Timothy Donais

Professor, Global Studies    

Tim Donais
Faculty
Faculty

RESEARCH CLUSTER

RESEARCH CLUSTER

Timothy Donais

Professor, Global Studies

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.

Dr. Donais is not accepting new doctoral supervision requests at this time. 

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)

The BSIA is closed Monday, January 26th due to severe weather and local travel conditions.

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