Zahra Ludin received her B.A. (Honours) in Global Studies with an option in International Policy from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2019. Zahra always had a strong interest in the increasingly weaponized global networks and how the various forces shape global events. During the last years of her program, she focused her research on human rights and laws of armed conflict especially within the context of new and emerging weaponized technologies. She also focused on Canada’s historical involvement in arms production since WWII, as well as Canada’s current arms trade policies.

Zahra was an intern at Project Ploughshares (2019) as a research assistant for the organization’s 2018 Annual Armed Conflict Report. Her time at Ploughshares reminded her of the need for global citizenship and civil activism in order to constrain the means of warfare. She then moved on to volunteer for the Canadian Landmine Foundation where she continues to lend her time as a content creator for the organization’s social media platforms.

At Balsillie School of International Affairs, she is seeking to strengthen her understanding of complex economic and political relations influencing state and non-state actors. She plans to specialize in human security and global governance to gain a greater understanding of the ways in which international and regional actors relate to one another within the fragile and dubious dynamics of simultaneous war-waging and peace-making. Zahra acknowledges the practical value of policymaking for the ways in which they shape and inform government legislation and our understanding of social systems and responsibilities and hopes to ultimately put the craft of policy-making into practice in regions experiencing protracted conflicts, namely Afghanistan.