liberals don't believe that you build free societies through marginalization. rather, they believe that you build free societies through co-operation and development.

so, this isn't unexpected. it's standard liberal economics. rather, what was a little weird was watching the tories act like liberals - you would expect *them* to slap down sanctions and isolate them.

but, what we need in the region is some radical post-marxist neo-con regime change - or at least some vaguely lockean concept of a broken social contract. neither boycotts nor dialogue or going to open that society up.

i think a lot of the confusion over this has to do with the spectrum in the united states. so, let's get this straight, ok?

the democrats are conservatives. the republicans are marxists.

there are no liberals in the spectrum.

i mean, you get the perennial third party liberals - ralph nader and the green party, kind of thing. you've got, like, bill maher running his mouth off on tv. but, liberals basically simply don't exist at all in any meaningful politically organized way in the united states.

and, due to the length of time that the liberals have been out of power in canada and their virtual non-existence in mainstream media, it really seems like there's a lot of people in the canadian media that need a crash course in liberalism 101.

i think ignatieff was basically an imbecile. but, this is something he seemed to get. i guess he left for a while and came back and was astonished by the disconnect. if you look through the archives, you'll see that he made an honest attempt to have this discussion - to get this into the media discourse. hence, the question: what is a liberal? what is liberalism? what are liberal values?

all the media seems to want to push is the idea that liberals are basically a front for a couple of bankers, and they just throw out whatever they think will get them elected. but, this is just a bunch of talking points coming from the ndp - and, in fact, it's a rather pathetic set of them. we're talking about liberalism, here. about the only western system of philosophy with more literature attached to it than liberalism is christianity, and that's arguably an eastern system of thought. and, the media wants to claim this doesn't exist?

on issue after issue, there is a well-defined liberal position that usually has centuries worth of thinking attached to it. the reality is that the liberal party of canada reliably holds pretty close to the status quo of academic liberalism. over and over again. for a long time, now.

it would behoove the media to take the time to work this out.

no liberal ever, anywhere, has ever argued that you approach a regime like the saudis through boycotts.

that is a traditionally conservative position - the idea that good behaviour should be rewarded and bad behaviour should be punished.

again: liberals argue that you approach a regime like the saudis from a distance through trade liberalization, which opens up the society; marxists would argue that you need a revolution.

only conservatives would ever argue, ever, that you approach this through a system of punishment and reward.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/trudeau-advised-to-deepen-ties-with-saudi-arabia/article28058715/

the liberals have a long history of trade relationships with dictators. it's not passive pragmatism, or disinterest in human rights. it's basic liberal economic theory that you make things worse through boycotts and you make things better through engagement.

the problem is that liberalism died everywhere else in the western world when hitler made a fool out of chamberlain. canada is the only place it carried on, and the only place it still exists.

you will simply not see this government pick up any of the punitive trade policies that the conservatives/democrats were pushing. that kind of thing is not consistent with liberal foreign relations.

you may, however, see them fund democratizing-type institutions in certain places as they increase their trade footprint. the free flow of ideas is powerful, and liberals are confident that they can win those debates. but, a little funding helps, too.