Environmental Scan — June 2004

Politics and Government

This section essentially updates trends covered in previous scans - identifying how they are evolving and/or taking on new forms.

Three overarching trends are shaping politics and governance on global and domestic levels:

• the international system remains stable and continues to be dominated and safeguarded by the US
• the relevance of multilateralism and multilateral institutions continues to be questioned - with considerable changes taking place
• governments are facing unprecedented scrutiny of actions and perceived transgressions
  

In this Section...

• US embracing global role on its own terms - supremacy remains unchallenged while anti-Americanism continues to rise globally
• democracy continues global spread - meets resistance in Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa
• international migration - a key priority for rich and poor countries alike - costs and benefits examined
• Canadian government and federal political parties undergoing considerable transformation
• democratic system reform - high priority for Government of Canada (GOC)
• foreign policy review - identification of mechanisms to improve relations with US - focal point in the Canadian context

To obtain an electronic copy (PDF) of this section or the complete report, please send a request by e-mail to the Strategic Policy and Planning Branch of the RCMP to