Eugene Lang
Assistant Professor (Continuing Adjunct)
School of Policy Studies
Queen's University
Research Areas
- Policy analysis
- Public administration
- Public finance
- Economic Policy
- Defence/foreign policy nexus
- Defence Funding
- Defence Industrial Policy
- Political Economy
Biography
Eugene Lang is an Assistant Professor in the School of Policy Studies, where he teaches the core courses MPA 802 (Applied Policy Analysis) and MPA 810 (Introduction to Public Administration), as well as the elective course MPA 876 (Instruments and Institutions of Public Finance).
For several years Eugene coached the School of Policy Studies team to the National Public Administration Case Competition, including to a gold medal in 2024. In 2025 he was appointed National Co-Chair of the Case Competition.
Eugene is dedicated to enriching the student experience and supporting students in and outside of the classroom. In 2023 he was named a Queen’s University Champion for Mental Health by the Campus Wellness Project. In 2025 he was awarded the John G. Freeman Award For Faculty Excellence from The Society of Graduate and Professional Students.
Eugene began his career in the federal government and worked in both the public service and in Cabinet Minister’s offices, serving as Policy Advisor to the Solicitor General of Canada; Senior Policy Advisor (Economic) to the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada; Senior Economist, Finance Canada; Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State (Finance); Chief of Staff to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Chief of Staff to the Minister of National Defence.
He has also worked for twenty years in the private sector, first at Bell Canada Enterprises and subsequently as a consultant advising domestic and multinational companies and business associations on public policy and advocacy.
A Senior Fellow at the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History, Trinity College, University of Toronto; Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute; and Fellow of the Centre for International and Defence Policy, Queen’s University, Eugene was previously Visiting Fellow at the Munk School of International Studies, University of Toronto, and BMO Visiting Fellow, Glendon School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA), Glendon College, York University. At Glendon College, he taught in the Master of Public and International Affairs program and served as Interim Co-Director of the School.
Eugene is the co-author of two books, including The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar, a national best-seller which won the Writer’s Trust Cohen Award for political writing, was short-listed for the Donner Prize for the best book on Canadian public policy, was named one of the Globe and Mail’s top one hundred books of the year, and was the basis for a documentary film produced by Global Television.
His writings have appeared in various edited books as well as Policy Options, Policy Network, International Politics and Society, International Journal, Policy Perspectives (Canadian Global Affairs Institute), The Global Exchange, Walrus and The Conversation. He has also published hundreds of columns in all of Canada’s major newspapers and contributes op eds regularly to The Globe and Mail.
Eugene has spoken at various universities and think tanks in Canada and abroad and has testified as an expert witness to federal government commissions and inquiries. He has appeared as a commentator on CBC radio and television, CTV, Global Television/Radio, BNN-Bloomberg, numerous podcasts and is quoted regularly in print media.
Educated at the University of Western Ontario (B.A., M.A., political science), Queen’s University (M.P.A.) and the London School of Economics (M.Sc. International Political Economy), where he studied as a Chevening Scholar, Eugene lives in Ottawa with his wife and children.
Links
Selected Publications
Andrew Graham and Eugene Lang. “Global Pandemics and National Security: Will the Federal Government Have Your Back.” In Kathy Brock and Geoffrey eds., Managing Federalism Through Pandemic. University of Toronto Press (forthcoming in 2024).
Eugene Lang and Janice Stein. “Chretien’s Afghanistan Policy: From Symbolic to Strategic”. In Jack Cunningham and John Meehan eds., Jean Chretien’s Foreign Policy. University of British Columbia Press (forthcoming in 2024).
Eugene Lang. “AWOL: Canada’s National Security Policy, Governance and Culture.” In Norman Hillmer and Vincent Rigby eds., Canada Among Nations: The New National Security. Palgrave-MacMillan. (forthcoming in 2024).
Eugene Lang, “Ottawa Has Cut Loose All Fiscal Anchors”, Policy Options, April 14, 2023
Eugene Lang, “CBC President Catherine Tait is Out of Her Lane”, Policy Options, February 24, 2023
Eugene Lang, “In Defence of the Politician-Ambassador”, Policy Perspective, January 31, 2023, Canadian Global Affairs Institute
Eugene Lang, “Ministerial Mandate Letters: Another Nail in the Coffin of Cabinet Government”, Policy Options, February 15, 2022
Eugene Lang, “The COVID 19 Pandemic and the Emergencies Act: If Not Now, When?”, Policy Perspective, March 2021, Canadian Global Affairs Institute
Eugene Lang and Greg Schmidt, “The Role of Deputy Prime Minister is Not as Powerful as Most Think”, Policy Options, August 6, 2020
Eugene Lang, “Can the National Interest be Served Through a Prisoner Exchange”, Policy Perspective, July 2020, Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
Eugene Lang, “RIP—SSE: What the COVID-19 Pandemic Means for Defence Funding”, Policy Perspective, May 2020, Canadian Global Affairs Institute.
Eugene Lang, “The Era of Gigantic Government is upon Us”, Policy Options, April 17, 2020
Eugene Lang, “Is The Business Liberal Extinct?”, Policy Options, March 18, 2020
Eugene Lang, “The Trudeau’s and Western Alienation”, Policy Options, November 1, 2019
Eugene Lang, “Bringing Chaos to Order: Donald Trump and his Band of National Security Advisors”, Policy Perspectives, Canadian Global Affairs Institute, September 17, 2019
Eugene Lang, “Searching for a Middle Power Role in a New World Order”, Policy Perspectives, Canadian Global Affairs Institute, June 13, 2019
Eugene Lang, “As Populism Rises, Look What has Fallen: Wages”, Policy Options, March 13, 2019
Eugene Lang, Book Review, “The Politics of War: Canada’s Afghanistan Mission, 2001-14”, by Jean Christophe Boucher and Kim Nossal, International Journal, Volume 73, 3 September 2018, pp. 492-494
Eugene Lang, “Use it or Lose It: DND’s Chronic Underspending Problem”, The Global Exchange, Volume XVI, Issue II, 2018
Eugene Lang, “The Shelf Life of Defence White Papers”, Policy Options, June 23, 2017
Eugene Lang, “Is Canada Back on the World Stage or Irrelevant”, The Conversation, February 6, 2023. Re-published in The National Post and Winnipeg Free Press
Eugene Lang, “Canada Needs to Act on its Existing Defence Policy, Not Review it Repeatedly”, The Conversation, December 1, 2022. Re-published in The National Post
Eugene Lang, “The Throne Speech: Inflation Crowds Out the Agenda”, The Conversation, November 24, 2021. Re-published in The National Post, The Winnipeg Free Press, The Canadian Inquirer and various other news websites
Eugene Lang, “New Pact Between Australia, UK and UK Shows Canada’s Waning Global Relevance”, The Ottawa Citizen, September 23, 2021
Eugene Lang, “Rhetoric Check: Federal Leaders’ Debates Rarely Have an Impact on Election Outcomes, so Why Bother?” The Conversation, September 10, 2021
Eugene Lang, “Rhetoric Check: Parliament Wasn’t Toxic, Justin Trudeau Just Wants a Majority”, The Conversation, September 7, 2021. Re-published in The Winnipeg Free Press, September 13, 2021
Eugene Lang, “How Afghanistan is and isn’t Vietnam All Over Again”, The Conversation, August 22, 2021. Re-published in The National Post, August 25, 2021, and The Winnipeg Free Press, August 31, 2021
Eugene Lang, “It’s Time to Invoke the Federal Emergencies Act to Fight COVID”, The Ottawa Citizen, April 24, 2021
Eugene Lang, “Canada’s Military is Dishonoured Again”, The Hill Times, March 24, 2021
Eugene Lang, “Lessons from the Julie Payette Affair: Even the Governor General Can be Held Accountable”, Ottawa Citizen, January 25, 2021
Eugene Lang, “Missing: Public Servants Who Could Warn Trudeau About WE Conflict”, Ottawa Citizen, July 16, 2020
Eugene Lang, “Why Canada is Losing at the UN”, Toronto Star, June 25, 2020
Eugene Lang, “COVID-19 Aftermath: The Government Can’t Keep Improvising Forever”, Ottawa Citizen, June 15, 2020
Eugene Lang, “How to Un-tie the Canada-China Knot”, The Hill Times, January 28, 2020 https://www.hilltimes.com/2020/01/28/how-to-untie-the-canada-china-knot-abandon-u-s-request-to-extradite-huawei-exec-block-telecom-giants-access-to-5g-network/232892
Eugene Lang, “Canada is Rich--and Cheap”, Globe and Mail, Opinion, December 9, 2019
Eugene Lang, “The Rise of Boris Johnson Re-enforces Populist Narratives. Will Canada Follow Suit?”, Ottawa Citizen, July 9, 2019
Eugene Lang, “John McCallum’s China Gaffe Shouldn’t Obscure his Successes”, Ottawa Citizen, January 31, 2019
Eugene Lang, “Canada’s Trade Retaliation is Rational, but Trump isn’t—that’s why it won’t work”, Globe and Mail, Opinion, June 20, 2018
Eugene Lang and David Perry, “Remind us, why does Canada want a seat on the UN Security Council, Globe and Mail, Opinion, May 7, 2018
Eugene Lang, “Why Canada Misfired on Ballistic Missile Defence”, Globe and Mail, Opinion, September 26, 2017
“Making Defence Policy”, Defence Deconstructed, CGAI, March 24, 2023, https://www.cgai.ca/making_defence_policy
“Inflation and Impending Bank of Canada Rate Hikes”, The Scoop, CFRC Podcast Network, Queen’s University, January 28, 2022. https://podcast.cfrc.ca/2022/01/inflation-impending-bank-of-canada-rate-hikes/
“911: Lessons Learned”, Defence Deconstructed Podcast, Canadian Global Affairs Institute, recorded September 10, 2021 https://www.cgai.ca/911_and_lessons_learned
Canada’s Fiscal Snapshot and Defence Spending, (with Ian Brodie, host David Perry), Canadian Global Affairs Institute. https://www.cgai.ca/canadas_fiscal_snapshot_and_defence_spending
Defence in a Liberal Minority Government (with Ian Brodie, host David Perry), Canadian Global Affairs Institute. https://www.cgai.ca/defence_in_a_liberal_minority_government
Elections and Defence Policy, (host, David Perry), Canadian Global Affairs Institute https://www.cgai.ca/elections_and_defence_policy
Is Canada a Middle Power? (host, David Perry), Canadian Global Affairs Institute https://www.cgai.ca/is_canada_a_middle_power