About Laure Paquette, Ph.D.

Professor Laure Paquette, Ph.D., helps people get what they want, especially people with no power and no money. There are many applications of this kind of strategic thinking.  The impact of Dr. Paquette's research and teaching is widespread.  Dr. Paquette teaches courses in political strategy and tactics, and their most common applications. Outlines for her current courses are also available. Dr. Paquette has also developed a polyvalent method of knowledge transfer, called the worksheet system. Professor Paquette's students have developed a website on German politics. Professor Paquette has also developed a webpage about the new Grade 10 Civics required in Ontario high schools, and for strategy for women. The details of her career can be seen on her curriculum vitae. Students can consult her tipsheet. She is fluent in English and French. She has lectured on her research in France, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia, the US, and China. She held the Barton Fellowship in 1989, the Japan Foundation Fellowship in 1997, the NATO Fellowship in 1998-2000, and the CHRSF/CIHR Career Renewal Fellowship in 2001-2002. She was Visiting Research Professor at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, in 2000-2001, and was Adjunct Professor at Queen's Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, in 2002-2006, after being CHRSF Visiting Research Professor at the Queen’s Center for Health Services and Policy Research for 2001-2003. She has been Associate Fellow of Joint Special Operations University’s Department of Strategic Studies (US Special Operations Command) since 2008. She has given workshops on underdog strategy to a wide range of groups. She has been asked to comment on the US Air Force’s doctrine on counterinsurgency. She is the author of  Political Strategy and Tactics, Security for the Pacific Century, NATO and Eastern Europe after 2000, Analyzing and Building National Policy, Strategy and Ethnic Conflict, Strategies for Individuals, Political Strategy and Tactics Workbook, Bioterrorism and Medical and Healthcare Administration, Path to Peace, Campaign Strategy, Prescription for Change, and Strategic Activism. She has drafted books on strategy and research, strategy and counterterrorism and counter-insurgency, strategy and the Catholic Church, case studies of strategy used in the health care system, and the second volumes of both the workbook and strategic activism. Her books are held in libraries around the world, including the National Libraries of China and Estonia, and the Parliamentary Library of India. She has also published extensively in academic journals and edited collections. Dr. Paquette offers a reader's guide to her books. She maintains a weblog on research, writing, and reading here. Some of her writings are available for download here. She has given over 400 interviews in national and international media.

How to Get What You Want, When You Are At A Disadvantage:

How do the weak, the underdogs, those without power, get what they want? The weak don’t think like the strong. If you have ever had any kind of advantage, it might be hard to understand this, and everything this means. Dr. Laure Paquette specializes in the way the underdog thinks and behaves – “the strategy of the weak.”Dr. Paquette has a wide range of checklists and exercises designed to learn or improve strategic thinking adaptable to sharing in electronic form, or online via the internet. All these exercises assess the ability to predict outcomes in different potential scenarios, and the ability to think ahead several steps. The better you do, the closer you are to understanding, and practicing, “the strategy of the weak”.

For example, she developed a simple diagnostic test – based on board games, and a series of hands-on exercises – to help identify who are the key movers and shakers in any crowd. The diagnostic exercise can identify those who already think like the underdog, or develop the skill set in those who may need it, in any setting. This can help you directly, or help you understand your opposition. This new approach to strategy can be facilitated in a single session, or can offered with more intensive practical work over a whole day, or several days – based on your needs and your schedule. You can expect to encounter three types of learners when learning this new approach to strategy: The Natural Strategist: someone who, once you explain a new concept of strategy explained to them, identifies it, learns how to improve their practice, and uses it immediately; The “On Sight” Strategist: someone who needs to see the new concept of strategy demonstrated before they fully understand and use it; and The Coachable Strategist: someone who needs to be coached through several applications (using case studies, for example) of a new concept of strategy before they understand and use it.

How to Contact

e-mail        laure.paquette at lakeheadu.ca
fax             1-1-807-346-7831

mail           Department of Political Science, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Rd. Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada P7B 5E1

voicemail  1-1- 807-343-8237

Page was designed by Laure Paquette. Last updated September 9, 2008.