Rohan Gunaratna

Rohan Gunaratna

Rohan Kumar Gunaratna (born 1961) is a Singapore-based "terrorism expert" at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS) where is currently an Associate Professor and head of its International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR). As a Sri Lankan, his original area of expertise is in the Tamil Tigers, a militant Tamil separatist group. However, since September 11th, he has become a prolific commentator on global terrorism and has often appeared as a terrorologist pundit.

Career

In Sri Lanka

Gunaratna worked for the Sri Lanka Government between 1984 and 1994 In late 1989 he visited the US for the first time on the State Department International Visitor Program. He stayed for there a month and was impressed by the experience. He used a computer for the first time and met Stephen Cohen, now a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution who he describes as “a brilliant guy”.

On return to Sri Lanka after a month in the United States, Gunaratna and his fellow South Asia visitors set up a group called the South Asian Network On Conflict Research (SANOCR). The SANOCR group published scholarly articles on conflict in South Asia and according to Gunaratna it operated for about 10 years and the members still keep in touch.

In the United States

Gunaratna left his government job in 1994 and began terrorism studies in the United States. In 1994 he worked at the Office of Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security at the University of Illinois, where Stephen Cohen (who Gunaratna had met on his earlier visit to the states) had just been appointed Director. In 1995 he worked at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland where he says he worked with Stansfield Turner, the former head of the CIA.

Notre Dame University

In 1996 Gunaratna began a master of arts at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame University. This Gunaratna said, was his first “opportunity to focus on their [the Sri Lankan insurgencies’] international operations”. At Notre Dame University he linked up with the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence and got to know the Centre’s then head, Bruce Hoffman. Gunaratna’s Masters thesis was ‘Changing nature of warfare: Ltte at the razor’s edge’ and was published in 1997.

St. Andrews

After completing his Masters, Gunaratna went on to study a for Phd at the Department of International Relations, at the University of St. Andrews where he was British Chevening Scholar (The UK Foreign Office's Scholarships and Awards Scheme) from 1996-1999. His PhD was supervised by Bruce Hoffman. After completing his PhD he became a Fellow at the University’s Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence. Still his expertise were in South Asian conflict, and he is described in publications as for example “a specialist on Asia-Pacific guerrilla and terrorist groups”

Al-Qaeda Expert and Media Commentator

Until 2001 Gunaratna had focused on his native Asia-Pacific region, but after September 11th he became a prominent commentator on Al-Qaeda. According to journalist Gary Hughes, Gunaratna describes a “spiritually defining moment” when he learned that the Taliban had ordered the demolition of the statues of Buddha at Bamiyan in March 2001. Gunaratna’s new interests were well timed. Only a month before September 11th he published his first piece on Al-Qaeda in Jane's Intelligence Review.

In 2002 his book Inside Al Qaeda: global network of terror and published and it became a best seller. The publishers claim the book is based on five years of research. Amongst the books revelations was Gunaratna’s unearthing of an Iran-Hezbollah-Al-Qaeda which he claimed had coordinated attacks on Western targets.

Criticisms of Gunaratna

Gunaratna is often accused of exaggerated threats and making unsubstantiated claims. He is also known to have exaggerated his own expertise.

Exagerrating his credentials

In Inside Al Qaeda, Gunaratna described himself as having been, “principal investigator of the United Nations’ Terrorism Prevention Branch”. After the Sunday Age made checks on Gunaratna’s biographical details, Gunaratna admitted that there was no such position as principal investigator at the UN’s Terrorism Prevention Branch and that he had worked there in 2001-02 as a research consultant. Gunaratna also retracted his claim that he “was called to address the United Nations, the US Congress and the Australian Parliament in the wake of September 11, 2001”, confirming that in fact he had spoken at a seminar organised by the parliamentary library and given evidence to a US congressional hearing.

Criticism from Intelligence 'sources'

The same article also reports scepticism in the intelligence community over Gunaratna’s judgment:

“Members of Australia’s intelligence community, and in particular ASIO, are known to be dismissive of many of Gunaratna’s more sensational statements, such as claims that alleged military chief of the Jemaah Islamiyah network and senior al-Qaeda member Hambali had regularly visited Australia.”

Criticism of academic work

Gunaratna's work on Thailand has been criqued by Michael K. Connors in the academic journal Critical Asian Studies in 2006. Connors extended critique:

interrogates how terrorism experts have interpreted the recent escalation of violence in the Thai southern border provinces. It does so by questioning the authors' use of sources, and draws on a range of alternative Thai-and English-language sources to suggest that the authors have reached poorly founded conclusions.

Connors critique 'presents an overview of competing theories concerning events in Thailand', then critiques 'the book's conclusion that Thailand faces a renewed insurgency, largely driven by domestic factors and carried out by definable actors.' Claiming that he has uncovered 'some significant factual and interpretative errors that severely undermine the credibility of the book', he notes that contrary to Gunaratna's account 'various interpretations of what is happening in the South of Thailand remain plausible', and the article concludes that 'the authors of Conflict and Terrorism were too poorly equipped to deal with these competing interpretations to offer any insights into the conflict.'

Links to Intelligence Agencies

Gunaratna worked for the Sri Lanka Government between 1984 and 1994 and according to The Sunday Age developed “very close links with Sri Lanka’s intelligence service”. Although supposedly an independent expert, Gunaratna continues to be linked to government anti-terrorism and intelligence agencies. Gunaratna’s research institute the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research includes on its board Richard Dearlove the former head of MI6, and David Veness a former Assistant Commissioner of Specialist Operations in the Metropolitan Police. In USA v. Padilla Gunaratna was cross examined on the Al-Qaeda interviews he had conducting for Inside Al Qaeda in 2002. Gunaratna said: "In some interviews I worked for governments. I do not wish to name these countries. I would be breaching some confidentiality and agreements I signed with governments." Defence lawyers in the case suggested that the interviewees may have been subjected to torture.

Publications

Books

• Rohan Gunaratna, Combating terrorism (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Academic, 2005) ISBN: 9812102809 9789812102805
• Rohan Gunaratna, Arabinda Acharya, Sabrina Chua, Conflict and terrorism in southern Thailand (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Academic, 2005) ISBN: 9812104445 9789812104441
• Rohan Gunaratna, Graeme C S Steven, Counter-terrorism: a reference (Oxford: ABC-Clio, 2004) ISBN: 1851096663 9781851096664
• Rohan Gunaratna, The changing face of terrorism (Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, 2004) ISBN: 9812102582 9789812102584
• Rohan Gunaratna, Terrorism in the Asia-Pacific: threat and response (Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, 2003) ISBN: 9812102469 9789812102461
• Rohan Gunaratna, Global terror: unearthing the support networks that allow terrorism to survive and succeed (New York: New York University Press, 2002) ISBN: 081473152X 9780814731529
• Rohan Gunaratna, Inside Al Qaeda: global network of terror, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002) ISBN: 0231126921 9780231126922
• Rohan Gunaratna, International terrorist support networks: the dynamics of ethnonationalist campaigns (London: C. Hurst, 2002) ISBN: 1850656428 9781850656425 1850655979 9781850655978
• Rohan Gunaratna, Peter Chalk, Jane's counter terrorism (Coulsdon, Surrey, UK, Alexandria, VA: Jane's Information Group, 2002) ISBN: 0710623577 9780710623577
• Rohan Gunaratna, Marga Institute, International dimension of the Sri Lankan conflict: threat and response (Colombo: Marga Institute, 2001) ISBN: 9555820902 9789555820905
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Internationlisation of the Tamil conflict (and its implications)’ in Conflict and Community in Contemporary Sri Lanka: Pear of the East or the Island of Tears? Eds. Siri Gamage and I.B. Watson (London: Sage Publications, 1999)
• Rohan Gunaratna, Sri Lanka's ethnic crisis & national security (Colombo: South Asia Network on Conflict Research, 1998) ISBN: 9558093009 9789558093009
• Rohan Gunaratna, International & regional security implications of the Sri Lankan Tamil insurgency (Sri Lanka: Alumni Association of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies, 1997) ISBN: 9559506005 9789559506003
• Rohan Gunaratna, Sri Lanka (Florence, Italy: Bonechi, 1995) ISBN: 8880292390 9788880292395
• Rohan Gunaratna, Indian intervention in Sri Lanka: the role of India's intelligence agencies (Colombo: South Asian Network on Conflict Research, 1993) ISBN: 9559519905 9789559519904
• Rohan Gunaratna, Sri Lanka, a lost revolution?: the inside story of the JVP (Kandy, Sri Lanka: Institute of Fundamental Studies, 1990) ISBN: 9552600049 9789552600043
• Rohan Gunaratna, War & peace in Sri Lanka, with a post-accord report from Jaffna (Institute of Fundamental Studies, Sri Lanka, 1987) ISBN: 9552600014 9789552600012
• Rohan Gunaratna, Sino-Lankan connection: 2000 years of cultural relations

(Colombo: Dept. of Information, Ministry of State, 1986)

Academic Articles

• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘The prospects of global terrorism’, Society, Volume 42 Issue 6, September – October 2005 (ISSN 0147-2011)
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘The post-Madrid face of Al Qaeda’, Washington Quarterly, Volume 27 Issue 3, Summer 2004 (ISSN 0163-660X)
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Still threatening’, World Today, Volume 59 Issue 1, January 2003 (ISSN 0163-660X)
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Internationlisation of the Tamil conflict (and its implications)’, South Asia-Journal of South Asian Studies, Volume 20, Special Issue, 1997 (ISSN 0085-6401)

Press Articles

• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Fight for hearts and minds – September 11 – The fifth anniversary’, Weekend Australian, 9 September 2006
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Expect more and deadlier terror attacks this year’, Straits Times, 11 January 2006
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Indonesia must outlaw JI and its band of supporters’, The Australian, 3 October 2005
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Expect more JI attacks, overseas or at home - Terror at our door’, The Australian, 10 September 2004
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Zarqawi: a new-generation terror mastermind’, The Korea Herald, July 8, 2004, Thursday, 1466 words, By Rohan Gunaratna
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Osama acolyte has only just begun’, The Australian, 5 July 2004
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘The rise of a networking terrorist’, The Australian, 5 July 2004
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Relief, but not a fatal blow – Captured: Asia’s Most Wanted’, The Weekend Australian, 16 August 2003
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Too close to al-Qa'ida’, The Australian, 8 August 2003
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Womaniser, joker, scuba diver: the other face of al-Qaida's No 3: Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna assesses the arrest of Bin Laden's playboy planner’, The Guardian, 3 March 2003
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘No evidence of alliance’, The International Herald Tribune, 19 February 2003
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘And now, a little local jihad’, Sunday Times, 26 January 2003
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Crush them before they kill again’, The Australian, 8 January 2003
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Exposing al Qaeda's tentacles of terror’, The Age, 7 December 2002
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Method, means and the will’, The Straits Times, 3 December 2002
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘The method, the means and the will: the hallmarks of al-Qaida’, The Guardian, 29 November 2002
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Confront this new face of terrorism’, Sunday Herald Sun, 20 October 2002
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Twisted ties of terrorist network’, Sydney Morning Herald, 16 October 2002
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘We should lead the regional fight’, The Australian, 15 October 2002
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘The links that bind terror groups: Links that bind terror groups’, The Guardian, 15 October 2002
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Missionaries of Terror’, The Scotsman, 14 September 2002
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘The enemy deep within’, The Times, 12 June 2002
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Untimely American bombs, bringing its twin enemy together at a crucial moment, were a catastrophic error’, Scotland on Sunday, 26 May 2002
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Arab legion of elite troops is key target’, Sunday Times, 21 October 2001
• Rohan Gunaratna and Ed Blanche, ‘Diamonds and dogs fund terror’, Courier Mail, 19 September 2001
• Rohan Gunaratna, ‘Suicide bombers make a mockery of security’, The Scotsman, 26 July 2001

Speeches and other publications

• Rohan Gunaratna, Speech about Al Qaeda, Commonwealth Club, 25 June 2002.
• Rohan Gunaratna, Statement to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, 9 July 2003.
• Rohan Gunaratna, Speech Transcript dated 2 December 1998 from the website of the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), (accessed 7 March 2008)

Resources

• Gary Hughes, Whenever a comment has been needed about al-Qaeda or terrorism, Rohan Gunaratna has been there to supply it. Who is he?, Sunday Age, 20 July 2003
• Amir Butler, Who Is Rohan Gunaratna - The Self Proclaimed Al-Qaeda Expert?, www.amirbutler.com
• Laurie Oakes, Interview with Rohan Gunaratna, NineMSN, 2 October 2005.
• Daniel Hoare, Gareth Evans downplays terrorist risk in Australia, ABC-Australia, 27 September 2005.
• SBS Dateline, Rohan Gunaratna and Tariq Ali, 17 March 2003.

Affiliations

Organisations

• Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies
• International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research
• Asia-Pacific Foundation
• Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence
• Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, Senior Fellow
• Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, member of Advisory Committee