Abstract: Artificial intelligence is part of a broader “general-purpose” technology ecosystem that is transforming global security. Alongside AI, new threat vectors are emerging—from the growing role of non-state actors to the expansion of national security domains beyond land, sea, and air to include cyber and space. For middle powers, this landscape is further complicated by patchwork regulatory frameworks and the dominance of rules set by global powers. At the same time, the distinction between economic security and national security is rapidly dissolving, raising urgent questions about resilience, sovereignty, and competitiveness. This talk will explore what these shifts mean for the national capacity of governments, the role of civil servants, and the need to reimagine defence and security institutions in a digital era. 

Bio: Professor Ann Fitz-Gerald is the Director of the Balsillie School of International Affairs since August 2019 and has led the School’s “Technology Governance Initiative” since 2023. She has degrees in both commerce and political science from Queen’s University and was the first civilian female to graduate from the Royal Military College of Canada. Before completing a PhD in the UK, she worked at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre, NATO headquarters, and the North Atlantic Assembly. She has worked as an academic at King’s College, London University and Cranfield University, where, before her move back to Canada, she was Director, Defence and Security Leadership at Cranfield’s Defence Academy of the United Kingdom campus.

Ann is a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, a Fellow at McLaughlin College, York University and has served/still serves on a number of non-executive boards and in advisory roles for the British Government, the United Nations and the African Union. Ann is widely published on issues concerning the governance of national security and has helped facilitate national security policies and strategies in a number of conflict-affected countries including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, Ukraine, Sierra Leone, Nepal, Serbia, Nigeria and others. She provides regular media commentary for both national and international broadcast media. She has also been appointed by organizations such as the United Nations, the African Union and the British Government to support internationally-sponsored peace talks, including the Sudan-South Sudan peace talks led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki – efforts for which the Government of Canada awarded Ann with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. In December 2024, Ann was recognized for her ongoing research on defence and national security and for her leadership of the Balsillie School of International Affairs and awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal. Foundations.

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