Timothy Donais

Professor, Global Studies    

Tim Donais
Faculty
Faculty

RESEARCH CLUSTER

RESEARCH CLUSTER

Timothy Donais

Professor, Global Studies

tdonais@wlu.ca

 

Timothy Donais is Chair of the Department of Global Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, and a faculty member of the Balsillie School of International Affairs. He is the co-facilitator of the BSIA’s Conflict and Security Research Cluster. From 2018-22, he was Director of the Master in International Policy Policy (MIPP) program and Co-Director of the PhD Program in Global Governance. Tim’s primary research interests lie in the area of post-conflict peacebuilding, with a particular focus on questions of ownership and inclusivity in peace processes, and in the field of peace operations, with a specific emphasis on civilian protection issues.

Awards

  • Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Research Grants, 2007-11; 2019-22
  • Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Merit Award: 2017, 2014, 2010
  • Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) Research Grant, 2012-14

Select Publications

  • “Local Turns and New Generations: Why SSR Has Struggled to Keep Up,” In S. Africa et al (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Security Sector Reform (Routledge, forthcoming 2026).
  • Peacekeeping and the Protection of Civilians: From Moral Imperative to Effective Practice (Routledge, 2025).
  • “The Triumph of Non-Intervention? Haiti and the Contemporary Politics of Rescue,” ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America 24:2 (2025); https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/the-triumph-of-non-intervention-haiti-and-the-contemporary-politics-of-rescue/
  • Sustainable Development Goal 16 and the Global Governance of Violence: Critical Reflections on the Uncertain Future of Peace (co-editor with A. Edgar and K. Van Houten) (Routledge, 2023).
  • “Protection through Peacebuilding in South Sudan,” (co-authored with Ayiko Solomon),African Security Review 31:1 (2022); DOI: https://doi.org/1080/10246029.2021.1968916
  • Donais, Timothy. 2021. “Local Ownership, Legitimacy and Peacebuilding,” in O.P. Richmond and G. Visoka (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Peacebuilding, Statebuilding, and Peace Formation(Oxford: Oxford University Press), 550-563.
  • Donais, Timothy and Ahmet Barbak. 2021. “The Rule of Law, the Local Turn, and Re-thinking Accountability in Security Sector Reform Processes,” Peacebuilding(Special Issue on ‘Letting the State off the Hook’, co-edited by J. Quinn and A. Kochanski) 9:2 (2021), 206-221.
  • Donais, Timothy and Eric Tanguay. 2021. “Protection of Civilians and Peacekeeping’s Accountability Deficit,” International Peacekeeping 28:4 (2021), 553-578.
  • Donais, Timothy and Sarah Murray. 2021. “Gender and Protection in UN Peacekeeping: Towards Inclusive Protection Practice,” Balsillie Papers 4 (1): 1-12.
  • Donais, Timothy. 2020. “Protection through Peace Building: The Future of UNMISS’ Protection of Civilians Mandate in South Sudan,” CSG Policy Brief, No. 21, Centre for Security Governance.
  • Donais, Timothy and Erin McCandless. 2020. “Generations of Constructing Peace: The Constructivism Paradigm and Peacebuilding,” in H. Carey (ed.), Peacebuilding Paradigms: The Impact of Theoretical Diversity on Implementing Sustainable Peace(Cambridge, Cambridge University Press), 126-144.

Education

  • Ph.D. (Political Science), York University (2003)
  • M.A. (Political Science), York University (1997)
  • B.Journalism (Joint Honours in Journalism and Political Science), Carleton University (1990)