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 Assistant Professor (Continuing Adjunct) in the School of Policy Studies (SPS), where he teaches Applied Policy Analysis, Introduction to Public Administration, and Instruments and Institutions of Public Finance in Canada.
Since 2015 Lang has taught every Queen’s SPS student in both the Professional MPA and MPA programs. Dedicated to enriching the student experience and supporting students in and outside of the classroom, Lang was named a Queen’s University Champion for Mental Health by the Campus Wellness Project in 2023. In 2025 he was awarded the John G. Freeman Award for Faculty Excellence from The Society of Graduate and Professional Students, which recognizes “the outstanding contributions of a faculty member to graduate and professional students, as well as the broader university community”.
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 (British Foreign and Commonwealth Office), Lang lives in Ottawa with his wife and children.
Service
For eight years, Lang coached the School of Policy Studies team to the National Public Administration Case Competition, leading Queen’s to a bronze medal in 2016, and a gold medal in 2024. In 2025, he was appointed Co-Chair of the National Public Administration Case Competition.
In 2025-26 Lang served as Acting Director of the School of Policy Studies. During his time as Acting Director, he revitalized the School’s public profile, launched a speaker’s series titled, Policy Matters: Beyond the Brief and recruited the Honourable Bob Rae as a Matthews Fellow in Global Public Policy, among other things.
Experience
Lang began his career in the federal government more than three decades ago and worked for many years in both the public service and in Minister’s offices. He served 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 also served on secondment to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Fellowships
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, Lang has previously held a Visiting Fellowship at the Munk School of International Studies, University of Toronto, and was a BMO Visiting Fellow at the Glendon School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA), Glendon College, York University. At Glendon College, Lang taught mandatory and elective courses in the Master of Public and International Affairs program and served as Interim Co-Director of the School.
Selected Publications
An award-winning author, Lang’s book The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar (co-authored with Janice Stein) was 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. It remains the standard text on the federal government’s defence and foreign policy decision-making with respect to the first few years of Canada’s involvement in the conflict in Afghanistan.
Lang’s writings have appeared in numerous edited books as well as Policy Options, Policy Network, International Politics and Society, International Journal, Policy Perspectives (Canadian Global Affairs Institute), The Global Exchange, The Walrus and The Conversation. He has published hundreds of columns in all of Canada’s major newspapers and contributes regularly to The Globe and Mail.
AWOL: Canada’s National Security Policy, Governance and Culture, Canada Among Nations: 21st Century National Security, Norman Hilman, Vincent Rigby and Philippe Legasse eds. Palgrave: 2024;
“Chretien’s Afghanistan Policy: Sound Decisions Do Not Always Produce Good Outcomes”, (co-authored with Janice Stein), Chretien and the World: Canadian Foreign Policy from 1993-2003, Jack Cunningham and John Meehan eds., University of British Columbia Press, 2025;
“Defending Canada in a Ruptured World Order” (co-authored with Michael Murphy), Reclaiming Canadian Sovereignty in a Ruptured World, Bob Rae, ed., Lorimer 2026;
“Built by Neglect: Positioned for Success: The Political Economy of Canada’s Defence Industrial Base”, Canadian Defence Policy in Theory and Practice, Volume 3, Thomas Juneau, Philippe Legasse and Srdjan Vucetic eds., Palgrave, forthcoming in 2027.
Lang has testified as an expert witness to federal government commissions and inquiries and has appeared on CBC radio and television, CTV, Global Television/Radio, BNN-Bloomberg and numerous podcasts. He is quoted regularly in print media and appears frequently on podcasts and radio.