Stephen Clarkson, Background

A graduate from the universities of Toronto, Oxford (as a Rhodes Scholar) and Paris-Sorbonne, Stephen Clarkson is one of Canada’s pre-eminent scholars of Canada’s continental integration, the political economy of North America and the impact of globalization on middle powers. Since starting his career in 1964 as a lecturer at the University of Toronto, Stephen has received numerous research awards and grants, and written many books, chapters in collections and academic papers. His innovative Canada and the Reagan Challenge was awarded the John Porter prize and the landmark, two-volume Trudeau and Our Times, which won the Governor General’s literary award for non-fiction, was written with his late wife Christina McCall.

Instrumental in developing CIGI’s Portal for North America, Stephen is now completing a trilogy on North America under trade liberalization and anti-terrorism. Uncle Sam and Us examined the impact of globalization and the North American Free Trade Agreement on Canada’s political system. Does North America Exist? assessed the extent to which the tri-national entity made up of Canada, Mexico and the United States functions as a global region. In the fall of 2011, Dependent America? will complete this cycle by showing how much the United States’ economy and security depends on the markets, resources and labour of its two geographical neighbours, as well as Canada and Mexico’s commitment to securing American borders against terrorists and narcotics.

As virtual scholars at the Law Commission of Canada, Stephen co-authored, with Stepan Wood, A Perilous Imbalance, which analyzes globalization’s pervasive significance for Canadian law and governance. Stephen’s next research will focus on comparing North America with other global regions such as the European Union, Mercosur and ASEAN.

Stephen is a senior fellow at Massey College in Toronto and has been honoured with a number of appointments and awards. He was the recipient of the Canada-US Fulbright Scholarship, and has been awarded a fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. He has been elected to the Royal Society of Canada and has recently been made a member of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest honour.