Salim Mansur, BA, MA, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario. His column appears at London Free Press alternate Wednesdays,  and the Toronto Sun on Thursdays. Teaching fields: Comparative politics developing areas, international relations. Research interests: Comparative/political economy of development, the Muslim world, Islam, South Asia, Middle East.

He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Center for Islamic Pluralism based in Washington, D.C., a Senior Fellow with the Canadian Coalition for Democracies, and an academic-consultant with the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C.  He has been a consultant with CIDA on development issues and has published widely in academic journals on foreign policy matters and area studies of the Middle East and South Asia.