Head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research based in Singapore, Dr Rohan Gunaratna is one of the world’s best known Al Qaeda commentators, known for his distinctive views.
Rohan has over 20 years of academic, policy, and operational experience in counter terrorism. Invited to testify before the 9/11 Commission on the structure of Al Qaeda, he led the specialist team that designed and built the UN database on the mobility, weapons and finance of Al Qaeda, Taliban and their entities. A trainer for European and North American law enforcement, military and intelligence services, Gunaratna debriefed detainees in North America, Europe, Australia, Asia and the Middle East, including high value detainees in Iraq.
Rohan holds several honorary appointments including Senior Fellow, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy's Jebsen Centre for Counter-Terrorism Studies, Boston; Senior Fellow, National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, Oklahoma; Honorary Fellow and Member of the Advisory Council, International Policy Institute for Counter Terrorism, Israel; and Member, Steering Committee, George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. He holds a Masters degree in International Peace Studies from University of Notre Dame, US, where he was Hesburgh Scholar and a Doctorate in International Relations from University of St Andrews, where he was British Chevening Scholar.
Rohan is a prolific writer and his books include “Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror,” published by Columbia University Press, and his latest book published in January 2007 entitled “Countering Terrorism: Can We Meet the Threat of Global Violence?”
