Teaching About Terrorism: University of Buckingham

Terrorism expertise in the media

Scholars from the University of Buckingham appear reguarly in the UK media offering expertise in terrorism related matters.

ID Cards

In 1993 Dick Kemm from the University of Buckingham argued, in a letter to The Times that due to the IRA's mainland bombing campaign the UK governemnt should introduce ID cards. He argued that 'the state should assume responsibility for issuing a card, made to a high standard, incorporating a photo, signature and identification capable of computer recognition'

9/11 Response

In response to the 9/11 attack in New York, University of Buckingham vice chancellor Terence Kealey cited Samuel Huntingdon's 1993 book, The Clash of Civilisations. He argued that:

'Huntingdon predicted that militant Islam and Western democracy will clash, as indeed they now are. But the clash must be, in technical language, asymmetrical and therefore heavily biased in favour of the West, for the Muslims are reduced to terrorism simply because they are poor'.

'In his speech on Tuesday, President Bush said that America was targeted because it was a beacon of freedom. Actually, that was not completely true. America was targeted because two ancient peoples are fighting an irreconcilable war over a single piece of territory, and America is backing one side. And America will win because it is free'.

'However horrible the scenes from America were, Francis Fukuyama explains why ultimately democracy will triumph. And we can see how the evolution of Christianity foreshadows how Islam, in its turn, may evolve. Muslim terrorism in America will not destroy Western democracy today, nor need it destroy Islamic democracy in the future. Fundamentally, humanity is on course'.

Kazakstan

In 2007 Proffessor Dennis O'Keeffe of the University of Buckingham praised Kazakhstan because 'The country has committed itself to the struggle against international terrorism.' According to the Hindustan Times 'This, he said, might relate to the fact Kazakhstan had avoided parasitic status by taking the initiative in forging its own development model'.

Radicalisation in University

In January 2009 Anthony Glees, the Director of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham argued, in a letter to The Guardian, that 'universities should not be sites of 'truly free debate' where that debate would lead people to want to undermine or overthrow our democratic society or attack, harm or terrorise individuals'.