Michael Dougall Bell (September 10, 1943 – August 24, 2017) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Foreign Service Officer with 36 years experience in the

Department of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

, mostly focused on the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. He was Canada's Ambassador to

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

(1987–90),

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

(1994–98), and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

(1990–92 and 1999–2003). He was also Chair of the Donor Committee of the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq.

Early life

Bell was born on September 10, 1943, in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

. He attended

Assumption College School Assumption College Catholic High School is a Catholic secondary school in Windsor, Ontario. The school was originally established as a private preparatory school by Assumption College, now Assumption University, but it is now a publicly-funded sep ...

from 1958 to 1962, and later attended the

University of Windsor The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...

. At Windsor he received his B.A. Hons (1966) and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(1967) in Political Science and Economic Studies.

Foreign Service

After completing his

he joined the Canadian Foreign Service, holding early positions in Kingston, Jamaica (1968–1970), Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (1970–1972), and Rome, Italy (1981–1983). He Also Served as the Senior Political Officer in

Tel Aviv, Israel Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

from 1975 to 1978. He was Executive Assistant for Middle East Affairs to the Honourable

Robert Stanfield Robert Lorne Stanfield (April 11, 1914 – December 16, 2003) was a Canadian politician who served as the 17th premier of Nova Scotia from 1956 to 1967 and the leader of the Official Opposition and leader of the Progressive Conservative ...

(1978–1979), and Director of the Middle East Relations Division (1983–1987), Director General for Central and Eastern Europe (1992–1994). He served as Canadian Ambassador to Egypt, Jordan and Israel (twice), as well as High Commissioner to Cyprus. He was also an Arms Inspector for

UNSCOM United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) was an inspection regime created by the United Nations to ensure Iraq's compliance with policies concerning Iraqi production and use of weapons of mass destruction after the Gulf War. Between 1991 and 19 ...

for a short period.University of Windsor - Research - Prof. M. Bell - Main
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After the Foreign Service

Bell served as the Fellow at the Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(1998–99) and from 2003 to 2005 he was Senior Scholar on Diplomacy at the Munk Centre for International Studies, at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. Afterwards, Bell joined the

Norman Paterson School of International Affairs The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA ( )) is a professional school of international affairs at Carleton University that was founded in 1965. The school is based at Richcraft Hall on Carleton's campus in Ottawa, Ontario, C ...

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

and the Paul Martin (Sr.) Senior Scholar in International Diplomacy,

, where he taught until his death. Bell has been a contributor to ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

''. He has also published in the

Literary Review of Canada The ''Literary Review of Canada'' is a Canadian magazine that publishes ten times a year in print and online. The magazine features essays and reviews of books on political, cultural, social, and literary topics, as well as original Canadian poet ...

, the Behind the Headlines series of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, Ideas: the Arts and Science Review of the University of Toronto, the International Journal, and the Journal of International Law and International Relations.

Later work

Michael Bell was the Paul Martin (Sr.) Senior Scholar on International Diplomacy at the

, where he taught on the law and politics of the modern

. He was also engaged in a major study on the future governance of

Jerusalem's Old City The Old City of Jerusalem (; ) is a walled area in Jerusalem. In a tradition that may have begun with an 1840s British map of the city, the Old City is divided into four uneven quarters: the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Arm ...

. The project is designed to stimulate thinking amongst decision makers, respecting options for the future governance of the old city for possible use by negotiators, in the event of renewed negotiations for a comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Critics note that this activity was detached from regional realities, "misguided" and unhelpful. He died of liver cancer on 24 August 2017.

Political activity

Bell joined a

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

initiative "to help him persuade voters he has the foreign policy chops to be prime minister in 2015", which was unveiled on 16 December 2014 in the lead-up to the 2015 Canadian election. The group of 14 experts included several candidates for office, a Calgary-based lawyer who advocates for Chinese

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

s, and another lawyer who wrote "lamenting the lack of diversity and women in positions of power in corporate Canada". In the months between the two events, he was interviewed on the

P5+1 P5 may refer to: In science and technology * 311P/PANSTARRS, also known as P/2013 P5 (PANSTARRS), an asteroid discovered by the Pan-STARRS telescope on 27 August 2013 * P5 Truss Segment, an element of the International Space Station * Period ...

Iran deal and said:theglobeandmail.com: "Leaked files show Mossad, Netanyahu differed on timetable for Iran nuclear program"
23 Feb 2015 and he has written in ''

'' pieces such as:
"To respond to terror, we must distinguish its three varieties"
13 January 2015
"Why a weakened IS gives Harper a political boost"
12 February 2015
"Israel will pay a price for Netanyahu’s Iran obsession"
5 March 2015
"Another round of Netanyahu – for Israelis and the world"
18 March 2015
"Lost in the headlines: Another tragedy looms in Lebanon"
14 April 2015
"Jordan needs more than muscle"
30 April 2015

References

External links

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada Complete List of Posts

Michael Bell's Website at the University of Windsor
*http://uwindsor.ca/jerusaleminitiative {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Michael Dougall 1943 births 2017 deaths Harvard University staff Ambassadors of Canada to Jordan Ambassadors of Canada to Israel High commissioners of Canada to Cyprus Ambassadors of Canada to Egypt People from Windsor, Ontario University of Windsor alumni