Topic Scope

At second thought, I do agree with River and others who have suggested we concentrate on broader questions that the majority of the people would be able to answer. Of course, it'd be fascinating for us to hear what people think about some specific policies/actions, but it probably will not matter much if we only get very few who are able to answer those questions.

Karli, I also think those are interesting topics, but like Ari mentioned - maybe we should focus more on things that have to do with what Canada as a country does/achieves outside its boarders (with its troops, etc) and not the treatment they get here at home (as important as that is). So, for example, from the topics you suggested, I think military success and troop withdrawal would be a good place to start.

I agree with Lee, especially considering how Canada has already withdrawn from the Afghanistan mission and what is left is a minimal task force with a concentration on providing advising and training capabilities. What we might be/should be interested in is knowing whether the public will want Canada to participate in similar missions and how Canada wants to be viewed on the world stage in terms of military/peacekeeping contributions, given the Afghanistan experience.

Karlson, I couldn't agree more. I think it's important that our questions get at the point of finding out not only what the Canadian government thinks now but also if I has affected how they would feel about things in the future. We're getting close to our deadline already so coming up with these questions is becoming very important. I'm going to create a separate thread where just our questions can be put. That way we can just cut and paste them for our final questions, while having a forum, if need be, to discuss and manipulate our questions.

Karli: I like your idea of broadening out our ideas. Basically, having one central theme upon which other themes hang off would be sweet but we only have 5 questions. I just don't think it's possible to get all those themes in just 5 questions. While I'm not saying it's impossible, it might just be tough. It is for that really that I really think anything that strays away from Afghanistan directly would be tough.

Karlson: You make a very valid point. Since Canada has since withdrawn from their military obligations in Afghanistan, we can now question the current public opinion of Canada's role in Afghanistan etc. Foreign policy may be too broad and there is unreliable evidence or fluctuation in public opinion about this particular issue. A more focus and refined way of gathering statistical evidence and public opinion could be elements of:

-How best can Canada continue to play a useful role in Afghanistan and the region?

-What are Canada's national interests in Afghanistan eight years after the 9/11 attacks? (This is broad but it also ignites where we can make statistical analysis)

-How can Canada improve the distribution and effectiveness of their military aid after their long-running presence in the Afghan war?

Finer tuning needs to result, however we can most likely make a more eloquent and narrowed approach as there has since been significant change of the war and Public Opinion/Canada's role