Peter Kasurak
Fellow
Peter Kasurak is a retired public servant living in Ottawa. He left the federal government in 2006 from the Office of the Auditor General where he had been Senior Principal for National Security, Public Safety and Justice. He joined the Office of the Auditor General in 1988, working on Defence projects and led the Defence audit team from 1993 to 2001 when he transferred to the National Security file. Prior to joining the Office he worked as a consultant and in various staff jobs in National Defence Headquarters.
Peter has a Ph.D. in military and diplomatic history from Duke University. He has taught under contract at the Canadian Forces College and the Royal Military College of Canada. Courses have included war and society, defence and foreign policy, terrorism, the profession of arms and performance audit in the defence sector.
His publications include work on civil-military relations, defence management and the democratic control of security forces. Since 2007 his focus has been on the Canadian Army. A National Force: The Evolution of Canada’s Army, 1950-2000, published by UBC Press, examined the institutional and doctrinal development of the Army in the mid and late twentieth century. His most recent book, Canada’s Mechanized Infantry explores cultural and organizational factors which have affected how the Canadian Infantry integrated technology and developed doctrine for infantry mechanization from 1920 to 2006.
Peter is also active as a performance auditor. He recently completed an audit of HM Customs for the Auditor General of the Cayman Islands. He has developed and delivered a course on performance audit in the national security sector for the Royal Military College.
- BA – Queen’s University (1972)
- MA – Duke University (1974)
- Ph.D, -- Duke University (1976)
Current Interests/Research:
- Civil-Military Relations in Canada
- Military culture
- Defence policy