people.
The feature-length documentary Dawnland follows the TRC to contemporary Wabanaki communities to witness intimate, sacred moments of truth-telling and healing. With exclusive access to this groundbreaking process and never-before-seen footage, the film reveals the untold narrative of Indigenous child removal in the United States.
https://www.cigionline.org/events/cinema-series-dawnland

(16)
INDIGENOUS SPEAKERS SERIES PRESENTS MARIA CAMPBELL
Wednesday, February 13, 2019 at 4 PM - 6 PM
Modern Languages Theatre of the Arts
The Indigenous Speakers Series proudly presents Maria Campbell, Cree-Métis writer, playwright, filmmaker, scholar, teacher and elder. Campbell's memoir Halfbreed (1973) is regarded as a foundational piece of Indigenous literature in Canada for its attention to the discrimination, oppression and poverty that some Métis women (and other Indigenous people) experience in Canada.
Campbell has published several other books and plays, and has directed and written scripts for a number of films. As an artist, Campbell has worked with Indigenous youth in community theatre and advocated for the hiring and recognition of Indigenous people in the arts. She has mentored many Indigenous artists during her career. Among many honours and awards, Campbell received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2005, and was named Officer of the Order of Canada in 2008.
This Indigenous Speakers Series event is co-presented by the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre, the Faculty of Arts, the Department of History, and the Department of Communication Arts. The Series highlights the voices of Indigenous artists, writers, activists, and leaders from across Turtle Island, offering UWaterloo students, faculty and staff opportunities to learn from, understand, and engage with Indigenous issues.
No registration required. Free event. https://www.facebook.com/events/515825765587428/

(17)
"HOME STATE RESPONSIBILITY" AND CONTESTED SOVEREIGNTIES IN AFRICA'S MINING SECTOR
February 14 @ 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Balsillie School of International Affairs * Room 1-43
Recent research triggers the need to better understand the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR), multinational mining companies, and state behaviour. In particular, the nascent concept of home state responsibility (HSR) remains challenged with unknowns, as it is not clearly understood how this emerging concept differs from a government-censored CSR, and why it matters. In this talk, Dr. Compaoré asks what issues, insights and prospects the concept of home state responsibility brings to debates on local-global dynamics in Africa's mining sector. This is a critical question for debates on the resource-conflict nexus, especially at a time when African state and non-state actors are increasingly contesting the role of multinational mining corporations, and displaying greater agency in the governance of their mineral resources. Specifically, the tripartite dynamics between host states, mining companies and home states bring to light multiple dimensions of sovereignties, and also involve contestations from local communities affected by mining projects. Informed by a legal pluralist framework to regulation that is anchored within a Third World Approach to International Law, the analysis addresses whether and to what extent, the innovative concept of HSR may be a tool and/or a hindrance in addressing governance challenges in Africa's mining sector.
About the speaker
Image of WR Nadege CompaoreW. R. Nadège Compaoré is a Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA) Postdoctoral Fellow. Prior to joining the BSIA, she was respectively a Research Analyst at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Social Science at York University. Her work lies at the intersection of Global Political Economy, International Relations and International Law scholarships, which guide her analysis of global and regional governance measures targeting the oil, gas and mining industries in Africa. Nadège's research draws from extensive fieldwork in Gabon, Ghana, and South Africa, respectively funded by SSHRC, CIGI, and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Her ongoing project investigates the changing nature of mining legislations in Africa, and the implications of these changes for multinational corporations, as well as for state behaviour in both host and home countries. Her work has been published in journals such as International Studies Review, Etudes Internationales, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, and Contemporary Politics. Nadège is co-editor of New Approaches to the Governance of Natural Resources: Insights from Africa (Palgrave, 2015). She holds a PhD in Political Studies from Queen's University.
https://www.balsillieschool.ca/event/home-state-responsibility-and-contested-sovereignties-in-africas-mining-sector/

(18)
RCI TALKS - MAPPING ONTARIO'S ENERGY TRANSITION
Date: 21/02/2019
Start Time: 7:00 PM- 8:30 PM
Description:
The Land-use and Landscape Impacts of Renewable Energy Development. A rapid transition away from fossil fuels and toward low-carbon and renewable energy resources is necessary in order to avoid dangerous levels of climate change. Join our discussion as we look at renewable energy resources and their relationships to policy, technology and geography. Rebecca Jahns is a Master's student in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics at the University of Guelph. Register online with Eventbrite.
Library: McCormick Branch
Location: Community Room
Contact: Jennifer Webb
Contact Number: 519-886-1310 X 213
Link: Eventbrite Registration link
More info: http://calendar.wpl.ca/eventcalendar.asp

(19)
CHELSEA'S STORY
February 21-23 @ 7:30 pm
February 23-24 @ 2 pm
The Registry Theatre, 122 Frederick St., Kitchener
Ontario is reputed to have the highest level of human sex trafficking in Canada, harbouring 70% of all human trafficking activity, in part due to highways such as the 401 and the QEW that allow for quick movement between cities. Most people think human sex trafficking is an "international" issue of smuggling people in from other countries. In fact the majority is sex trafficking, specifically child sexual exploitation, which is a domestic issue and the problem is growing. Sex trafficking occurs when people are recruited, coerced, or deceived into providing sex services. In 2015, Police found 27 cases of trafficking in Waterloo region; 26 involved sexual exploitation. 93% of trafficked victims in Canada are girls around the ages of 12 to 15. This problem is far larger that we know with most cases being unreported.
We need to understand human sex trafficking so we can mobilize efforts to prevent it. This takes an "all hands on deck" approach.
JM Drama Alumni, working in partnership with the Waterloo Crime Prevention Council (WRCPC) and the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region (SASC), is producing a community play to start a broader dialogue about this issue that in turn will hopefully lead to some upstream prevention measures.
Chelsea's Story written by Sean McGrath from Alter Ego Creative Solutions UK is a compelling saga that will be the centrepiece for a series of outreach and educational opportunities around human sex trafficking. The goal is to increase awareness and mobilize community and its services to prevent our children from being victimized in the first place.
Performances will run from February 21-24, 2019 coinciding with Human Trafficking Awareness Day at The Registry Theatre, located in downtown Kitchener, Ontario.
The community theatre production of Chelsea's Story will be augmented by a series of outreach activities into the community both before and after. School aged children will be a particular area of focus. Strategic outreach to youth at risk will bring members of the community to the theatre that are unlikely to engage in the arts otherwise and often struggle with social challenges that are not always well understood.
Partnerships will be the key to the success of this endeavour; it is only through meaningful interaction with local stakeholders, both individuals and organizations, that we can foster shared ownership of the project, and generate a collective response to the complex problems we face in our communities.
The Chelsea's Story project is grateful to acknowledge funding support from the Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation and the Landmann Family Fund.
Tickets: $20, $15 Student/Senior, $5 eyego
For group rates, email info at registrytheatre.com<mailto:info at registrytheatre.com>
Call 519-578-1570 or Buy Tickets Online: https://www.registrytheatre.com/

(20)
BLANKET EXERCISE FACILITATOR TRAINING
February 23, 2019 - 8:30am to 5:00pm
Community Room, MCC
50 Kent Avenue
Kitchener, ON N2G 3R1
MCC Indigenous Neighbours Team would like to invite you to this training on Saturday, February 23, 2019.  Join Lead Trainer and Grandmother, Mim Harder, as well as Indigenous Neighbours Animator, Kandace Boos for a meaningful day.
This session will prepare you to lead the blanket exercise, a powerful teaching tool to foster Truth and Reconciliation. Spaces are limited. Pre-registration is required
Cost is $25 per person. Lunch, snacks and refreshments are included.
Schedule:
8:30 AM: Registration and refreshments
9:00 AM: Blanket exercise and talking circle
11:00 AM: Health break
11:15 AM: Training begins
12:30 PM: Lunch
1:00 PM: Training resumes
2:30 PM: Health break
5:00 PM: Training concludes
More info: https://mcccanada.ca/get-involved/events/blanket-exercise-facilitator-training-0

(21)
CANADA, OIL AND WORLD POLITICS: THE REAL STORY OF TODAY'S CONFLICT ZONES - IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, VENEZUELA, UKRAINE AND MORE
February 27 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Free
Petroleum is the most valuable commodity in the world and an enormous source of wealth for those who sell it, transport it and transform it for its many uses. As the engine of modern economies and industries, governments everywhere want to assure steady supplies. Without it, their economies would grind to a standstill. Since petroleum is not evenly distributed around the world, powerful countries want to be sure they have access to supplies and markets, whatever the cost to the environment or to human life. Coveting the petroleum of another country is against the rules of international law - yet if accomplished surreptitiously, under the cover of some laudable action, it's a bonanza. This is the basis of "the petroleum game," where countries jockey for control of the world's oil and natural gas. It's an ongoing game of rivalry among global and regional countries, each pursuing its own interests and using whatever tools, allies and organizations offer possible advantage.
This talk, based on the book Oil and World Politics: The real story of today's conflict zones - Iraq, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ukraine and more, covers oil-producing countries, transit countries, the Big Powers as well as Canada. John Foster explores military interventions, tensions around international waterways, and the use of sanctions or political interference related to petroleum trade. Drawing on his experience as a petroleum economist, John illuminates the petroleum-related reasons for government actions usually camouflaged and rarely discussed publicly.
About the speaker:
John Foster has spent his working life as a petroleum economist. He has more than 40 years' experience in policy and economic issues relating to infrastructure and petroleum. While holding positions with the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, Petro-Canada and BP group, he witnessed first-hand the impact of petroleum geopolitics in more than 30 countries around the world.
This event is co-sponsored by the Peace and Conflict Studies Association of Canada (PACS-Can) and LSPIRG.
More info and to RSVP: https://www.balsillieschool.ca/event/canada-oil-and-world-politics-the-real-story-of-todays-conflict-zones-iraq-afghanistan-venezuela-ukraine-and-more/?rsvp_sent=1