Richard Barrett (counter-terrorism expert)

Richard Martin Donne Barrett CMG OBE (born 14 June 1949) is a former British diplomat and intelligence officer now involved in countering violent extremism.

Barrett is a recognised global expert on terrorism who frequently appears as a panellist in related conferences and whose commentary is regularly featured in the press.

Barrett was born in Taplow and was educated at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire.

In 1973, he was awarded a Master of Arts in Modern History and Italian Literature from University College, Oxford.

Barrett was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1992 and Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2013 Birthday Honours.

Barrett was author (see below) of at least one ICSR report.

"This time the would-be assassin, the ostensibly repentant Asiri, gave himself up and took two flights, one aboard the Prince's private jet, and spent 30 hours closely guarded by the Prince's personal security detail. It was during the month of Ramadan, a time of repentance for Muslims and Aseiri (sic) was granted an audience with the prince at his private palace in Jeddah, by declaring that he would persuade other militants to surrender. Asiri briefly called other militants to tell them that he was standing alongside Prince Nayef. It was all recorded by al-Qaeda who has turned the episode into an animated movie boasting of their exploits."

"But thankfully the brutal reality of Isil membership – its squalor, inadequacy and ultimate failure – is also increasingly becoming apparent... [Repentant terrorists] will help us cut the flow of fighters to Syria by helping us understand why they go, why they stay and why they come back. It is these same people who can be more powerful influences than any other on those who may be inclined to join or act on behalf of Isil. Often they have tried it and seen it does not work. They have the credibility and understanding that the rest of us lack. They hold the key to victory."

"Without [muslim] community help, the job of intelligence services is clearly far harder; but [muslim] communities will only help if they believe that their broader interests are also served by helping the state. When this is more obviously the case, terrorism will not only become more rare – it will also become less effective."

Barrett also served as director of Global Counter Terrorism Operations for the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) both before and after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States.

He has served abroad in Canada, Jordan, Turkey and the United States.

Barrett 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).

From March 2004 to January 2013 Barrett led the Monitoring Team that supports the United Nations Security Council Committee pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999) concerning Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities.

Mr. Barrett 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.

He chaired the CTITF Working Group on Terrorist use of the Internet and the CTITF Working Group on Dialogue Understanding and Countering the Appeal of Terrorism.

Barrett 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.

Before being appointed to lead the Monitoring Team, Barrett 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.