In the participative and collaborative nature of the Masterclass, all speakers, whilst delivering highly focussed lectures, act as advisors to the scenario play and contributors to the overall knowledge base.

Keynote Speakers

SIR ROBERT FRY KCB, CBE

Sir Robert is Chairman of Albany Associates. He is also involved in a number of board and advisory roles to companies in the security and banking sectors, in Europe, North America and the Middle East, having previously been EMEA Regional Vice President for Defense & Security at Hewlett-Packard.  Before business he enjoyed a full military career with posts that included Commandant General of the Royal Marines and Deputy Commanding General of coalition forces in Iraq.

Sir Robert is a visiting professor at Reading University and a visiting fellow at Oxford; he is also an occasional columnist for the European edition of the WSJ and for Forbes Magazine. He is a trustee of the charity Help for Heroes and the London based think tank, the Royal United Services Institute. He maintains his military links as Colonel, The Special Reconnaissance Regiment

SIR KIERAN PRENDERGAST KCVO, CMG

Sir Kieran Prendergast is a British diplomat and a former Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs at the United Nations. After graduating from St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, he joined the British Foreign Office, working in Nicosia, Cyprus, and The Hague before returning to London in 1976 to work as Assistant Private Secretary to Anthony Crosland and David Owen, Secretaries of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. In 1982, he was appointed consul-general in Tel Aviv, Israel and later served as High Commissioner to Zimbabwe and Kenya, and then as Ambassador to Turkey.

In 1997, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed Prendergast Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs at the United Nations and served in that position until 2005. He helped call attention to human rights violations and ethnic cleansing resulting from the War in Darfur, and was deeply involved in Cyprus reunification negotiations in 2004.  When he resigned in 2005, Kofi Annan thanked him for his “outstanding service” and “invaluable advice.” Since his resignation from the United Nations, Prendergast has conducted research at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and is a member of the Advisory Council of Independent Diplomat. He is also a Senior Advisor to the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva.

Speakers (in alphabetical order)

GREGORY ASMOLOV

Recognised as a leading light in the field of information technology and social media in politics, Gregory Asmolov is a researcher at the New media, Innovation and Literacy programme at the London School of Economics media department researching the development of online political institutions and ICT based models of governance in crisis situations.

Gregory has also worked as a consultant on information technology, new media, and social media projects for The World Bank, American Councils for International Education, and Internews, and was a research assistant at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Previously he worked as a journalist for major Russian daily newspapers Kommersant and Novaya Gazeta, and served as news editor and analyst for Israeli TV.  He is regular contributor to Global Voices.

ROBERT FOX

Robert Fox, has worked as a journalist and broadcaster since 1967, and is defence correspondent for the Evening Standard. He also contributes to Il Sole 24 Ore, Limes, the Tablet, the Times Literary Supplement and the Oldie and works as a commentator for the BBC and Sky News. He is senior associate fellow at the Centre for Defence Studies in King’s College, London.

He was a BBC correspondent and reporter between 1968-87, reporting from the Falklands, the Middle East, Northern Ireland and Italy. He joined the Daily Telegraph in 1987 and served as defence correspondent and chief foreign correspondent, covering Afghanistan, the 1991 Gulf war, the Balkans, and the Middle East and the intifada. He was a guest commentator for the Corriere della Sera, Milan between 1976-77.

His books include Eyewitness Falklands (1982), Antarctica and The South Atlantic (1985), Camera in Conflict (1995) and Liners (1998). He co-wrote I Counted Them All Out (1982) with Brian Hanrahan. He has two works in progress, War and Truth: Reporting and History and an anthology called Eyewitness To History.

GUY GABRIEL

Guy Gabriel is one of Albany’s Senior Associates, with a particular responsibility for Sudan, a country he first visited a decade earlier and has been visiting ever since. His particular interest and remit is grassroots outreach, and tribal dynamics and reconciliation.

Guy spent 4 years with Arab Media Watch, a London-based organisation that monitors media coverage of the Middle East. Throughout his career, he has worked as a freelance journalist, with work appearing in various publications including al Hayat, al Quds al Arabi, The National (UAE), and Forbes (US), as well as a number of more specialised fora on Middle Eastern politics. In 2010 he was shortlisted for an International Media Council award for coverage of the Middle East.

Gabriel speaks French, Arabic (including script), and German, and holds a Masters from the School of Oriental and African Studies.

NIK GOWING

Since February 1996, Nik Gowing has been the main presenter on BBC World News, the BBC’s 24-hour international television news and information channel.  Nik also anchors special location coverage of major international news events. He is lead moderator for the BBC World Debate programmes, which have recently been held in Delhi, the Dead Sea in Jordan, Muscat, Sharm-el-Sheik, Istanbul, Singapore and Dalian, China.

Nik is also at the forefront on thinking concerning the contemporary media environment and its impact on organisations and journalists.  He has been a fellow of many leading academic institutions, including The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Reuters Institute at Oxford University and is currently on the Advisory boards for the Royal United Services Institute and the Overseas Development Institute.  His acclaimed book ‘Skyful of Lies and Black Swans’ is a powerful account of shifting power distribution in the digital age.

Before joining the BBC in 1996, Nik was a foreign affairs specialist and presenter at ITN for 18 years. He won a BAFTA award in 1982 for his smuggled coverage of martial law in Poland. From 1989 to 1996 he was diplomatic editor for Channel Four News. His reporting from Bosnia was part of the Channel Four News portfolio which won the BAFTA ‘Best News Coverage’ award in 1996. In 2007, Nik received a Special Award at the first Indian News Television Awards in 2007 in recognition of his work in International news Reportage and Coverage.

DOUG GRIFFIN

After years of private practice with an international law firm in New York, Moscow and Paris, Doug Griffin is an expert in communications and media strategy, law and policy, particularly in conflict, post-conflict and transitional environments.  He is a lawyer with expertise in drafting important legal documents and assisting with the development of communications and media law and policy.

He has significant experience communicating effectively with stakeholders, including the public, government officials and the international community, about key law and policy issues.  Examples of projects include drafting a media development strategy for Somalia with input from ministries, other stakeholders, the United Nations and UN agencies and donors; drafting key legislation and regulations concerning media and telecommunications in Iraq; training senior management of national regulators of broadcasting and communications and government officials; and providing comprehensive broadcast and other regulatory advice to communications regulators and government ministries in Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

SIMON HASELOCK

Simon Haselock is co-founder and Director of Albany Associates and a pioneer in media intervention in countries emerging from violent conflict.  Following the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in late 1995 and throughout 1996 he was the NATO Spokesman in Sarajevo. He stayed on in Bosnia from 1997 until early 2000 as Deputy High Representative for Media Affairs in the Office of The High Representative responsible for the public presentation of policy and media reform. As Temporary Media Commissioner in Kosovo in 2000 he began the process of building the professional, legal and ethical structures necessary for the independent media to flourish there. He then served as the Director of Public Information for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) from 2001 to spring 2003 when he went on to head the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Media Development and Regulatory Advisory Team in Iraq.

Since co-founding Albany he has directed projects in Kosovo, Darfur, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Somalia. He is an Associate of the Program for Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCLMP) at Oxford University and served for 23 years in the Royal Marines attending the Royal Navy Staff College in 1986.

Colonel JON HAZEL OBE

Jon Hazel is a British Army officer with 24 years’ military experience, almost half of which has been on deployed operations.  Recent operational tours have been in Afghanistan with the International Security Assistance Force working on strategic assessments and strategic communication.

Currently a Research Fellow at the UK’s Royal College of Defence Studies, his main research interest is the relationship between national strategy-making and strategic communication in the Information Age.  While a student of the College, his dissertation was published as a Seaford House Paper – The Conflict with Extreme Islamism: How to Compete in the Global Information Environment.  He has also contributed to the British Army Book 2011 and the MOD’s first doctrine publication on strategic communication.  He is part of a UK Defence team which was commissioned by the Chief of the Defence Staff to produce the MOD Enhancing Strategic Capability Study in support of Defence Reform.  The Study includes recommendations of major change concerning the UK Armed Forces’ approach to communication.

IMRAN AHMAD KHAN

Imran Ahmad Khan is Transnational Crisis Project’s President and Co-Founder. In addition to his executive duties, which charge him with all key management decisions and organizational development, Imran is also responsible for Crisis Project’s overall strategic vision and direction.

As a strategist, expert in transnational security, population-centric foreign policy, ideological radicalization and counter-radicalization, Imran has advised governments, groups and organisations in several countries and is called upon by policy makers, academics and journalists to share his insights. As Crisis Project’s President he frequently travels at the invitation of universities, governments and others to address audiences around the world.

In addition to his duties as President of Crisis Project, which require him to provide leadership for its varied global endeavours, since 2007 Imran has also personally led Crisis Project’s in country research in both neighbouring republics.  Imran has held a wide range of business and policy positions in many countries. Some of these positions have included serving as a Special Advisor on Terrorism and the Muslim World at the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CEO of a multi-million dollar media company, Director of Communications for the Syrian Media Centre in London, an advisor to the Government of Belarus, and an Advisor to the British Conservative Party Group at WMDC.

MARK LAITY

Mark Laity is the Chief Strategic Communications at SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) which commands all NATO military operations. This followed nine months in Afghanistan in 2006-7 as the NATO Spokesman in Kabul and Media Adviser to the ISAF Commander, for which he was awarded the NATO Meritorious Service Medal. Previously he had been Chief of Public Information at SHAPE.

From 2000, Mark was for four years the Special Adviser to the NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson, and NATO’s Deputy Spokesman. He had a wide variety of defence policy and information roles including a year as NATO spokesman, and in 2001, with the threat of civil war looming, he was sent to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as personal adviser to the Macedonian President. When a NATO military force was later deployed he became Media Adviser to the NATO commander and civilian spokesman for Operation Essential Harvest.

Mark joined NATO after 22 years in journalism, including most notably 11 years as the BBC’s Defence Correspondent from 1989, when he reported from the frontlines of most major conflicts of the nineties, but particularly the break-up of Yugoslavia, and the Gulf War in 1991.

JUSTIN MAROZZI

Justin Marozzi is a writer, historian and strategic communications advisor with extensive experience working in and writing about many of the world’s most challenging countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Burma, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Colombia, Lebanon and Syria. In 2004, Justin established the world’s first outreach programme operated by a security company in a conflict zone, a nationwide civil affairs programme that assisted the innocent victims of conflict.

He was a senior communications advisor in Darfur, working with the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in 2008, and Mogadishu, where he has assisted the African Union mission. In 2010 Justin was a senior advisor to the British government’s Stabilisation Unit (SU) on strategic communications in the UK, Afghanistan, Haiti, Congo, Somalia and other crisis environments. The author of four books, he has written extensively about these overseas assignments for the FT, Times, Spectator and Standpoint, as well as broadcasting for the BBC. He holds UK government security clearance and is a member of the SU’s Civilian Stabilisation Group.

Dr PAUL MOORCRAFT

Dr Paul Moorcraft is the director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Analysis, London, and visiting professor at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies.  A regular broadcaster for the BBC, Sky and Al Jazeera and op-ed/columnist for several major international newspapers, Paul has also written several books, his most recent being Inside the Danger Zones: Travels to Arresting Places (Biteback, 2010) and Mugabe’s War Machine (Pen and Sword, 2012).

His extensive communications experience has included his work within Corporate Communications in the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall and he has been a crisis management consultant to such international blue-chip companies as Shell, British Gas, 3M, Standard Bank etc, as well as working for various government organizations.

Paul was also head of mission for the independent British observer group (50 observers) during the Sudan national election in 2010, and returned in January 2011 to observe the independence referendum in South Sudan.

DOMINIC NUTT

As Head of News for Save the Children and also Head of Emergency Communications for Christian Aid, Dominic Nutt has an impressive background in humanitarian communications.

A former journalist, now Associate Director of Communications at Worldvision, he is also a keen commentator on issues of communication in the humanitarian and development context and a regular speaker at conferences.

CLAIRE SPENCER

Having spent 25 years in PR, involved in some of the most high profile communication campaigns including the privatisation of British Telecom and London’s bid to hold the 2012 Olympics, Claire now  runs i to i research, a research consultancy specialising in insights and measurement around how people interact with communication.

Since 2003 she has specialised in social and political research in conflict and post conflict areas of the world, conducting polling and surveys on behalf of government and NGOs. Countries where she has worked include Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Her surveys have covered a wide range of topics from attitude surveying on local population needs and wants, communication effectiveness measurement, elections, law enforcement, counter narcotics, reconstruction and development and insurgency and reconciliation.   Claire is currently undertaking an evaluation project for a series of Islamic Road Shows in Pakistan, Sudan and Indonesia.

She is also a Deployable Civilian Expert for the ‘Stabilisation Unit’, a joint unit of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence.

JEM THOMAS

Jem Thomas had a successful career in the Royal Navy, specialising in intelligence and then media and public relations. During this time he developed considerable operational experience in communications, including the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan and West Africa.

His recent years have seen him as the spokesperson for the EU in Bosnia-Hercegovina and as Chief Instructor at the UK MoD’s Defence Media Operations Centre. Academically, he has Masters degrees in security studies and international relations and also a diploma in public relations. His experience and knowledge have resulted in his focus on public diplomacy, media relations, strategic communications, issue and crisis management, with a specific interest in communication aspects of foreign policy (national and intergovernmental) and post-conflict reconstruction.

He has specialised in training public affairs, instructing UN agencies, national governments and corporate clients. He is a communications consultant to the UK government’s Stabilisation Unit and Thomson Reuters.

Dr JON WHITE

Jon White is a consultant in management and organisation development, public affairs, public relations and corporate communications management, and has worked in public and private sector organisations in Europe, the United States, South Africa, Australia, and Canada. Clients have included companies such as Shell, Motorola, British Airways, National Express and AEA Technology, as well as governments in the UK, Canada, Norway and Macedonia.

He has written articles and books on public affairs, public relations and corporate communications practice, including How to Understand and Manage Public Relations (Business Books, 1991) and Strategic Communications Management: Making Public Relations Work, with Laura Mazur (Addison Wesley, 1995). He contributed to Excellence in Public Relations and Communications Management (Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates, 1992) as part of a research team with James Grunig from the University of Maryland and others. He has written a number of management case studies for teaching purposes on organisations such as Dunhill, Lloyds of London, AEA Technology, Diageo and the South African company, Barloworld.

He holds a doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he has also led seminars in corporate communication. He has made presentations to university and professional groups in the United States, Canada, Australia, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, France, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Romania, Poland, Slovenia, Macedonia, Spain, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and South Africa, as well as the United Kingdom and Ireland.

LORNA WARD

Lorna Ward will be recognised by many as a foreign correspondent for SKY News.  Recently reporting from Libya, she has spent time in most of the world’s hotspots, including Afghanistan, using multi-spectral media skills in editing and production.   She has also reported on the UK domestic front, taking advantage of SKY’s formidable digital media capability and reach, employing social networks to garner widespread and disparate information, report real-time news and engage with viewers.

Lorna is also a Captain in the UK’s Territorial Army Reserves, often deployed as a Media Operations Officer.  Having led a Combat Camera Team in Iraq in 2007, Lorna has acute skills in video production in conflict zones and has transferred these skills into the contemporary new media environment.

Previously a producer for Lion TV and Shine production companies, Lorna has contributed to several documentaries, including ‘Days that Shook the World’ (BBC) and ‘The Terrible Tastes of the Great Dictators’ (SKY ONE)

Previous Masterclass Speakers:

CONRAD BIRD

Conrad Bird is currently joint acting director of strategic communications at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and is responsible for helping to deliver the Department’s key foreign policy objectives. Previously he was deputy director, government communication at the Cabinet Office where he worked with the first Permanent Secretary of Government Communication on a range of cross-government communication issues. He also developed and launched ‘Engage’, the British Government’s new approach to strategic communication. Before that, Conrad spent 18 years in the private sector as an advertising planner working with a number of advertising agencies on national and international business. During this time, he also set up an award-winning communication consultancy which he successfully ran for eight years.

MARTIN GRIFFITHS

A lawyer by training, Martin Griffiths was the founding Executive Director of the Humanitarian Dialogue Centre from 1999 to 31 July 2010. Prior to this, he worked in UNICEF in Asia, in the British Diplomatic Service, and in British NGOs, latterly as Chief Executive of ActionAid. In 1994, he rejoined the United Nations (UN) as Director of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs (which became OCHA) in Geneva, and then from 1998 as Deputy to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator in New York. During this period he also served as UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Great Lakes and UN Regional Coordinator in the Balkans with the rank of UN Assistant Secretary-General.

JUDE HANAN

Jude Hanan is a Senior Digital Engagement specialist at the UK’s Central Office of Information, with particular expertise in  social media, emerging technologies and e-governance.  Jude has worked extensively within the digital realm, advising and working for a number of international organisations such as the European Commission, the OECD, the Commonwealth Secretariat and for New Zealand’s national e-government programme.

Jude focuses on providing consultancy and capacity building in government communication.  More specifically, work on online communication channels – “traditional” online channels like websites and portals and “new” channels (use of Semantic Web, Web 2.0).  She has also worked in this field for the UK’s Stabilisation Unit during the Libya Campaign being the Communications Lead for the Libyan response team in-country and regional engagement in North Africa, Tunisia and Egypt.

BRIGADIER IAIN HARRISON

Brigadier Iain Harrison was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1983. His time at Regimental Duty has been spent in field artillery regiments in Germany and UK; this has included time as an AS90 Battery Commander in a mechanised brigade (1999-2001). His staff appointments have been: ADC to Chief of Defence Staff; SO2 G4 Ops at HQ Land Command (1997-1999); and Assistant Director Future Plans at HQ Land Forces with responsibility for planning Land Force’s future structures (2006-2008). His operational experience has been in Northern Ireland (1985), Northern Iraq (1991), Cyprus (UN) (1995), Kosovo (2000) and Iraq (2005/06) during which time his regiment was the UK brigade’s security sector reform battle group.  Brig Harrison assumed the appointment of Dir Influence and Outreach in Jan 11 for one year on secondment from HQ Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (HQ ARRC) where he is Chief Joint Fires and Influence and is the HQ’s lead for Targeting and STRATCOM – including Information Operations.

GHAFFAR HUSSAIN

Ghaffar Hussain is Director of Training and Consultancy at the Quilliam Foundation and author of A Brief History of Islamism. He holds a BSc (HONS) in Psychology from the University of Wales. Ghaffar previously worked as a Business Development Manager for a number of IT firms and ran his own business venture.

In his youth, he was a very active supporter of a number of non-violent Islamist organizations in the UK. He now works to challenge extremists’ ideas and to promote positive modes of political engagement. Ghaffar regularly travels around the UK, North America, and Europe to deliver lectures and organise training sessions for policy makers and practitioners, as well as students and journalists. These sessions focus on raising awareness of radicalisation as a phenomenon, as well as addressing external contributory factors such as identity, alienation and perceived grievances.

Ghaffar has been quoted in a range of international outlets including: The National, Paris Match, The Guardian, Der Speigel, Kultur Austausch, Islamonline, LBC and the BBC. He is also on the Advisory Council of CSARN (City Security and Resilience Networks).

DIETER LORAINE

Dieter Loraine is co-founder of Albany Associates. He has over 15 years experience of strategic communications, institution building and media and regulatory development. Prior to forming Albany he was Senior Consultant for Media Regulation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Media Development and Regulation Advisory Team in Iraq. Between 2001 and 2003 he was Acting Deputy Director General and Director of Communications for the Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA) in Bosnia and Herzegovina – at the time, Europe’s newest converged regulator.

During his time with the CRA he also served as Special Adviser to the UK Press Complaints Commission. Dieter is credited with designing and establishing from scratch the Bosnian Press Council, the first of its kind in South East Europe.

Between 1998 and 2001 he held two senior positions as Director of Broadcast Licensing and Director of Public Affairs in the Independent Media and Broadcasting Commission in Sarajevo. Prior to working in the Balkans, Dieter ran a flourishing public relations company in the UK, following a very successful career in the Royal Marines, retiring in 1995 as Assistant Director of Public Relations for the Royal Marines in the UK Ministry of Defence.

ED O’CONNELL

Ed O’Connell has spent years traversing the Islamic world as a practitioner of outreach and engagement, not least as the Director of Alternative Strategies Initiative (ASI) at the RAND Corporation, a non-profit institution helping improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis.

He is a forthright advocate of true grassroots communication and advocate of deeper cultural understanding and immersion into local populations to achieve true dialogical and fundamental communication processes.  His experience within conflict zones is considerable, as evidenced through his contribution to several publications not least “Conducting Counterinsurgency Operations: Lessons from Iraq (2003-2006)”, allowing him to bring much to the ideal of tangible engagement in organic networks, from tribal systems to social media.  Having worked across the complete spectrum of strategic communications, Ed is at his most incisive when getting up ’close and personal’ and working the ‘last three feet’ with publics on the ground.

PHILIP SHELDRAKE

A Chartered Engineer, Philip Sheldrake is a Founding Partner of Meanwhile, Founding Partner of Influence Crowd, Main Board Director of Intellect and Board Director of 6UK. His expertise spans business strategy, IT and Web strategy, engineering and technology consultancy, public relations and social Web analytics.

Since writing The Business of Influence – Transforming Marketing and PR in the Digital Age (Wiley 2011) and the Digital Marketing chapter of The Marketing Century, a book celebrating the centenary year of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Philip has been in great demand.  His incisive knowledge of strategic digital communications has won plaudits from organisations in Europe, Asia and the US.

Philip chairs the Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ measurement and evaluation group, and co-hosts CIPR TV. Further, he designs and delivers Internetome, the Internet of Things Conference.

JOHN TOKER

John Toker is Director of Communications for Security and Intelligence at the UK’s Cabinet Office.  He has been central to developing the communications elements of the UK’s “Contest” strategy which encompasses much of the Government’s work at home and abroad to combat the terrorist threat.   Prior to this he was Head of News at the Home Office and worked alongside the Home Secretary and other Cabinet members to devise the Governments communications response to the 2005 suicide bombings in London.

Before joining the Civil Service in 2004 John spent more than twenty years at ITN. As a senior field producer he organised coverage of many of the major news stories of the past twenty years including the Locherbie bombing; the Hillsborough disaster; the Dunblane shootings; Herald of Free Enterprise and the bomb at Enniskillen.

CORNELIA WALTHER

Cornelia has extensive experience in humanitarian affairs, having worked in Afghanistan, India, Chad, Mali and Cameroon for UNICEF and the World Food Programme.  Most recently she was Deputy Chief of Communications for UNICEF in Kabul, Afghanistan before moving to Kinshasa to take on the role of Chief of Communications for UNICEF in the Demographic Republic of Congo.

With a legal background, Cornelia also has Masters Degrees in Humanitarian Assistance and International Humanitarian Law and specialises in creative advocacy, strategic communication, public information and networking.