Alasdair S. Roberts

Jun 27

“Adaptable Country” recommended by Choice

Choice, which is part of the American Library Association, has included The Adaptable Country in its June 2025 list of Top 75 Community College Titles. The complete list is here.

The Choice review says: “”Governments, like living organisms, must adapt to their environments or they will die. This is the premise of Roberts’s timely book. Roberts argues that Canada needs both regular and monumental Royal Commission–style efforts to discuss, weigh, plan, and execute ideas to help it adapt to rapidly changing conditions at home and abroad. [H]is analyses of the problem should be given very serious attention.”

Jun 17

Article in The Walrus on the US presidency

My article “The Crisis That Made Trump Possible Didn’t Start with Trump” was published by The Walrus on June 17. Read it here.

Jun 10

Interview on Shaye Ganam Show, 880 CHED

I spoke with guest host Angela Kokott about my op-ed in the Globe and Mail about the need for an annual Canada Summit. Listen here.

Jun 9

Op-ed in Globe and Mail

My op-ed on the need for annual meetings of Canada’s first ministers and Indigenous leaders was published in the Globe and Mail on June 9. Read it here.

May 4

Interview on Global News’ West Block

On May 4, I talked with Mercedes Stephenson on Global News’ The West Block about my book The Adaptable Country. Full video here; interview starts about four minutes in .

May 3

1 Comment

Levine Lecture at American University

I’m looking forward to delivering the 2025 Charles Levine Memorial Lecture at American University’s School of Public Affairs on May 2, 2025. The title of my lecture is “The Broken Republic.” A background paper is available on SSRN | Read the introduction on Substack.

May 1

Keynote speaker at OHA meeting

I’m looking forward to being a keynote speaker at the Ontario Hospital Association’s Health Care Leadership Summit, being held in Toronto on May 1. You can read a Q&A on the OHA website related to my talk.

Apr 30

Interview on Trump’s “hundred days”

On April 30, I spoke with Sam Dingman of KJZZ FM about the dangers of the “hundred days” benchmark for new presidents. Listen here. The interview was based on my 2021 article for Wilson Quarterly, “The Hundred Day Mistake.”

Apr 25

Panelist at conference on self-governance and pluralism

On April 25, I participated in the conference on self-governance and pluralism organized by the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. Details about the conference here. I spoke about my work on centralization and decentralization in government.

Apr 14

Review of “Adaptable Country” in Literary Review of Canada

The Adaptable Country is reviewed by George Anderson in the May issue of Literary Review of Canada. Anderson writes: “This is a timely book, especially given Canada’s need to deal with the brutal reality of Donald Trump, whose animus toward us, including talk of annexation, is creating a fundamental crisis for our federal and provincial leaders . . . While Canadians continue to have an enviable place in the world, we face growing uncertainty. Most dramatically, even our close relationship with the United States can no longer be taken for granted. There is a pressing need to develop new capacity for crisis management and for in‑depth reflection on our longer-term challenges. The Adaptable Country helps make the case for action.” Read the full review.