Emerging Scholar
Fabrice Blais-Savoie is a student at the Balsillie School of International Affairs’ Master of International Public Policy. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Political Science from Bishop’s University. He has extensive professional experience in policy making and international relations within the Quebec government, working as both an international affairs advisor for the Ministry of Higher Education and an international trade policy advisor for the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy. He is a master’s fellow with the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) Digital Policy Hub, working on data governance and trade. His research interests sit at…
Emerging Scholar
Tehya Blake is currently completing a Master of Arts degree in Political Studies with a specialization in Nationalism, Ethnicity, Peace, and Conflict at Queen’s University. Her research interests pertain to gender and security, peace and conflict, and international relations. She is writing her Major Research Project on the causes of conflict-related sexual violence with an empirical focus on the Russian invasion of Ukraine under the supervision of Dr. Stéfanie von Hlatky. She holds a Batchelor of Arts (Honour) degree from St. Francis Xavier University in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations. During her BA, Tehya received the Kontak…
Coordinator | website and communications
Antonin Blanchard holds a master’s degree in political science from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). His research focuses primarily on international relations and world politics, with a specialization in security and defense studies. His thesis examines the concept of neutrality and its application to the Ukrainian case. More broadly, he is interested in defense policies and models of conventional deterrence, with a particular focus on so-called “alternative” forms of defense. In addition to his main areas of research, he has worked on Egypt’s foreign policy and the dynamics of its political system. His work also includes an…
Strategic steering committee
Lieutenant General Blondin holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Manitoba and an M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix in Arizona. He is also a graduate of the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College and the United States Air War College. Lieutenant General Yvan Blondin grew up in Aylmer, Quebec, and enlisted in the Canadian Forces in 1980. After completing his flight training in 1982, he was assigned to 32nd Squadron at Shearwater, Nova Scotia, where he flew T-33 aircraft. In 1986, when Canada acquired CF-18 fighter jets, he was assigned to Bagotville with the newly formed 433rd…
Emerging Scholar
Alice Bonardi-Igout is a PhD student in international studies at Université Laval, under the supervision of Jonathan Paquin and Frédéric Lasserre. Her research interests include the dynamics of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its policy of deterrence. Her PhD research focuses on strategic issues related to NATO partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. She is a participant in the 2025 NATO Field School, an intensive training program organized by Simon Fraser University. Alice began her studies in France, where she is originally from, by completing a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences - Applied Human Sciences at Grenoble Alpes University. Arriving…
Fellow researcher
Antoine Bondaz, PhD, is a researcher at the Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (FRS), where he heads the Observatoire du multilatéralisme en Indo-Pacifique for the French Ministry of Defence, as well as the Korea and Taiwan programmes. He advises government departments (including defense, foreign affairs, and nuclear commissariat), government officials and public and private companies, and takes part in numerous high-level dialogues with government officials in the Indo-Pacific region. He has appeared before the French National Assembly and Senate, the European Parliament, the Canadian House of Commons, the OECD, NATO and the UN. He has taken part in several invitation…
Practitioner
A postdoctoral researcher at the École Nationale d'Administration Publique, Laurent Borzillo co-hosts RAS's French-language Security Council podcast, with Sarah-Myriam Martin-Brulé. A member of RAS, he is a research associate of the following university centres: CCEAE (Canadian Centre for German and European Studies) at the Université de Montréal, CJMM (Centre Jean Monnet de Montréal), CESICE (Centre d'Études sur la Sécurité Internationale et la Coopération Européenne) at the Université de Grenoble, and the GRHG (Groupe de Recherche en Histoire de la Guerre). Founder of the French association Forum de Défense et de Stratégie, he holds a PhD in political science from the…
Researcher
Jean-Christophe Boucher is an Associate Professor at the School of Public Policy and at the Department of Political Science at the University of Calgary. His current work focuses on applied machine learning to understand how the digital world shapes our society. He is currently holding grants from the Department of National Defence (DND) to study information operations; the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to understand civil-military relations in Canada; and holds grants from Alberta Innovates, the Vaccine Confidence Fund and Merck to study vaccine hesitancy on social media to develop better communications strategies and tools to increase vaccine…
Researcher
Yolande Bouka is (Ph.D. American University) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University. She has worked with and offered support to USAID, the UK Department for International Development, the United Nations, the African Union, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the United States Institute of Peace. Her research and teaching focus on gender, African politics and security, political violence, and field research ethics in conflict-affected societies. Her current research is a multi-sited historical and political analysis of female combatants in Southern Africa. Her previous research which is now a book manuscript In…
Emerging Scholar
Guillaume Boulianne is a master's student in International Studies, International Security profile, at the École supérieure d'études internationales of Laval University. He holds a bachelor's degree in music from the Conservatoire de musique de Saguenay. His career as a military reservist in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserve led him to develop a passion for national and international security issues. His master's thesis, directed by Prof. Eytan Tepper and BGen(ret) Richard Giguère, deals with the inadequacies of international space law in the area of space weaponry.
