Michael Bell

Professor Michael Bell is the current holder of the Paul Martin (Snr) Senior Scholar in International Relations. He is based within the Political Science department where he teaches two classes a year on Middle East politics and history. Professor Bell is also a director of the Jerusalem Old City Initiative. As former Chair of the Donor Committee of the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq, Bell has had considerable experience in conflict management, mediation, peace-building, peace-keeping, policy analysis and formulation, governance, human rights, civil society and economic and social development. Bell is a former Canadian Foreign Service Officer with 36 years experience in the Department of Foreign Affairs, mostly focused on the Middle East. He was Canada's Ambassador to Jordan (1987-90), Egypt (1994-98), and Israel (1990-92 and 1999- 2003). He was Executive Assistant for Middle East Affairs to the Honourable Robert Stanfield (1978-79), Director of the Middle East Relations Division (1983-87), Director General for Central and Eastern Europe (1992-94) and Fellow at the Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs at Harvard University (1998-99). From 2003-2005 he was Senior Scholar on Diplomacy at the Munk Centre for International Studies, at the University of Toronto. Bell has been a contributor to the Globe and Mail. He has also published in the Literary Review of Canada, the Behind the Headlines series of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, Idea&s: the Arts and Science Review of the University of Toronto, the International Journal, and the Journal of International Law and International Relations.