Rohan Gunaratna
Encyclopedia
Rohan Gunaratna is an international terrorism
expert. He is the head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)] at Nanyang Technological University
in Singapore
. By its size, ICPVTR is one of the largest counterterrorism research and training centres in the world.
's Homeland Security Policy Institute, Gunaratna is also Senior Fellow both at Fletcher School for Law and Diplomacy's Jebsen Centre for Counter Terrorism Studies and the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, Oklahoma. A former Senior Fellow at the United States Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Centre at West Point, he holds a masters in international peace studies from Notre Dame, US, where he was Hesburgh Scholar and a doctorate in international relations from St Andrews, Scotland, where he was British Chevening Scholar.
Invited to testify before the 9-11 Commission on the structure of al Qaeda, Gunaratna led the specialist team that built the UN Database on al Qaeda, Taliban and their Entities. He debriefed detainees in the U.S., Asia, Middle East, including high value al Qaeda detainees in Iraq. He served as trainer for law enforcement, the intelligence community, and the military. He served as counter terrorism instructor for GIGN, CTSO, D88, US NAVY SEALS, Swiss Federal Police, NYPD, and the Australian Federal Police. He conducted field research in conflict zones including in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Colombia.
Author and editor of 12 books including “Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror” (Columbia University Press), an international bestseller, Gunaratna is also the lead author of Jane’s Counter Terrorism, a handbook for counter terrorism practitioners. His latest book with Michael Chandler, former Chairman of the UN Monitoring Group into the Mobility, Weapons and Finance is "Countering Terrorism: Can We Meet the Threat of Global Violence?” He also serves on the editorial boards of "Studies in Conflict and Terrorism" and "Terrorism and Political Violence," the leading academic journals in the field, and on the advisory council of “Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism.”
A litigation consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice, Gunaratna was United States expert in the Jose Padilla trial.
Gunaratna said that Al-Qaeda commander Hambali
had regularly visited Australia. This claim was later refuted by Australian authorities as lacking in evidence. Commenting on one of his books, the Pacific Journalism Review
stated "his writing here on Indonesia reveals a remarkably narrow selection of sources, a profound lack of knowledge, and a flawed understanding of the history of the Indonesian armed forces and of their intelligence operates".
Following an investigation by The Sunday Age, Gunaratna retracted some of the credentials that are found in many his books.
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
expert. He is the head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)] at Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Technological University is one of the two largest public universities in Singapore with the biggest campus in Singapore and the world's largest engineering college. Its lush 200-hectare Yunnan Garden campus was the Youth Olympic Village of the world's first 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in...
in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. By its size, ICPVTR is one of the largest counterterrorism research and training centres in the world.
Career
A Member of the Steering Committee of George Washington UniversityGeorge Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
's Homeland Security Policy Institute, Gunaratna is also Senior Fellow both at Fletcher School for Law and Diplomacy's Jebsen Centre for Counter Terrorism Studies and the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, Oklahoma. A former Senior Fellow at the United States Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Centre at West Point, he holds a masters in international peace studies from Notre Dame, US, where he was Hesburgh Scholar and a doctorate in international relations from St Andrews, Scotland, where he was British Chevening Scholar.
Invited to testify before the 9-11 Commission on the structure of al Qaeda, Gunaratna led the specialist team that built the UN Database on al Qaeda, Taliban and their Entities. He debriefed detainees in the U.S., Asia, Middle East, including high value al Qaeda detainees in Iraq. He served as trainer for law enforcement, the intelligence community, and the military. He served as counter terrorism instructor for GIGN, CTSO, D88, US NAVY SEALS, Swiss Federal Police, NYPD, and the Australian Federal Police. He conducted field research in conflict zones including in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Colombia.
Author and editor of 12 books including “Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror” (Columbia University Press), an international bestseller, Gunaratna is also the lead author of Jane’s Counter Terrorism, a handbook for counter terrorism practitioners. His latest book with Michael Chandler, former Chairman of the UN Monitoring Group into the Mobility, Weapons and Finance is "Countering Terrorism: Can We Meet the Threat of Global Violence?” He also serves on the editorial boards of "Studies in Conflict and Terrorism" and "Terrorism and Political Violence," the leading academic journals in the field, and on the advisory council of “Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism.”
A litigation consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice, Gunaratna was United States expert in the Jose Padilla trial.
Gunaratna said that Al-Qaeda commander Hambali
Riduan Isamuddin
Riduan Isamuddin also transliterated as Riduan Isamudin, Riduan Isomuddin, and Riduan Isomudin, better known by the nom de guerre Hambali, born as Encep Nurjaman, born April 4, 1964 is the former military leader of the Indonesian terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah , which is linked with Al...
had regularly visited Australia. This claim was later refuted by Australian authorities as lacking in evidence. Commenting on one of his books, the Pacific Journalism Review
Pacific Journalism Review
Pacific Journalism Review, founded at the University of Papua New Guinea in 1994, is a peer-reviewed journal covering media issues and communication in the South Pacific, Asia-Pacific, Australia and New Zealand. Since 2002, it has been published by Auckland University of Technology's School of...
stated "his writing here on Indonesia reveals a remarkably narrow selection of sources, a profound lack of knowledge, and a flawed understanding of the history of the Indonesian armed forces and of their intelligence operates".
Following an investigation by The Sunday Age, Gunaratna retracted some of the credentials that are found in many his books.
Works (As Author or Co-Author)
- Countering Terrorism: Can We Meet the Threat of Global Violence?http://www.amazon.com/dp/1861893086
- Combating Terrorism (Regionalism & Regional Security)http://www.amazon.com/dp/9812102809
- Ethnic Identity and National Conflict in Chinahttp://www.amazon.com/s?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&field-author=Rohan%20Gunaratna
- The Changing Face of Terrorismhttp://www.amazon.com/s?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&field-author=Rohan%20Gunaratna
- Conflict And Terrorism in Southern Thailandhttp://www.amazon.com/s?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&field-author=Rohan%20Gunaratna
- "The terror market: networks and enforcement in the West.(UNDERGROUND MARKETS)(Chronology)": An article by Rohan Gunaratna in Harvard International Reviewhttp://www.amazon.com/dp/B000F9T11K
External links
- Staff Profile of Rohan Gunaratna, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, A Graduate School of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
- International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research
- Bradley Hope, How Commissioner Kelly Reads His Way To Vigilance on Crime, New York Sun October 2006.
- Daniel Hoare, Gareth Evans downplays terrorist risk in Australia