Introducing the Diehard Optimist

Short essays on politics, the economy and our ever-changing world

It started early.

In high-school my friends and I used to organize a model United Nations for students. Then I became a diplomat and politician. So my life has been coloured by the politics and economies of many countries, none more than my own, Canada.

There were no grounds for blind optimism then, when the Berlin Wall was still standing, and there may be fewer today. Many are losing confidence in the future. To get it back, we need to be clear-eyed about what’s happening.

1. Why this, why now?

Today we get boatloads of news and reporting on almost every subject. It’s diverse and largely informative. But it often still leaves readers confused or fearful, lacking a complete picture of what’s really going on. For many years, I’ve sensed a growing appetite for deeper insight. This is my modest attempt to supply it.

2. Building a community of insight and action

Since February 2022, when I was living with family in Nairobi, I’ve played a small part in the vast network of people worldwide trying to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian aggression. Ukrainians inspired us all with their courage, resourcefulness and principled leadership, but full support for their cause has still not come.

We need principled action on many fronts. There’s no longer a unifying agenda for trade or the economy. Our democracies are literally under attack on multiple fronts. Simmering conflicts threaten to become protracted wars. Shared narratives wither —without any great new cause or sense of purpose to replace them. In this space, I hope to connect with people who are as committed as I am to renewing a shared agenda — and putting principled action behind it.

3. Topics that matter, with mustard

The Diehard Optimist needs to work hard to stay upbeat. These essays will focus regularly on the one country I’ve found, at every stage of my career, to be sowing the most discord and disorientation (Russia), as well as Ukraine and other targets of this aggression. I will write about Canada and other parts of the world, about issues from technology to terrorism, pus the fight to keep our democracies free and pluralistic, to make them more innovative and inclusive, and to keep growing.

I will try to do this with some élan — a sense of perspective and a bearing on events, leavened by first-hand experience. In other words, with mustard.

The Diehard Optimist will deliver at least two essays a week — one on Friday and one mid-week. With your support, we’ll do more. Essays will be for paying subscribers, but the first paragraphs and occasional full posts will be free.

4. I paddle; therefore I am.

This is my Dad, Bruce Alexander, paddling away on a lake in northern Ontario or Québec when I was still play-acting UN roles, or toiling in Canadian embassies in Moscow or Kabul. We lost him on June 1, 2022: his absence still stings.

A larger-than-life character, Bruce loved the outdoors. He loved his country. He adored politics in the widest sense and people of all kinds. More than anyone I know, he had a true sense of purpose, guiding himself and others through waters treacherous, deep or sun-dappled. He steered his own canoe, and taught me to do so. He was the original Diehard Optimist. These essays are dedicated to him.

5. We can do this.

In every job I’ve had or project I’ve tackled, with every team I’ve been part of, we’ve found ways to make things profoundly better. Sometimes the result subsequently came apart. In others, we had to start again or under-estimated the challenge. But the effort was always worthwhile. Our persistence paid off. Today we face a whole new raft of problems — that we can only solve together.

Warm regards,

Chris

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