By Zoom…

Canada recently announced that it would open new embassies in Estonia, Lithuania and Armenia, largely in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And today, in Canada and elsewhere, foreign ministries are re-examining the talent that they will need to be high-performing organizations in the 21st century. Indeed, if Canada expects to remain competitive with its peers and adversaries in the fight for global influence, it needs a credible foreign service. This means being represented worldwide by people who can speak authoritatively by exhibiting broad knowledge of a range of global issues and deep subject-matter knowledge of priority regions and themes. And given Canada’s unique advantage of having one of the world’s most diverse populations as its talent pool, the Canadian foreign service is arguably poised to grow into one of the world’s most interculturally savvy, knowledgeable, and networked diplomatic services.

To discuss the reforms that Canada’s foreign service should undertake, we are delighted to welcome Ulric Shannon, the Director General of the Peace and Stabilization Operations bureau (PSOPs) at Global Affairs Canada and the author of Competitive Expertise and Future Diplomacy: Subject-Matter Specialization in Generalist Foreign Ministries. Phil Calvert, Canada’s former Ambassador to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos will moderate.