About the Director

Gordon Smith is the Executive Director of the Centre for Global Studies, and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Victoria.

Dr. Smith arrived at the University of Victoria in 1997 following a distinguished career with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, which included posts as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994-1997, Ambassador to the European Union in Brussels from 1991-1994, and Ambassador to the Canadian Delegation to NATO from 1985-1990.

He is the author (with Moisés Naím) of Altered States: Globalization, Sovereignty, and Governance (Ottawa: IDRC, 2000), and a major report: Canada in Afghanistan: Is it Working? Prepared for Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute (March 2007). He is a managing editor of the journal Global Governance, co-editor (with Daniel Wolfish) of Who is Afraid of the State? Canada in a World of Multiple Centres of Power (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001), co-editor (with Harold Coward) of Religion and Peacebuilding, as well as numerous book chapters and articles.

Since 1997, Dr. Smith is Chairman of Canada’s International Development Research Centre. He currently holds positions as Chair of the Board of the Canadian Institute for Climate Studies, Visiting Professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the University of Westminster (London and Paris), Member of the Advisory Committee for the Conflict Analysis and Management Program at Royal Roads University and Associate Faculty, Member of the Canadian Group of the Trilateral Commission, Member of the International Advisory Board, Centre for International Governance Innovation and a Trudeau Mentor with The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.

He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from M.I.T.