Richard Barrett Keynote Speaker

Richard Barrett CMG OBE is a former British diplomat and intelligence officer now involved in countering violent extremism. Having served abroad in Canada, Jordan, Turkey and the United States, Richard’s expertise on the security ramifications of current affairs is invaluable.

Richard spent his career in government service to the United Kingdom. He has held positions in the British Security Service (MI5) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Richard also served as Director of Global Counter Terrorism Operations for the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) both before and after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

From 2004 to 2013 Richard led the Monitoring Team that supports the United Nations Security Council Committee pursuant to resolution 1267, concerning Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities. Richard was also a founding member of the United Nations Counter Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), which was established in 2005 to promote the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy adopted by the General Assembly in 2006.

Richard has been designated as one of the Global Experts of the Alliance of Civilizations, a group of recognised expert commentators available to the media to provide objective analysis on a range of pressing international issues. He has spoken frequently on television and radio, and his interviews have been featured on Amanpour (CNN) and Charlie Rose (PBS). He is the author of several articles and commentaries including op-eds for The Guardian, The New York Times, The Financial Times and The International Herald Tribune.

Richard currently sits on the boards of the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism in The Hague; the Transnational Crisis Project; the Global Center on Cooperative Security; The Centre for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad, The Qatar International Academy for Security Studies in Doha  and The Center for the Study of United Nations Systems and the Global Legal Order (SUNSGLOW).