International Affairs (Balsillie School of)

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This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Balsillie School of International Affairs.

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Sovereignty, Rhetoric, and World Order: Woodrow Wilson’s Self- Determination
(University of Waterloo, 2026-03-31) Lauer, Caleb
This thesis elucidates Woodrow Wilson’s unique rendering of the concept of “self-determination,” examining how Wilson made the concept his own, and how this unique rendering has been obscured by certain conventions and characterizations that predominate in the scholarly literature. I demonstrate that Wilson’s self-determination was less sensational, more limited, and more instrumentalist than is typically acknowledged in the literature—while also being richer in articulation than prevailing interpretations suggest. I situate Wilson’s self-determination within Wilson’s larger persuasive project, a broader rhetorical and political framework which reflected who he was trying to persuade of what, showing that Wilson’s conceptualization of self-determination was inseparable from his efforts to persuade people of his interpretation of the First World War, of the peace settlement that followed, and of the League of Nations as the institutional embodiment of a new world order. This framework was prior to, superordinate to, and much more important to Wilson than was any standalone notion of self-determination. In this way, and contrary to standard accounts, I argue for an image of Wilson’s self-determination that was neither Wilson’s priority, nor summative of his worldview, and neither intrinsically democratic, nor, in its essence, about nationality. And yet in the way Wilson deployed the concept within his larger persuasive project, I argue for an image of Wilson’s self-determination that remains a key to understanding the basis of his vision of a new world order—an order constructed upon the limitations intrinsic to the concept of sovereignty. In this regard, I show that Wilson’s largely unexamined theory of sovereignty is essential to understanding better the significance of his conceptualization of self-determination—not only did Wilson here employ the phrase “self-determination” much earlier than is recognized in the literature, but this earlier usage also offers a corrective to the often-misunderstood distinction between self-determination and the closely associated notions of “the consent of the governed” and “self-government,” and it illuminates his later views on sovereignty in relation to the League of Nations and his vision of world order.
Challenging Privatization in Governance by AI: A Caution for the Future of AI Governance
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2025-09-15) Brandusescu, Ana
Privatization is increasingly driving the uptake of generative artificial intelligence (AI) across various sectors. The drive for AI adoption, whether in the name of innovation or the economy, has dominated mainstream news. However, there is less public awareness of generative AI's devasting impacts on labour and the environment. Whether in self-regulation or government regulation, Big Tech influences the direction of governance of AI, which increasingly is evolving to governance by AI and the automation of jobs. "The future of work is already here," states a 2025 report from Human Rights Watch. "Workers around the world are increasingly hired, compensated, disciplined, and fired by algorithms."
The Fourth Industrial Revolution: Can Emerging Technologies Address Rural Food Insecurity for Smallholder Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa?
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2025-10-22) Dragusha, Valdrin; Brown, Andrea M.
Technological advances have the potential to increase agricultural production in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and thereby respond to growing food insecurity. This paper, in light of what is being called "the fourth industrial revolution," reviews the potential of emerging technologies, in particular artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite crop mapping, for increasing agricultural production and addressing food insecurity in Africa. It concludes that unequal global development, and unequal access to, distribution and control of emerging technologies by China and the United States, combined with the prevalence of smallholder farming, makes positive impacts unlikely in the near future.
Accelerating Canada's Economic Transformation towards Industry 5.0: The Synergistic Potential of the Electric Vehicle (EV) Sector
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2025-11-12) Nathwani, Jatin; Ng, Artie
The main objective of this paper is to identify options of industrial development that are transformative and stand as unique contributors with high-potential for fostering sustainable economic growth, reduced carbon emissions to mitigate the threat of climate risk, and stable levels of employment opportunities through public-private partnership by fostering market-based solutions leveraging on private capital.
Canada's Deteriorating AI Position: A Comparative IP Perspective
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2025-12-15) Hinton, James W.; Blais-Savoie, Fabrice
Utilizing patent data, this paper will attempt to show a portrait of the world's AI patent landscape and explain what happened to Canada's apparent lead in the field. It will build upon methodology from previous reports to collect patent data, then identify current trends in cross-border AI patenting ownership flows, to finally evaluate the adequacy of current Canadian policy and chart a path forward, a path informed by a digital economy where knowledge rents reign supreme and wages stagnate.
The Economics of the Data-driven Economy and the Demand for Antitrust
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2026-01-15) Ciuriak, Dan
Antitrust is again in vogue; its long winter has ended. The revival of demand for antitrust is coincident with the advent of a new Gilded Age - this time in the context of an economy built on intangible assets - IP and (later, increasingly) data.
Beyond the App Store: Reproductive Governance and the Limits of Digital Autonomy
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2026-02-03) Jeziorek, Marika; Natasha, Tusikov
This paper interrogates how digital contraceptive apps govern reproduction through mechanisms of responsibilization, commodification and consent. While some, like Natural Cycles, are certified as Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), and others, like Clue, emphasize compliance with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), regulatory protections remain partial and uneven.
Anchored Ashore: American Life at Guantanamo
(University of Waterloo, 2025-09-12) Georges, Nicole
This dissertation explores how the U.S. Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba (Gitmo) was necessarily a safe deployment destination for American personnel responsible for the detention operation underway at the Joint Task Force – Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) post-9/11. It treats Gitmo as a site of U.S. militarism and domesticity, moving away from portrayals focused solely on its carceral agenda. What emerges is a version of Gitmo that is unfamiliar to most but that was no less real to American personnel on the ground between 2002-2004 who came to see the base as a boon. It was hard for them to lament too closely the overwhelming prospect of being sent to war when they were headed somewhere without combat. Their unusual wartime experiences on a base that looked and felt like a stateside suburb paradoxically reinforced the exceptionalism of the operation they were assigned, but in unexpected ways: personnel, many on their first ever overseas deployment, did not agonize over their safety in this “foreign” locale. But the war’s arrival to this small U.S. neighborhood was also strange because detainees were labeled by one JTF-GTMO commander as “the worst of the worst.” So, why bring them closer to American military families who already lived on base? And upon learning that the war was inbound, why did these Americans choose to stay? This dissertation queries these decisions by exploring the arrival of the wartime cadre and its detainee operation, and the seemingly careless decision to remain on base and live next door to alleged terrorists. None of these decisions registered as unusual on base, offering a unique vantage not only on the routes of U.S. power globally, but also on how this militarism is domesticated and made ordinary as to become part of Americans’ everyday. At Gitmo we find the intersections of the global and local, and how U.S. national security becomes a lived experience for Americans.
Will Canada's Bill C-8 Impact the Future of EU-Canada Cross-border Data Flows?
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2025-07-23) Malone, Matt
Canada's proposed cyber security for critical infrastructure bill, Bill C-8, which reintroduces Bill C-26 from the previous Parliament (with minor tweaks), could lead to a re-evaluation of the European Commission's adequacy decision concerning Canada's data protection laws. As such, the bill could push Canada to the brink of a disruption in the framework governing cross-border data flows between the two jurisdictions. Such a scenario would create tremendous uncertainty for actors in the digital economy who routinely process European's personal data, such as airlines, financial institutions, information management service providers, cloud and data storage companies, and e-commerce platforms.
Code Before Clause: Building Canada's Digital Defences Before Negotiating Trade
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2025-08-23) Appleton, Barry
Canada is about to give away the keys to its digital future - before it even decides what future it wants. This paper argues that any exploratory discussions between Canada and the European Union on a digital trade agreement must be paused until Canada legislates a domestic digital sovereignty framework and builds the governance capacity to implement it.
Artificial Intelligence, the Environment and Resource Conflict: Emerging Challenges in Global Governance
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2025-06-27) Okoi, Obasesam
Artificial intelligence (AI) embodies a system's capacity to autonomously collect and interpret data from its environment, learn from that data, and apply these insights to inform decision making, problem solving and actions that traditionally require human intelligence. At the heart of this technological process are data centres - facilities where AI models are trained, deployed and maintained. As AI infrastructures expand rapidly across the globe, they bring into sharper focus the often-overlooked costs of digital innovation, particularly their entanglement with extractive economies and conflict dynamics.
The Geopolitical Rivalry behind US Chip Export Controls and Its Implications for Canada's Semiconductor Autonomy
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2025-05-27) Cheung, Fred
As a country with minimal domestic manufacturing capacity, Canada relies heavily on imported chips to power its economy. This dependence has heightened its vulnerability to global supply chain disruptions, a weakness made evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, due to a lack of domestic investment sources and a less developed commercialization environment, Canadian semiconductor firms are increasingly gravitating to the United States in search of funding and technological support, aggravating the sector's loss of intellectual property (IP) and talent. This trend has also contributed to rising foreign ownership, making Canadian chip firms more likely to be caught by US export controls. This context highlights the urgency for Ottawa to strengthen its domestic semiconductor ecosystem and reduce exposure to geopolitically driven supply chain risks, particularly at a time when the Trump's administration is seeking to repatriate US overseas semiconductor manufacturing capacity.
HIV and the Volatile New World Order: From Declining Pandemic to One Crisis among Many
(Balsillie Papers, 2025-04-08) Parker, Warren; Whiteside, Alan
In the initial months of the second Trump administration, US foreign aid infrastructure was rapidly dismantled, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a principal implementing agency of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). This abrupt policy shift placed the lives of millions of people living with HIV at risk and significantly weakened global HIV prevention efforts. Numerous health services and local organizations were forced to close, staff were dismissed, and essential HIV services became inaccessible. Concurrently, financial support was withdrawn from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). These changes were enacted without prior notice, consultation or international coordination, and unfolded in the context of a global HIV response unprepared for such a disruption. While the consequences are severe, this unprecedented circumstance offers a critical moment for reflection and reimagining the future of the HIV response.
Coronavirus, Climate and a Clean Energy Transition: Is Resiliency Achievable?
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2020-04-02) Nathwani, Jatin
In the seeds of this current tragedy lies a historic opportunity for Canada to transition to a low-carbon energy economy — away from dependence on the oil and gas sector.
COVID-19 and Global Human Health Resources
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2020-04-02) Walton-Roberts, Margaret
The unprecedented global shut-down due to the pandemic of COVID-19 is exposing public health system weakness globally.
In the Aftermath of COVID-19: Policy Implications for Canada
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2020-04-02) Fitz-Gerald, Ann
The COVID-19 global pandemic has reinforced the need for today’s policy to address humanity’s future critical challenges.
The Significant Insignificance of International Sport in a Global Crisis
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2020-04-22) Elcombe, Tim
The inherent socio-political tension of sport — that it simultaneously matters and doesn’t matter — is never more apparent than times like the current COVID-19 crisis.
The Post-COVID-19 Economy: Financing Canada's Leadership in Sustainable Energy
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2020-05-04) Nathwani, Jatin; Ramsara, Raynier
The politicians and policy makers who will be tasked with addressing Canada’s future fiscal situation likely have not yet begun their careers.
COVID-19 Arising: Lessons in Proactive Response in East Asia
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2020-06-02) Parker, Warren; Barclay, Jill
In China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, a combination of disciplined and proactive responses led to early containment of initial COVID-19 outbreaks.
COVID-19, Age and Mortality: Implications for Public Policy
(Balsillie School of International Affairs, 2020-06-02) Whiteside, Alan; Clement, Felicia
The COVID-19 pandemic has paralyzed the global community, but its impacts around the world have not been homogeneous.

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