Course Faculty

Professor Richard English is the Director of the CSTPV at the Univeristy of St Andrews. His books include Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA (winner of the 2003 UK Political Studies Association Politics Book of the Year Award), Irish Freedom: The History of Nationalism in Ireland (winner of the 2007 Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize, and the 2007 Political Studies Association of Ireland Book Prize), and Terrorism: How to Respond published by Oxford University Press and over forty journal articles and book chapters. He has lectured widely on terrorism, political violence, nationalism, and Irish and British politics and history, including invited lectures in Britain, Ireland, the United States, India, France, the Netherlands, and Italy. In 2009 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), and also a Member of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA).

Orla Lynch is the Director of Teaching at the CSTPV at the University of St Andrews and teaches 'Psychology of Terrorism' and 'Terrorism and Liberal Democracy’. Her background is in International Security Studies and Applied Psychology and research interests address the impact of counter terrorism measures on UK and Ireland’s Muslim communities. She is one of the principle investigators on an EU funded project investigating the experience of victimisation through terrorism across Europe, whilst she is also interested in issues around cultural training for police and military plus police-community relations in populations associated with a terrorist threat. During the course of her work, she has worked with national, regional and international security agencies including NATO, the UN, London's Metropolitan Police, Police Service of Northern Island, Irish Military and Gardai. Her publications include work on Islamic extremism in the UK and forthcoming books concern the 'Group Process of Terrorist Organisations' and ‘The Experience of Victims of Terrorism’.

Charlie is a teaching fellow in terrorism studies at the University of St Andrews. Between 1986 and 2010 Charlie was a member of HM Diplomatic Service specialising in the Middle East, conflict, post-conflict, terrorism and counter-terrorism issues.  Postings included the Gulf (1988-92) with involvement in Desert Storm, Belgrade (1992-93) during the war in the former Yugoslavia, Macedonia (1999) for the Kosovo crisis, Greece and Nigeria. During tours in the UK his roles have included Deputy Head of Middle East Department, Head of South Asia Department and leading a project that resulted in the formation of the interdepartmental (FCO, MoD, DfID) Stabilisation Unit which co-ordinates the UK Government’s post conflict reconstruction work in, amongst other places, Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2003 he was seconded to the military and was on the staff of the General Officer Commanding 1st (UK) Armoured Division both during and for several months after the invasion of Iraq.  Between 2004-2008 he was on secondment to the MoD working on issues related to counter-terrorism.  Charlie speaks Arabic and French and has an M.Phil in Linguistics from Cambridge.

Sir David Veness is an Honorary Professor of International Relations with CSTPV at the University of St Andrews. David served as Under-Secretary-General of the UN Department of Safety and Security from its creation in 2005 until June 2009. This role carries responsibility for UN operations globally. Prior to this appointment, he was Assistant Commissioner (Specialist Operations) New Scotland Yard from 1994-2005. He joined the Metropolitan Police as a cadet in 1964 and as a constable in 1966. In the course of his police career he specialised in serious crime investigations, hostage negotiation and counter-terrorism. David was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge (MA, LLM) and attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1990. David was awarded Queen's Police Medal in 1994, appointed CBE in 2000, was Knighted in 2004.

Dr. Peter Lehr is Lecturer in Terrorism Studies at the CSTPV, University of St Andrews. Being a regional specialist on the Indian Ocean/Asia-Pacific, he currently specialises on research in the areas of piracy and maritime terrorism as well as terrorism and organised crime in South and Southeast Asia. He also works on critical infrastructure protection, with a focus on airport and seaport security. He is the editor of Violence at Sea: Piracy in the Age of Global Terrorism (Routledge 2007) and co-editor of Lloyd’s MIU Handbook of Maritime Security (CRC 2009).

Dr. Gilbert Ramsay is teaching fellow at the CSTPV and is a specialist in terrorism and the Internet and has delivered reports on this issue for the United Nations and the European Union and has been an expert consultant for a UN working group on countering the use of the internet for terrorist purposes. Research interests cluster around the subjects of Internet jihadism, resemblances between hacking and terrorism as practices, and the concept of the subcultural 'ethic' in either case.