Afterwords brings together the commentaries, speeches and book reviews of Gar Pardy following his retirement from the Canadian Foreign Service. The commentaries and book reviews have been published in a variety of Canadian newspapers and magazines and deal with world events from a Canadian perspective. Afghanistan, the Middle East, migration, national security, the RCMP, CSIS, Omar Khadr, Maher Arar, the courts, Canadians in dangers overseas, nuclear proliferation and the Arctic are all extensively covered. All are written by a person who was on the inside of government but was never part of the system.