Rachel Briggs Explained

Rachel Briggs
Honorific Suffix:OBE
Nationality:British
Occupation:Non-Executive Director, Security analyst, Charity director
Alma Mater:Girton College, Cambridge

Rachel Briggs OBE was Founding Executive Director of Hostage US, [1] the first Director of Hostage UK (now Hostage International)[2] and was awarded an OBE in the 2014 Honours List for services to hostages and the families of victims kidnapped overseas.[3] She is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Center on Cooperative Security,[4] an expert on foreign and security policy and an Associate Fellow of Chatham House.[5]

Work with hostages

While Briggs was studying in University her uncle was kidnapped by the ELN in Colombia and held for seven and a half months.[6] [7] It inspired her to write her undergraduate dissertation on international kidnapping in Colombia and she went on to author The Kidnapping Business while working at The Foreign Policy Centre think tank.

This report caught the attention of Terry Waite CBE and Carlo Laurenzi OBE, who were co-founding Hostage UK, the world's first support service for hostages and their families.[8] Rachel joined the group and became the first Director in 2007 and served in that capacity for a decade. She relocated to Washington DC in 2015 to set up and run Hostage US,[9] stepping down in 2020. She was appointed an OBE in 2014 in recognition of this work,[10] and in 2017 she and Hostage US were profiled in The New York Times.[11] In 2018, she was featured as one of the top 50 women driving change in the United States.[12]

In addition, Briggs has contributed to our understanding of the kidnapping phenomenon, writing papers on the business of kidnapping,[13] keeping people safe overseas [14] and corporate security.[15] Her co-authored report, The Business of Resilience, has become the blueprint for global security and risk management for many large multinationals.[16] She regularly consults with corporations on their security risks.

Risk and security analyst

In addition to her work with Hostages Briggs is a security analyst and policy academic specialising in security, counterterrorism and countering violent extremism.[17]

Briggs began her career as a Researcher in 2001 at The Foreign Policy Centre[18] where she initially focused on kidnapping, later launching the Risk and Security Programme working extensively with corporations on their own security as well as their contribution to public-private partnerships on counter-terrorism. While she was at the think tank Demos, she co-authored Bringing it Home, which lay the groundwork for community partnerships to tackle home-grown terrorism. She continued this work at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and later became Research Director at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue where she pioneered new approaches to tackling online extremism and counter-narratives. Alongside a colleague from Google, she was Co-Chair of the European Commission's Working Group on Online Extremism.[19]

She is currently an Associate Fellow at Chatham House and a regular commentator in the media[20] on matters of foreign policy,[21] [22] national security, counter-terrorism [23] [24] [25] and international hostage taking.

Non-Executive Director

Briggs is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Center on Cooperative Security.[26] She was previously a member of the Advisory Board of Wilton Park,[27] the Risk and Security Management Forum (RSMF), and a member of the advisory board for the journal Renewal.[28] Briggs served on two Boards of the FCO's Global Opportunity Fund.[29]

References

  1. News: Gladstone. Rick. 2017-08-11. A British Import: Help for Families of Hostages Seized Abroad (Published 2017). en-US. The New York Times. 2021-02-02. 0362-4331.
  2. Charity Heads Receive Honors For Helping Britons Overseas, “Tax-News.com”, 02 January 2014 http://www.tax-news.com/news/Charity_Heads_Receive_Honors_For_Helping_Britons_Overseas_____63203.html#sthash.ygFlgPM5.dpuf
  3. Web site: Honours for the best of Britain overseas . 2023-08-24 . GOV.UK . en.
  4. Web site: 2018-03-21. Our Team. 2021-02-02. Global Center on Cooperative Security. en.
  5. Web site: Rachel Briggs. 2021-02-02. Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank. en.
  6. News: Gladstone. Rick. 2017-08-11. A British Import: Help for Families of Hostages Seized Abroad (Published 2017). en-US. The New York Times. 2021-02-02. 0362-4331.
  7. Web site: Engineers Kidnapped in Colombia Tell of Their Release. 2021-02-02. AP NEWS.
  8. News: Gladstone. Rick. 2017-08-11. A British Import: Help for Families of Hostages Seized Abroad (Published 2017). en-US. The New York Times. 2021-02-02. 0362-4331.
  9. Web site: Hostage US Launches in DC The Georgetown Dish. 2021-02-02. www.thegeorgetowndish.com.
  10. Web site: Honours for the best of Britain overseas . 2023-08-24 . GOV.UK . en.
  11. News: Gladstone. Rick. 2017-08-11. A British Import: Help for Families of Hostages Seized Abroad (Published 2017). en-US. The New York Times. 2021-02-02. 0362-4331.
  12. Web site: Jun 27, 2018. Rachel Briggs discusses the silent issue of International Kidnapping. YouTube.
  13. The Kidnapping Business, “Foreign Policy Centre”, 2001, http://fpc.org.uk/fsblob/46.pdf
  14. Keeping your people Safe: The legal and policy framework for duty of care, corporate personnel security in Emerging markets, “Foreign Policy Centre”, 2003, http://fpc.org.uk/fsblob/46.pdf
  15. The Business of Resilience, Corporate security for the, 21st century, “Demos” 2006, http://www.demos.co.uk/files/thebusinessofresilience.pdf
  16. Book: McGee, Anthony. CORPORATE SECURITY'S PROFESSIONAL PROJECT: AN EXAMINATION OF THE MODERN CONDITION OF CORPORATE SECURITY MANAGEMENT, AND THE POTENTIAL FOR FURTHER PROFESSIONALISATION OF THE OCCUPATION.. Cranfield University. 2006. 32.
  17. Web site: Affairs. International. 2020-11-03. 100 years of Chatham House: Top ten articles from the 2010s. 2021-02-17. Medium. en.
  18. The Kidnapping Business, “Foreign Policy Centre”, 2001, http://fpc.org.uk/fsblob/46.pdf
  19. RAN UPDATE 1 – June 8, 2012, https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/networks/radicalisation_awareness_network/ran-news/docs/ran_update_1_en.pdf
  20. Web site: BBC Two - Newsnight, 24/05/2013.
  21. Five Messages for Ed Miliband on Foreign Policy, Huffington, February 2014, http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/rachel-briggs/ed-miliband-foreign-policy_b_4743317.html
  22. Cultural Diplomacy: The role of culture in international relations, Demos 2007, http://www.demos.co.uk/files/Cultural%20diplomacy%20-%20web.pdf
  23. The Changing Face of Al Qaeda, Discussion Paper, Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Web site: Archived copy. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130512040333/http://www.strategicdialogue.org/The%20Changing%20Face%20of%20Al%20Qaeda.pdf. 2013-05-12. 2014-04-03.
  24. Prime Minister's Taskforce Recommendations on Tackling Extremism Online Won't Be Effective, Huffington, November 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sebastien-feve/tackling-extremism_b_4397982.html?ir=UK+Politics
  25. Web site: 2013-05-26. La delgada línea entre un folleto y la yihad asesina. 2021-02-02. abc. es.
  26. Web site: Learning from Hostages by Rachel Briggs. 2021-02-17. en-US.
  27. Web site: 2014. POLICY BRIEFING: COUNTERING THE APPEAL OF EXTREMISM ONLINE. dhs.gov.
  28. Web site: Radicalisation of Young Muslims in Medium Size European Cities: Birmingham, UK.
  29. Book: 16 Days: The Role of the Olympic Truce in the Toolkit for Peace. DEMOS. 2004. 1-84180-125-9. 8.

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