About

Rubiat Saimum is a PhD student in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University. Prior to this, he served as a lecturer in the Department of Maritime Security and Strategic Studies at Bangladesh Maritime University. He is currently a South Asian Future Fellow at the Council for Strategic and Defense Research (CSDR) and a former Junior Research Fellow at the NATO Association of Canada.

Current Interests

• International Security
• Indo-Pacific Geopolitics
• South Asian Affairs

Recent Publications

• Saimum, R. (2025). From Hardware to Heartware: China's Evolving Military Relations with Bangladesh. In Xavier, C. & Jacob, J. T. (Eds). How China Engages South Asia: In the Open and Behind the Scenes (pp. 107-117). Centre for Social and Economic Progress. Retrieved from https://csep.org/IpNMF81
• Shahid, R. & Saimum, R. (2023) ‘Navigating the troubled waters: ‘maritimization' of Bangladesh’s foreign policy’, Australian Journal of Maritime & Ocean Affairs, https://doi.org/10.1080/18366503.2023.2228615
• Saimum, R. (2020). ‘The Prospect of Belt and Road Initiative in the Context of Bangladesh’. China Report, 56(4), 464-483, Sage Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1177/0009445520930396
• Saimum, R. (2020). ‘ASEAN’s Rohingya Dilemma: Limits of Regional Co-operation’. In Charting a Sustainable Future of ASEAN in Business and Social Sciences (pp. 339-348). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3859-9_29

Online

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rubiat-saimum-39254a151/

About

Col Forbes graduated from the Royal Military College in 2001. Owing to a training delay, he traveled to Australia to complete a master’s degree. 

Following training, he piloted Griffon helicopters with 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron. In 2010, he deployed as part of Canada’s Special Operations Task Force to Kandahar, Afghanistan flying Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters. Col Forbes was then posted to 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron where he deployed as a detachment commander to the Philippines as part of Canada’s humanitarian response to Typhoon HAIYAN.

Following Staff College, Col Forbes worked on national defence policy in Ottawa. He later served as the Commanding Officer of 408 THS.  He was assigned as the Executive Assistant to the Commander of Canadian Joint Operations Command and, once promoted to his current rank, as Director of Continental Operations. Most Recently, Col Forbes proudly served as Commander 1 Wing.

Col Forbes holds a BA in History from the RMC, a Masters in International Relations from Bond University, and another in Defence Studies from the Canadian Forces College. Col Forbes is a graduate of the Canadian Army Staff College and of the Canadian Armed Forces’ Joint Command and Staff Program.

Current Interests

• Canadian Armed Forces structure and its implications to stewardship of branches, corps, and capabilities
• RCAF structure at the formation level
• Limitations in emerging defence technologies

Recent Publications

Online

About

LTC Nicholas (Nick) Currie is the United States Army Visiting Defense Fellow to the Centre for International and Defence Policy, Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario. Nick has 18 years of service with the United States Armed Forces as an Army Aviator. Nick has three operational deployments to Afghanistan focusing on security and stability operations; and recently completed his command of 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment.

About

Colonel Nicolas (Nic) Gauthier joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1999 and was commissioned as an infantry officer into The Royal Montreal Regiment. Following his graduation, he transferred to the regular component and has since served with all three battalions of the Royal 22e Régiment. Colonel Gauthier has most recently served as Director of Expeditionary Operations at the Canadian Joint Operations Command headquarter, his previous practical policy experience include service as Canada’s Defence Attaché to Ukraine in Kyiv during Russia’s full-scale invasion, serving as a Senior Analyst within the Privy Council Office’s Foreign and Defence Policy Secretariat, and as Senior Staff Officer for Operations and Plans at NATO Headquarter in Brussels. Additional command and staff experiences include serving as the Deputy Commander of the Combat Training Center, command of the Infantry School, and as Executive Assistant to the permanent military representative of Canada to the Military Committee. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Université de Montréal, a Master of Public Administration from the Royal Military College of Canada, and a Master of Business Administration from the Quantic School of Business and Technology. Colonel Gauthier has two daughters, Amalia and Clara. He enjoys running, skiing, caving and rock climbing.

Current Interests

• Russian influence activities in the Middle East
• Deterrence Policy in the post-Cold War era
• Ethics of Obedience and Disobedience Military Operations

Recent Publications

Online

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-gauthier-9090861b3/

About