Walter Dorn

Who is Walter Dorn?

Walter A. Dorn is a scientist, educator, author and researcher. He is Chair of the Canadian Pugwash Group, the Canadian branch of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs which received the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize.

Dorn teaches military officers and civilian students in Toronto at the Canadian Forces College and also in Kingston at the Royal Military College of Canada. He lectures and leads seminars on peace operations, the ethics of armed force, the United Nations, arms control, Canadian and US foreign/defence policy, Canadian government and society, and science/technology applications. He also serves as Chair of the Department of Security and International Affairs at the CFC.

He completed his doctorate in Chemistry at the University of Toronto and now applies this scientific background toward the study of peace and conflict issues. He has pursued this work at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Nova Scotia, where he developed and taught courses, as well as at Cornell University, where he was a Senior Research Fellow.

In 2006, he was commissioned by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations to conduct a study on technologies for peacekeeping, especially for monitoring of conflicts, borders, sanctions, civilian protection, staff security, and various Security Council mandates. His report was welcomed by the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping, composed of 124 member states who contribute to peacekeeping, and DPKO is seeking to implement the report's recommendations. His book, KEEPING WATCH: Monitoring, Technology and Innovation in UN Peace Operations, further advances the subject. He also assisted with the negotiation, ratification, and implementation of the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention as the CWC Coordinator with Parliamentarians for Global Action. Dorn addressed the UN General Assembly in 1988 at the Second UN Special Session on Disarmament. Since 1983, he has served as the UN Representative of Science for Peace, a Canadian non-governmental organization.