Dr. Christian Leuprecht, a cross-appointed Professor in the Department of Political Studies and Policy Studies, recently spoke with CBC News about the Geneva talks and Trump's Ukraine peace plan.
Watch the interview:
Date
Friday November 28, 2025Location
Robert Sutherland hall, room 554Join us for the next installment of the Corry Colloquium Speaker Series, featuring 鈥淗istorical Narratives as an Obstacle to Peace: How Canadian Universities Can Help UN Peace Efforts,鈥 with Colin Stewart. The event will take place on Friday, November 28, from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m.
Until August of this year, Colin Stewart served as the UN Secretary-General鈥檚 Special Representative in Cyprus, heading the peacekeeping force there (UNFICYP) and leading the UN鈥檚 mediation efforts on the ground. Prior to that, he was the Special Representative in Western Sahara, heading MINURSO from 2017 to 2021.
Over the course of almost 20 combined years with the UN, he served in 5 peacekeeping missions and 3 political missions, working in Asia, Africa and Europe. As Deputy Head of the UN Office to the African Union in Addis Ababa from 2011 to 2016, he played a lead role in building the UN-AU partnership in peacekeeping. His work with the UN in putting on the successful referendum in East Timor in 1999 was recognized that year by Maclean鈥檚 Magazine.
In addition to his UN work, he has represented former President Carter and the Carter Center in Palestine and DR Congo, managing election observation missions for pivotal elections in each place.
He was a Canadian diplomat from 1990 to 1997, serving in Ottawa (including as Legislative Assistant to then Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy) and Jakarta, with shorter assignments in Helsinki and Moscow.
Mr. Stewart is a graduate of Laval University in Quebec City. He is currently retired, living with his wife and son in Ottawa.
On October 1, 2025, the Queen鈥檚 Institute of Intergovernmental Relations held its annual Kenneth MacGregor Lecture at the Donald Gordon Conference Centre in Kingston. This year鈥檚 Lecture, "From Meech to MAGA: National Unity and Trade in an Era of Trump," took the form of a fireside chat between former Premier of Ontario David Peterson and former Globe and Mail national affairs columnist Jeffrey Simpson.
Date
Friday November 21, 2025Location
Robert Sutherland Hall, Room 554We invite you to attend the latest installment of the Corry Colloquium Speakers Series on Friday, November 21, from 12:00-1:30 pm, for a talk entitled: Progress and/or Backlash? Assessing Gender and Inter-sectional Forces in and Beyond the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, by Dr. Kelly Dittmar.
Dr. Dittmar is an Associate Professor, Political Science, at Rutgers University鈥揅amden and Director of Research and Scholar, Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University鈥揘ew Brunswick.
As Mark Carney visits Singapore to deepen investment ties and position Canada as a global trade player, Department of Political Studies Associate Professor St茅phanie Martel notes Ottawa must prove its relevance in the speeding鈥憉p Indo鈥慞acific race.
As Donald Trump lashes out at Ontario鈥檚 anti-tariff advertisement, calling it 鈥渇raudulent鈥 and reigniting trade tensions with Canada, experts warn that misinformation continues to fuel political polarization. Department of Political Studies Professor and Department Head Jonathan Rose says many of Trump鈥檚 claims are misleading 鈥 a reminder of how narrative control shapes public perception in moments of economic strain.
As Pasco, Washington, and other cities move to end water fluoridation amid rising conspiracy theories, experts warn of deeper social unrest. Department of Political Studies and School of Religion Assistant Professor Amarnath Amarasingam says anti-fluoride activism reflects a growing sense of chaos and mistrust 鈥 a symptom of people trying to regain control in an uncertain world.
Congratulations to Dr. St茅fanie von Hlatky on her renewal as Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Gender, Security, and the Armed Forces.
Director and Stauffer-Dunning Chair
School of Policy Studies
Queen鈥檚 University
Doctoral Student
He/Him
MA, Political Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Political Studies
Doctoral Student
Rubiat Saimum is a doctoral student in the Department of Political Studies at Queen鈥檚 University, specializing in International Relations and Comparative Studies. He has previously served as a Lecturer of maritime security and strategic studies at Bangladesh Maritime University. He is a South Asian Future Fellow at the Council for Strategic and Defence Research (CSDR), a fellow at Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, a Young Leader at the Pacific Forum, a maritime GENIE at Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS) and a Junior Fellow at the NATO Association of Canada.
My research focuses on the formation of security communities and the role of major regional powers or 鈥渢he anchor states鈥 in the process. I study the why regional anchor states facilitate or hinder the formation of security communities in their respective regions.
Saimum, R. (2025). From Hardware to Heartware: China's Evolving Military Relations with Bangladesh. In Xavier, C. & Jacob, J. T. (Eds). How China Engages South Asia: In the Open and Behind the Scenes (pp. 107-117). Centre for Social and Economic Progress. Retrieved from
Shahid, R. & Saimum, R. (2023) 鈥楴avigating the troubled waters: 鈥榤aritimization' of Bangladesh鈥檚 foreign policy鈥, Australian Journal of Maritime & Ocean Affairs,
Saimum, R. (2020). 鈥楾he Prospect of Belt and Road Initiative in the Context of Bangladesh鈥. China Report, 56(4), 464-483, Sage Publishing.
Saimum, R. (2020). 鈥楢SEAN鈥檚 Rohingya Dilemma: Limits of Regional Co-operation鈥. In Charting a Sustainable Future of ASEAN in Business and Social Sciences (pp. 339-348). Springer, Singapore.
2025: Queen鈥檚 Graduate Award, Queen鈥檚 University, SGS
2023-25: SGS Graduate Fellowship, Memorial University of Newfoundland
2024: CICA essay competition (2nd Prize), Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA)
2019: The Duke of Edinburgh鈥檚 International Award, The Duke of Edinburgh鈥檚 Award Foundation Bangladesh
