Dirk Druet is a researcher, policy adviser and strategist with over a decade of experience in the international peace and security pillar of the United Nations. He is a research affiliate at McGill University’s Centre for International Peace and Security Studies, where he leads a research initiative on intelligence, surveillance and multilateral cooperation. He advises a number of research and policy institutions and in 2020 was a member of an independent team undertaking a strategic review of civilian protection in United Nations peacekeeping operations mandated by the Secretary-General.

In previous capacities, Dirk was a member of the Policy Planning Units of the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs in New York, where he advised on conflict prevention, political strategy and conflict analysis, and the UN Department of Peace Operations, where he led initiatives on intelligence, technology and innovation, and asymmetric operating environments. He has served with UN field operations in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan and Rwanda.

Dirk holds a Masters degree in political science from the University of Toronto and an Honours degree in international relations from Carleton University, Ottawa. He is from Prince Edward Island in Canada.

Selected Publications

• “United Nations Special Political Missions and Protection: A Principled Approach for Research and Policymaking” (New York: International Peace Institute, July 2021)