THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19.

This event of the CIC National Capital Branch’s Middle East Study Group (MESG) will feature two distinguished speakers who will address the recent political developments in Russia, including the ongoing process of constitutional reform as well as the accompanying debate about a potentially post-Putin Russia. It will also provide an update on current trends in Russian foreign policy, with a special focus on the Middle East.

Our invited speakers for this event are Professor Piotr Dutkiewicz of Carleton University, and Mr. Gilles Breton a former senior Canadian diplomat.

Speaker Bios:

Professor of Political Science Piotr Dutkiewicz is Professor of Political Science and former Director of the Institute of European and Russian Studies. Currently he is a co-director (with Les Pal) of  Carleton’s  Centre for Governance and Public Management.  He was educated at Warsaw University (LLM) and the Russian Academy of Science, Moscow (Ph.D.). He was a Fellow of St. Peter’s and Nuffield Colleges in Oxford and a Visiting Professor at Berkeley University, Institute for International Relations (USA) and taught at Warsaw University in Poland (1977-1989) and Queen’s University (1990-1993) in Kingston, Ontario. Professor Dutkiewicz was editor-in-chief of a 19 volume series on “Local and Regional Development in Poland and Eastern Europe” (1986-1989) and editor (or co-editor) of 16 books. He is also the author of many chapters in books and articles in professional journals.  He is a member of the Valdai Club, a group of forty world renowned experts on Russia.

During his career in the Canadian Foreign Service, Gilles Breton had three assignments at the Canadian Embassy in Moscow. His first posting there began during the Soviet period, in 1983. His last was from 2008 to 2012 as Minister-Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission. He also served as Deputy Director responsible for Canada’s relations with Russia from 2000 to 2008. As an international civil servant, he was Deputy Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw from 1994 to 1997. Gilles Breton also currently serves as Chairman of the National Board of the Canada-Eurasia-Russia Business Association.

It is free to attend this event but we ask that you register in advance with:

Hamid Jorjani, Ph.D.

Chair, MESG-CIC National Capital Branch

Email: hjorjani@bell.net