A member of the British Joint Intelligence Committee provides global perspective on terrorism today.
MELISSA GIAIMO
News Assistant
British diplomat Matthew Gould offers Pepperdine students an international perspective on terrorism today. Gould, Counselor for Foreign and Security Policy at the British Embassy and a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee –– the coordinating body for the United Kingdom Intelligence Committee –– has traveled from Washington, D.C., to deliver a lecture titled, “Terrorism: The Picture from the United Kingdom.”
“I think it’s very important that future decision makers in the United States have an understanding of how other countries perceive terrorism,” Gould said.
“Anyone who is interested in the most important issue of our time should attend the lecture,” Distinguished Professor of political science at Pepperdine Dan Caldwell said.
As the war in Iraq continues, students need to be educated on the effects of terrorism on countries other than the United States.
Although Gould is only 35, he is one of Great Britain’s most prominent diplomats, according to Caldwell. Prior to his position at the British Embassy, Gould’s served as Charge d’Affaires for the British Embassy in Iran, Political Counselor for the British High Commission in Islamabad, Deputy Head of the Consular Division for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and speechwriter for Foreign Service Secretary Robin Cooke.
As the United States’ main ally in the war on terror, Britain’s perspective on terrorism is especially significant.
Before the attack on Sept. 11, no one did anything to thwart terrorism, Caldwell said. We cannot make this mistake again. Caldwell laments that the U.S. has still not implemented all of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations.
“People are going to be affected by [terrorism] whether they realize it or not,” he said. “Better to be informed [about] an issue like this than to live in blissful ignorance.”
Gould plans to address three topics in his lecture. First, he will educate students on the British perspective of terrorism. Then he will address the issue of radicalism. Gould said he wants to tackle the question, “Why is it that a number of Muslims [are] becoming radical and joining terrorist organizations?”
Finally, Gould will explain how U.S. security is closely related to Britain’s, as demonstrated by the foiled terrorist plot to blow up U.S.-bound planes leaving London’s Heathrow Airport in July.
Britain’s “domestic structures,” such as its large Muslim population, provide a differing perspective from the U.S. on terrorism, Caldwell said. The British are also much less tolerant of the United Kingdom’s continued presence in Iraq than are Americans. Public disapproval of Prime Minister Tony Blair runs so high in the United Kingdom, that he has announced that he will resign within a year, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Gould’s visit to Pepperdine is a part of a larger trip to the West Coast during which he will speak to various scholars, Muslim organizations and Iranian organizations.
“Pepperdine is a major part [of the tour],” Gould said. Pepperdine and Stanford University are the only universities at which he will speak.
Gould is speaking to Pepperdine at the invitation of Caldwell. Angus Mackay, Vice Consul for Press and Public Affairs with the British Consulate in Los Angeles, was extremely helpful in obtaining Gould as a speaker, according to Caldwell. Mackay has also been influential in scores of past speakers to campus, including Deputy British Ambassador Anthony Brenton, British Counsel General Paul Diamond and Deputy British Ambassador to the United Sates Steven Wright. But after 26 years of friendship and service to Pepperdine, Mackay is retiring from the Consulate this year, possibly making Gould the last in a long line of prominent British speakers.
The lecture will be held in the Fireside Room from noon to 12:50 p.m. Gould will speak for approximately 30 minutes and devote the remaining time to answering students’ questions. A faculty lunch will follow.
09-28-2006