Bio: Alastair Crooke

Alastair Crooke is Director of Conflicts Forum, a small geo-political and geo-financial consultancy, and adviser to a number of larger geo-financial entities. He was formerly advisor on Middle East issues to Javier Solana, the EU Foreign Policy Chief. He was also a staff member of Senator George Mitchell’s Fact Finding Committee that inquired into the causes of the Intifada (2000-2001) and an adviser to the International Quartet. He initiated a number of ceasefires in the Occupied Territories on behalf of the European Union and has 35 years experience of working with Islamist movements. He is author of Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution (2009) and a forthcoming book addressing the metaphysics to our present global anguish. He is a regular media commentator on politics and geo-financial issues.

Alistair Crooke, (born 1950) is a British diplomat, the founder and director of the Conflicts Forum, an organisation that advocates for engagement between political Islam and the West. Previously he was a ranking figure in both British intelligence (MI6) and European Union diplomacy.

Crooke was a Middle East advisor to Javier Solana, High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union (CFSP) from 1997 to 2003, facilitated a number of de-escalations of violence and military withdrawals in the Palestinian Territories with Islamist movements from 2000 to 2003 and was involved in the diplomatic efforts in the Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Crooke studied at the University of St Andrews (1968–1972), from which he obtained an MA in Politics and Economics. His book Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution, provides background on what he calls the "Islamist Revolution" in the Middle East, helping to offer strategic insights into the origins and logic of Islamist groups which have adopted military resistance as a tactic, including Hamas and Hizbollah. Tracing the essence of the Islamist Revolution from its origins in Egypt, through Najaf, Lebanon, Iran and the Iranian Revolution up to the present day, unlocking some of the thorniest issues surrounding stability in the current Middle East landscape.

Alastair Crooke is one of the most influential figures in the analysis of relations between the West and the Islamic world. A former British diplomat and high-ranking MI6 officer, Crooke is not merely a geopolitical analyst but has been an active participant in the field for many years. His political significance is measured by the crucial role he played in mediating conflicts in Northern Ireland, South Africa and, above all, in the Middle East.

As an adviser to Javier Solana, High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy in the European Union (1997–2003), Crooke facilitated direct dialogue with movements such as Hamas and Hezbollah, arguing that sustainable peace requires recognition of and engagement with actors who enjoy popular legitimacy, regardless of how they are labelled by Western capitals.

Crooke is also the founder and director of the Conflicts Forum in Beirut, which analyses geo-politics & geo-financial shifts, with a focus on West Asia -, and the author of the excellent book ‘Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution’. In this work, Crooke argues that the Islamic revolution was not merely another political movement of the 20th century, but a profound rejection of Western liberal materialism in search of an authentic spiritual and communal identity.

Related

https://conflictsforum.substack.com Conflicts Forum’s Substack

Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution Paperback – April 20, 2009 by Alastair Crooke. This book traces the essence of the Islamist Revolution from its origins in Egypt, through Najf, Lebanon, Iran and the Iranian Revolution to today. Alastair Crooke presents a compelling account of the ideas and energy which are mobilsing the Islamic world. The story of the emerging Islamist Revolution is largely one of an Islamic response to western thinking based around individualism and personal relationships with the divine, juxtaposed to the Islamist demand to place human values above politics and self-interest. Crooke argues that the West faces a mass mobilisation against the US-led Western project. The roots of this conflict are described in terms of religious themes that extend back over 500 years. They represent clashing systems of thinking and values. Islamists have a vision for the future of their own societies which would entail radical change from Western norms. Resistance is presented as the means to force Western behaviour to change and to expose the essential differences between the two modes of thinking. This is a rigourous account that traces the threads of revolution of various movements, including the influence of "political Shi'ism" and the Iranian Revolution and its impact on Hezbollah and Hamas.