I leave Fès, the cultural capital of Morocco and UNESCO world heritage site, with some valuable insights. First and foremost, my conversation last week with Canadian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Bob Rae, unearthed a series of relevant considerations for my work on ratification variation. Rae suggested provincial legal disputes as a potential barrier of ratification. In other words, failure to ratify conventions may be a byproduct of bureaucratic red tape or provincial legislation that conflicts with the federal agenda. Next, my time in Morocco has forced me to critically reconsider both the definition and relevance of the term middle power. The term can simultaneously be all-encompassing and extremely limiting. The applicability of the term middle power is subject to definitional delineation that posits criteria for a middle power based on observed traits in existing middle powers. This circular logic (ie assigning middle powers traits based on the traits exhibited in states I would assume to be middle power) renders the distinction meaningless. Instead, it may be far more useful to abandon the notion of middle power and consider state attributes beyond that framework. Representative Rae and I discussed the term’s historical usage, agreeing that it was particularité useful in the post-ww2 era to describe allied states, like Canada. However, the economic and financial presence of new states, for example BRIC states, fundamentally disrupts the traditional middle power criteria. All in all, there is a lot of good food for thought from this stage of the journey! I am so grateful to everyone supporting this adventure! ❤️❤️
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