YCAR External Research Associate
Research Keywords:
International relations; foreign policy; governance and civil society; China’s global influence, particularly in Southeast Asia
Research Region(s):
Canada, China, Indo-Pacific, Malaysia, Southeast Asia, Taiwan
Research Diaspora(s):
Julia G. Bentley is an external research associate at the York Centre for Asian Research, a distinguished fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, a senior fellow at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and external advisor to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Malaysia.
Julia is a former career diplomat whose work has focused chiefly on Asia. Combined with other roles including as a teacher, development consultant, and head of an international organization, she spent 22 years working in Asia. She served as a diplomat in China (during two postings, one cross–accredited to Mongolia), Taiwan and India, where she was cross–accredited to Nepal and Bhutan, and she was High Commissioner of Canada in Malaysia from 2017 to 2020. At Global Affairs Canada's headquarters in Ottawa, she served as Director for Northeast Asia, Executive Director for South Asia, and Director General for South Asia, encompassing foreign policy, development, trade, and investment.
She previously served as Winrock International's Chief Representative in China and director of Winrock’s NGO Building Program in China, funded by the Ford Foundation. She held a policy practitioner fellowship at University of British Columbia’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs for a semester in spring 2023.
She holds degrees in East Asian Studies from Princeton University and the University of Toronto. She also holds a post-graduate diploma in Modern Chinese History from Nanjing University. Her interests range from Canada’s relations with Asia to governance and civil society in Asia, and China’s influence in Southeast Asia.
Her recent publications include:
All Politics is Local: Insights from Malaysia on the Belt and Road Initiative
Rethinking Canada’s engagement in Southeast Asia: lessons from the Canada-ASEAN Centre
All Politics is Local: Insights from Malaysia on the Belt and Road Initiative
Rethinking Canada’s engagement in Southeast Asia: lessons from the Canada-ASEAN
Centre