John Kirton


John James Kirton is a professor of political science and the director and co-founder of the G7 Research Group, co-director and founder of the G20 Research Group, founder and co-director of the Global Health Diplomacy Program, and founder and co-founder of the BRICS Research Group, all housed at the Munk School of Global Affairs at University of Trinity College in the University of Toronto. Since 2016, he has served as interim director of the International Relations Program at Trinity College in the University of Toronto.
He received his B.A. in Political Science in 1971 from the University of Toronto, his M.A. in International Affairs in 1973 from Carleton University, and his Ph.D. in International Studies in 1977 from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
He specializes in Canadian foreign policy, the G7, G8, G20, BRICS and global governance, global health governance, and trade and the environment.
As a scholar of Canadian foreign policy, Kirton pioneered the complex neo-realist theory of Canada's emergence as a principal power in the world through his major books, Canada as a Principal Power and Canadian Foreign Policy in a Changing World.
In the field of trade and environment, Kirton led the multinational, multidisciplinary team that developed an analytical framework for assessing the environmental effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement and identified the many ways in which the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, North America's first regional organization of consequence, enhanced ecological quality throughout the region and beyond. He has also served as a member of Canada's National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.
The author or editor of more than 35 books, Kirton is the editor of the Global Governance book series as well as co-editor of the Global Environmental Governance book series published by Routledge Publishing; he was also co-editor of the Global Finance series published by Ashgate Publishing. He is co-editor of several publications on the G7/8 and G20 published by Newsdesk Media.
He is active in various volunteer activities, and serves on the board of the NATO Council of Canada. He was a member of the board of the Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs for many years until 2013.

Selected bibliography

Accountability for Effectiveness in Global Governance
China's G20 Leadership
The Global Governance of Climate Change: G7, G20 and UN Leadership
The G8-G20 Relationship in Global Governance
Moving Health Sovereignty in Africa: Disease, Governance, Climate Change.

Africa's Health Challenges Sovereignty, Mobility of People and Healthcare Governance.

Making Global Economic Governance Effective: Hard and Soft Law Institutions in a Crowded World.

Innovation in Global Health Governance: Critical Cases.

Canadian Foreign Policy in a Changing World.

Financing Development: The G8 and UN Contribution.

Governing Global Health: Challenge, Response, Innovation.

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Governing Global Finance: New Challenges, G7 and IMF Contributions.

Linking Trade, Environment, and Social Cohesion: NAFTA Experiences, Global Challenges.

Environmental Regulations and Corporate Strategy.

The G8’s Role in the New Millennium.

Canadian Foreign Policy: Selected Cases.

Canada as a Principal Power.

The International Joint Commission Seventy Years On.