Featuring Dr. Leigh Sarty. China and Russia loom large in contemporary discourse about international affairs, principally as menaces whose capabilities and authoritarian values pose a challenge to Canada and to the West. But while both are indeed formidable adversaries, Dr. Sarty contends that the threat from Beijing and from Moscow is not as simple or straightforward as the headlines might lead one to believe. He will discuss the need to better appreciate these regimes’ weaknesses as well as their strengths, and to examine the assumptions that may at times skew our assessments of these two great powers.

Leigh Sarty is Scholar in Residence at Global Affairs Canada. He joined the Department of External Affairs in 1993 and has served in the Canadian Embassy in Beijing (2003-2007) and twice in our Embassy in Moscow, most recently as Deputy Head of Mission (2012-2016). At Global Affairs HQ he was Director for Russia (among other countries) from 2007 to 2012, and Director General for Europe prior to undertaking his current role in 2018. Dr. Sarty holds a PhD from Columbia University, and is currently both a Senior Fellow at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs and Adjunct Professor in the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at Carleton University.