Charles Pentland

Brief Biography

Charles Pentland was born in Montreal. He completed his BA with Double Honours in Political Science and International Studies at UBC (1965); his MA in Political Science at UBC (1966); and a PhD in International Relations at the University of London,School of Economics and Political Science (1970).

Charles joined the Department of Political Studies at Queen's in 1969 and was a full professor from 1982 until his retirement in 2015, teaching subjects encompassing international organizations, global governance, the EU, Canadian foreign policy, IPE and IR theory. He also served as the Head of Department from 1987-92. Throughout his career, he held several visiting positions at the Institut d'Etudes Europeennes, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, the Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales et Communautaires, Universite d'Aix-Marseille, the University of Manitoba, and the University of Cambridge.  Charles also served as co-editor of the Journal of European Integration and of the international Journal and spent eight years as Director of the Queen's Centre for International Relations.

Charles' research spans a great many topics and issues of international relations and comparative politics, but his most recent interests are concerned with the political development and external relations of the European Union, in particular the security implications of its enlargement to include countries in Central and Eastern Europe, its role in the Balkans, and its development of a common foreign and security policy.