Join the CIC National Capital Branch for a virtual event featuring distinguished former Canadian diplomat and eminent academic Professor Paul Meyer who will discuss the timely topic of diplomacy of outer space, as highlighted in his recent paper, “Arms Control in Outer Space: Mission Impossible or Unrealized Potential?”

This event will be moderated by Andrew Rasiulis, a prominent former public service researcher and executive who has worked extensively on various national and multilateral files regarding arms control and security.

Elizabeth Kingston, President of the CIC National Capital Branch will deliver the opening and closing remarks.

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Speaker Bios

Paul Meyer is Fellow in International Security and Adjunct Professor of International Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver (since 2011). Previously, Mr. Meyer had a 35-year career with the Canadian Foreign Service, including serving as Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations and to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva (2003-2007). He is a Senior Advisor to ICT4Peace and the current Chair of the Canadian Pugwash Group. He teaches a course on diplomacy at SFU and writes on issues of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, space security and international cyber security.

Andrew Rasiulis completed his undergraduate study in Political Science/History at the University of Toronto in 1978 and received his Master of Arts from the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, in Strategic Studies in 1979. In 1979 Mr. Rasiulis was appointed a commissioned officer in the Canadian Forces Primary Reserve (Governor General’s Foot Guards). He joined the Department of National Defence in 1979 as an analyst with the Directorate of Strategic Analysis, specializing in strategic politico-military issues pertaining to conventional forces. These issues included emerging concepts of conventional defence strategies for Western Europe, as well as the Canadian Government’s efforts in the area of conventional arms control. In 1987, Mr. Rasiulis was promoted to Section Head, within the Directorate of Nuclear and Arms Control Policy, responsible for conventional arms control policy. He was also the Department of National Defence representative on NATO’s High Level Task Force for conventional arms control from its inception in 1986 to 1989. In June 1989 Mr. Rasiulis was posted as a Defence Advisor to the Canadian Delegation for Conventional Arms Control Talks in Vienna. Upon completion of his tour Mr. Rasiulis returned to National Defence Headquarters in April 1992 as Section Head responsible for policy on Central and Eastern Europe, including the Department’s Military Training and Assistance Program (MTAP) with Central and Eastern Europe. In May 1996, Mr. Rasiulis was also assigned the responsibility of Programme Manager for the entire MTAP. He was subsequently designated as Director, Military Training Assistance Programme (and Eastern European Policy) in 1998. Reflecting the growth of responsibility within the area of defence diplomacy, Mr. Rasiulis was re-designated Director Military Training and Cooperation in 2009. His responsibilities included the development of the policy for defence training cooperation with developing countries world wide, as well as overseeing its operational implementation.  Mr. Rasiulis’ MA thesis, On the Utility of War in the Nuclear Age, developed a theory on limited conventional war. It was subsequently published as a Wellesley Paper in 1981 by the Canadian Institute for International Affairs and the Canadian Institute for Strategic Studies. He has also published numerous articles on conventional strategy, arms control and international military training cooperation. Mr. Rasiulis is retired from the Public Service and is now a freelance consultant with Andrew Rasiulis Associates Inc.  and a Fellow with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI).

Elizabeth Kingston is the President of the CIC National Capital Branch. She had a career of 35 years with the Parliament of Canada as a Procedural Clerk and is now retired. She has held numerous positions including Clerk of the Standing Committees on Finance, Public Accounts, Aboriginal Affairs, Industry as well as the Special Joint Committee on the Meech Lake Accord. She has also served as Executive Secretary to the Canada – United States Inter-parliamentary Group, the Canada-China and Canada-Japan Parliamentary Associations, the Canada-United Kingdom Parliamentary Association and the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Elizabeth also served as Executive Secretary to the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP), which serves to strengthen the participation of women in politics, government and society. She served as both a short term and long term observer for the presidential, then parliamentary elections in Ukraine in the spring and summer of 2019 and recently returned from Guyana and Ukraine as an election observer for their elections in January and October 2020. Elizabeth holds a Master’s degree in French Literature and is presently working on a Master’s degree in Theology.

TO REGISTER:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UJ4VEZa_Qeu4LTfG6cKzOg