Bob Jackson, the Fletcher Jones Professor of Government and Director of International Relations at the University of Redlands and a Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, briefed the Canadian House of Commons Committee on Foreign Affairs on the country’s mission in Afghanistan on Thursday, March 13.

Jackson, who also holds the position of Life Member/Fellow, Clare Hall and Centre of International Studies, University of Cambridge, England, briefed the committee in Ottawa on the day when the government voted whether or not to continue its mission in Afghanistan until July 2011.

“While it is true that the Afghanistan Compact will come up for renewal in 2010-11, there is no doubt that it will have to be renegotiated and NATO will have to play a role after that,” Jackson says. “Our approach should be for a long-term comprehensive contribution— an extended period of perhaps 30 years or so. The military may only need to be proactive for a much shorter period.”

In 2007, Jackson visited the Canadian Strategic Advisory Team in Kabul, Afghanistan, to interview leading Afghanistan cabinet members and politicians about its activities and the future of Afghanistan. He was also appointed to the international advisory Board for the Centre on Conflict and Peace Studies, a Kabul think-tank that examines terrorism and advises governments on conflict analysis and prevention.

Jackson has served as a senior policy advisor to two former Canadian Prime Ministers, on the Advisory Board of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and has worked for various other government agencies. 

An author and co-author of 36 books and some 50 articles in the fields of comparative, Canadian and international politics, Jackson is currently working on three projects: NATO in Afghanistan, North American Security Policy and NATO and Peacekeeping.

His latest book is “Temptations of Power: the United States in Global Politics Since 9/11” (co-authored by Dr. Philip Towle of the University of Cambridge), which explores the new security dilemmas that confronted President George W. Bush after 9/11 and argues for new politics to address the problems.

He can be reached at: Robert_Jackson@redlands.edu or (909) 748-8596.

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