About

Hakan is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in International Relations at Queen’s University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science from the Royal Military College of Canada. His research focuses on the strategic employment of Maritime Autonomous Systems (MAS) in Canada, with particular emphasis on enhancing surveillance capabilities and operational effectiveness in the Arctic, as well as on intelligence–government relations in authoritarian regimes.

About

Ethan MacMillan is a master's student in Political Studies at Queen's University with a focus on International Relations. He is a recent graduate from the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) and holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Military and Strategic Studies where his thesis analyzed the use of foreign aid, sanctions, and tariffs as a means of influence. His research interests include great power conflict, the history of warfare, and the grand strategy of states. 

About

Liam is an MA student in Political Studies at Queens under the International Relations stream, and a recent graduate in Honours Military and Strategic Studies from the Royal Military College. They won RMC's Departmental Medal for highest achievement in the MSS Programme, as well as a SSHRC CGS-M scholarship at Queen's. Liam is keenly interested in political theory, security studies, and development studies. They are currently pursuing research into the relationships between maritime policy, alliance structures, and Canadian security.

Current Interests

• Political Theory
• Arctic Security and Sovereignty
• Post-Conflict (re)Development and Interventions 

Online

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-brown2/

About

Sanjida Amin is the CDSN Postdoctoral Fellow (2025–2026) at the Centre for International and Defence Policy (CIDP) at Queen’s University. She is currently completing her PhD in Political Science at the University of Toronto, where her research focuses on foreign sponsorship of insurgent groups, insurgent-state relations, and the international dimensions of civil war.

Her book project examines how external support from foreign states shapes internal conflict dynamics, particularly by driving insurgent fragmentation during peace negotiations. Her broader research interests include international peacebuilding, alliance politics, and Canadian foreign and defense policy. Her current postdoctoral project investigates how U.S.-Canada security relations influence Canada’s evolving engagement with UN peacekeeping, situating this within the broader context of multilateralism and shifting global security priorities.

Sanjida’s research has been supported by Fulbright Canada, the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC), and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. She aims to contribute to more effective peacebuilding and mediation strategies in protracted conflicts, as well as to informed debates on Canadian international security policy.

Current Interests

• International Security
• Conflict and Conflict Resolution
• Foreign Policy

Recent Publications

• Amin, Sanjida, and Alexander Pelletier. “Taking Armed Group Fragmentation Seriously in Multilateral Interventions.” African Conflict & Peacebuilding Review (accepted)

Online

• Twitter/X: @sanjidaamin
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjidaamin/

About

Michael P. A. Murphy is the director of the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen’s University and president of the Canadian region of the International Studies Association. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa, where his dissertation won the 2022 Joseph De Koninck Thesis Prize for making an outstanding contribution to interdisciplinary knowledge.

He is a former Digital Policy Hub fellow at Centre for International Governance Innovation. At Queen’s, Michael has held appointments as the Buchanan Postdoctoral Fellow in Canadian Democracy, a Mathews Fellow in Public Policy, and a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow.

He is the author of Quantum Social Theory for Critical International Relations Theorists (Palgrave, 2021) and Weak Utopianism in Education (Routledge, 2024), more than 40 peer-reviewed articles and numerous book reviews and chapters, receiving more than 2,000 citations. Michael is an international award-winning educator with a range of teaching experience in international relations, Canadian politics, political theory and public administration.

Research Interests

• Security implications of emerging technology
• Quantum information science and technology (QIST)
• International relations theory

Recent Publications

• Murphy, Michael P.A., Paul Samson, and Tracey Forrest. 2025. From Peace Dividend to Defence Dividend: Quantum, Dual-Use Technology, and NATO Spending Targets. Waterloo: Centre for International Governance Innovation. https://www.cigionline.org/publications/from-peace-dividend-to-defence-dividend-dual-use-quantum-and-nato-targets/
• Murphy, Michael PA and Joanne Archibald. 2025. “Sensing Common Ground? A Call for Collaboration Between the DND/CAF Quantum S&T Strategy and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.” International Journal. 80(2): 304-311. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207020251337744
• Murphy, Michael PA, and Claire Parsons. 2024. “Tracking Quantum S&T from Strategy to Implementation Plan: What We Learned About the Canadian Armed Forces’ Quantum Posture.” Canadian Foreign Policy Journal. 30(3): 264-279.  https://doi.org/10.1080/11926422.2024.2387209
• Murphy, Michael PA. 2024. “Rediscovering the “Meaning of Science”? Hans Morgenthau’s Science: Servant or Master and the Ethics Debate in Quantum IR.” International Relations OnlineFirst: 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/00471178241265635
• Murphy, Michael PA. 2022. "Evaluating Simultaneous Group Activities Through Self-and Peer-Assessment: Addressing the" Evaluation Challenge" in Active Learning." Journal of Political Science Education 18(4): 511-522. https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2022.2099410

Online

• Find His work here

About

Dyson Hague is a Master’s student in Political Studies at Queen’s University, specializing in International Relations. His research focuses on Canadian foreign and defence policy, with focus on the evolution of Canadian strategic posture amidst changing global power dynamics. Dyson is currently working under the supervision of Professor Stefanie von Hlatky on a research project examining NATO reserve forces. In addition to his academic work, Dyson serves as a reservist in the Canadian Armed Forces, now in his third year of service.

Research Interests

Recent Publications

Online

About

Sydney is an undergraduate student studying Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) at Queen’s University. Her research focuses on the African Union’s implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda, with interests in sexual violence in conflict, substantive representation, and the political rights of women across Africa. In parallel with her current work at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, she is especially interested in political prisoners and wrongful incarceration. Sydney is also actively involved in the Queen’s International Affairs Association and Model United Nations, and aspires to apply the knowledge gained through her research at the CIDP to a future career in law.

Research Interests

Recent Publications

Online