In 2015, amid the greatest displacement crisis since World War II, a million refugees and migrants arrived on Europe’s shores. [...] In November 2015, as the crisis peaked, European leaders met in Valletta, Malta to try to reach a unified response.

As right-wing populism has roiled elections and upended politics across the West, there is one country where populists have largely failed to break through: Canada. [...] Identity works differently in Canada. Both whites and nonwhites see Canadian identity as something that not only can accommodate outsiders, but is enhanced by the inclusion of many different kinds of people.

Toronto’s Somali community has struggled more than most since their first wave landed in the city in the early 1990s. Ahmed Hussen was among them. Their experiences [...] were his experiences. And this feel-good stroll down Weston Road, the business strip of the Somali neighbourhood here, plays out like a spontaneous celebration of a monumental first. A perfect success story in the year of Canada’s 150th birthday.

This stand is the fourth commercial venture that Zwawe has opened in São Paulo in as many years, but the first, he says, that will show “what authentic Syrian cuisine really is.” He’d opened his previous stand inside a bakery in the industrial district of Brás, just east of downtown. “I used to do the recipes that people here are more familiar with, like falafel, kebab, sfihas, and kibbehs,” he says.

Immigration [...] has recently become the focal point of President Trump’s first weeks in office. In response to his travel ban, which suspends the refugee program and prevents immigration to the United States from seven predominately Muslim countries, a variety of groups and organizations have spoken out about what it means to be American, how we should move forward with immigration, and what intrinsic values are essential to the success of the United States. 

Currently, President Peña Nieto and his entourage are being presented with an opportunity to redeem themselves. If they manage to get a good deal throughout this turmoil, they have the opportunity to mend Mexico’s international image–as well as their own.