The Munk Debates is Canada's premier international debate series, a highly anticipated cultural event and feast of ideas. Launched in 2008 by philanthropists Peter and Melanie Munk, these debates bring together some of the world's greatest thinkers to discuss the most pressing political, social, and cultural issues that are shaping the course of world events. This volume includes an Introduction by Peter Munk and the first five debates in the series:

British historian and bestselling author Niall Ferguson, top-ranking American diplomat Richard Holbrooke, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer, and human rights scholar and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Samantha Power discuss global security and the 2008 U.S. presidential election,

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, former Foreign Minister of the Australian Parliament and President and Chief Executive of the International Crisis Group Gareth Evans, actor and humanitarian Mia Farrow, and former Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Forces General Rick Hillier debate the pros and cons of humanitarian intervention.

Professor of Economics Paul Collier, economist Hernando De Soto, former UN Secretary-General Stephen Lewis, and bestselling author of Dead Aid Dambisa Moyo explore the opportunities and hazards of foreign aid.

Former British politician and bestselling author Lord Nigel Lawson, adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School and bestselling author Bjørn Lomborg, environmental activist and Leader of the Green Party of Canada Elizabeth May, and journalist and bestselling author George Monbiot tackle one of the great public policy questions of our time: how should the world respond to climate change?

Intelligent, informative, and entertaining, The Munk Debates is a lively forum of ideas and opinions that aims to reinvigorate public discourse and civic dialogue, and captures the prevailing moods, clashing opinions, and most imperative issues of our time.

Rudyard Griffiths is the co-organizer and moderator of The Munk Debates. He is also the co-founder of the Dominion Institute and the co-director of the Grano Speakers Series. His writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including a bi-monthly column for the National Post. He is the author of Who We Are: A Citizen's Manifesto. He serves on the boards of the Stratford Festival, the Empire Club, and the Canadian Institute for Citizenship. In 2006, he was recognized by the Globe and Mail as one of Canada's "Top 40 under 40." He lives in Toronto.

Rudyard Griffiths' profile page

Patrick Luciani In 2003, Patrick Luciani, an economist and writer, co-founded the critically acclaimed Grano Series (Salon Speakers Ltd). Based on the success in Toronto, the series is expanding to Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal. The Series brings leading global thinkers to Canada on a wide range of international topics and the Middle East. Speakers have included Christopher Hitchens, Samuel P. Huntington, Bernard Lewis, Robert Kaplan and Bernard Henri Levi. Patrick is co-editor (with Rudyard Griffiths) of American Power, published by Key Porter (2007), which captures the first eight lectures in the Grano Series. The Series has been profiled in major media across Canada. Patrick was Executive Director of the Donner Canadian Foundation for over 10 years where he started the Donner Book Prize on public policy and funded hundreds of public policy projects across Canada. In the 1980s he worked in the Ontario government as a senior economist. In 1994, he wrote the best-selling book What Canadians Believe, But Shouldn’t About Their Economy published by Addison-Wesley. The book dispels a number of myths that Canadians hold about public policy issues. The book is in its fourth edition and is still being used as a reader in colleges and universities across Canada. With Neil Seeman, Patrick founded the Canadian Statistical Assessment Service, based at the Fraser Institute, a research project (now merged with the Institute’s Centre for Risk and Regulation) to challenge urban myths in the media surrounding economics and public health. Patrick has published over 100 magazine and newspaper Op-ed pieces in publications such as the Globe and Mail, National Post, Financial Post Magazine and Canadian Business on a range of public policy topics. He has taught economics at George Brown College and the University of Toronto’s Continuing School of Education. He is currently a member of Massey College, University of Toronto, Senior Advisor to the Global Cities Program at the Munk Centre for International Studies, and Senior Fellow in urban affairs at the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies. Patrick studied economics at Queen’s and holds a Master’s degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Patrick Luciani's profile page

Peter Munk is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Barrick Gold Corporation. Among numerous other public honors, he is a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Peter Munk's profile page