Speaker: Alistair Edgar

Even before the Taliban’s rapid return to power in Afghanistan, most western governments—including Canada—appeared to have abandoned their willingness to engage in peacekeeping, peace-building and/or ‘stabilization’ interventions that involved placing western ‘boots on the ground’ in support of populations who were facing large scale threats of violence. This presentation will consider why that dis-engagement has taken place, and what it means for Canada and especially the Canadian Forces. ALISTAIR EDGAR is Associate Professor of Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University, with cross-appointment to the Balsillie School of International Affairs. He has been closely associated with the Laurier Centre over the past two decades. He is an editor of Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations (Brill/Nijhoff), and served as Executive Director of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) in 2003-2008 and 2010-2018. Outside of his scholarly activities, he is President of the Canadian Landmine Foundation.