Bio
CIGI Senior Fellow Andrew S. Thompson is adjunct assistant professor of political science at the University of Waterloo, the program officer for the global governance programs at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, and chair of Amnesty International Canada. He is a specialist in the fields of international human rights, civil society movements and fragile states.
Andrew has written or co-edited five books: On the Side of the Angels: Canada and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (2017), Fixing Haiti: MINUSTAH and Beyond (co-edited with Jorgen Heine, 2011), In Defence of Principles: NGOs and Human Rights in Canada (2010), Critical Mass: The Emergence of Global Civil Society (co-edited with James W. St.G. Walker, 2008) and Haiti: Hope for a Fragile State (co-edited with Yasmine Shamsie, 2006). His work has been published in The Journal of Human Rights, The Journal of Canadian Studies and the American Review of Canadian Studies. He has also appeared as an expert witness before the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, and the Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights.
In 2004, Andrew was a member of an Amnesty International human rights lobbying and fact-finding mission to Haiti, and in 2011 he was elected to Amnesty International Canada’s Executive Board. Also in 2011, he was named to the advisory editorial board of the Global Civil Society Report, the annual report of CIVICUS: The World Alliance for Citizen Participation. In 2013, Andrew was named to the boards of the International Migration Research Centre and the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. In 2016, he participated in a number of United Nations consultations on issues regarding reform of the global refugee protection system, and in 2017, he was named Special Advisor to the World Refugee Council.
He holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Waterloo.