John Kirton
John James Kirton is a professor emeritus of Political Science at the University of Toronto. He is the founder and director of the G7 Research Group and the G20 Research Group, the co-founder of the Global Health Diplomacy Program with James Orbinski, and the co-founder of the BRICS Research Group with Marina Larionova of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
Education
Kirton received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Toronto in 1971, an M.A. in International Affairs from Carleton University in 1973, and a Ph.D. in International Studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in 1977.Career
At the University of Toronto, John Kirton directs the G7 Research Group, Canadian Foreign Policy Research Group, G20 Research Group, BRICS Research Group, and Global Health Diplomacy Program. His research interests include global summit governance and Canadian foreign policy, global health governance, global finance, and global environmental governance.As a scholar of Canadian foreign policy, Kirton introduced the neorealist theory of Canada's emergence as a principal power in the world through his books, Canada as a Principal Power and Canadian Foreign Policy in a Changing World.
In the field of trade and environment, Kirton led a team that developed an analytical framework for assessing the environmental effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement and identified the contributions of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation to ecological quality throughout the region. He has also served as a member of Canada's National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.