William Morris (Next Century Foundation)
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Next Century Foundation
The Next Century Foundation is an elite organisation that operates in various conflict zones across the globe. Originally established in 1990 to provide a forum for off-the-record discussions between Palestinians and Israelis, in addition to maintaining its original focus on the Middle East Peace...
Formerly a journalist and publisher, William Morris is an expert on Arab Affairs with close family connections with the Arab world stretching back more than 30 years. At one time William Morris edited "Voice", a periodical on Arab Affairs. He has worked closely with the governments of many Middle Eastern countries. He is a dual national (US / UK).
William left publishing in the early eighties to set up a sheep farm in South Wales. Following a subsequent ill-fated adventure in the Mining Industry (Founded Carreg Goch Mining in the Swansea Valley in 1988) William returned to the Middle East.
William Morris then worked as the Special Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Sultanate of Oman, in which capacity he lived and worked in the Sultanate where he was based at Sultan Qaboos University for six years from 1991 to 1996.
Following his return to Britain in December 1996, William Morris was appointed as the Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation, an organization whose founders included Jon Kimche
Jon Kimche
Jon Kimche was a journalist and historian . A Swiss Jew, he arrived in England at the age of 12, becoming involved in the Independent Labour Party as a young man. In 1934–35, he worked with George Orwell in a Hampstead bookshop, Booklover’s Corner, and he later managed the ILP's bookshop at 35...
and Lord Arnold Weinstock
Arnold Weinstock
Arnold Weinstock, Baron Weinstock was an English businessman whom The Guardian newspaper called "Britain's premier post-second-world-war industrialist."...
, with backing from Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire
Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire
Andrew Robert Buxton Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire KG, MC, PC , styled Lord Andrew Cavendish until 1944 and Marquess of Hartington from 1944 to 1950, was a British Conservative politician...
and the then Crown Prince (now Amir) of Qatar.
He then worked closely with the incoming Labour Government in Britain. At the behest of Derek Fatchett MP (then Minister at the Foreign Office) he produced an important report on Kashmir in consultation with the Mirpuri community in Britain.
In October 2000 he helped set up a war avoidance team to carry messages back and forth between the then Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr Peter Hain
Peter Hain
Peter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Neath since 1991, and has served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, firstly as Leader of the House of Commons under Blair and both Secretary of State for...
, and Iraqi Minister Mr Tariq Aziz
Tariq Aziz
Tariq Aziz and Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq and a close advisor of former President Saddam Hussein. Their association began in the 1950s when both were activists for the then-banned Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party...
(a matter then confidential which has since been put on public record in an interview with Mr Hain by the Today program and in responses to questions from news reporters).
He was then appointed as chairman of the International Media Council (now part of the International Council for Press and Broadcasting
International Council for Press and Broadcasting
The council is a subsidiary body of the Next Century Foundation, an organisation which deals primarily with conflict resolution issues and holds an annual International Media Awards in London...
) based in London in May 2003. In this capacity he has led press delegations to Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Egypt and Syria. The goal of the Media Council is to counter xenophobia and disinformation in the press of the Middle East and the West. A number of prominent Israeli journalists have been recipients of its media awards in London including Mr Ari Rath
Ari Rath
Ari Rath is an Austrian-Israeli journalist and writer.Rath was born in Vienna grew up there. After the Anschluss he came through a Kindertransport as a thirteen-year-old boy to Palestine. As one of the foeunders of the kibbutz Hamadia he lived there for 16 years and studied contemporary history...
, Mr Danny Rubinstein
Danny Rubinstein
Daniel "Danny" Rubinstein is an Israeli journalist and author. He previously worked for Haaretz, where he was an Arab affairs analyst and a member of the editorial board.-Biography:...
and Mr Yoav Stern. Arab recipients have included Sami Abdul Shafi and Mr Jihad al Khazen.
William Morris is a trustee of Sanghata Global, a non-profit organisation for transformational change that designs and implements breakthrough conceptual models focused on serving humanity. It is a charitable company incorporated in the United Kingdom.
Personal life and education
He is the son of Cornish author and publisher Claud Morris. Educated variously at the Bible College of Wales, Grenville CollegeGrenville College
Grenville College was an independent boarding and day school situated in Bideford, Devon, England. In 2009 the school merged with neighbouring Edgehill College to become the Kingsley School.-History:...
, City of Westminster College
City of Westminster College
City of Westminster College is a further education college located in the borough of Westminster, central London. The College has two centres located in Paddington and Queen's Park...
, London College of Printing, Royal Agricultural College
Royal Agricultural College
The Royal Agricultural College is a higher education institution located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, UK. Established in 1845, it was the first agricultural college in the English speaking world...
, Exeter University Department of Lifelong Learning, all in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
He married Veronica Harding in 1978. William Morris has three children: two sons and one daughter.