Behind the lens
‘Being involved in these surveys and living there was a powerful and formative experience.’
In 2024, Professor Gareth Stansfield, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean for the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Exeter was awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours List for ‘Services to UK interests in Iraq.’
Whilst Gareth is now one of the world’s foremost experts on Middle Eastern politics, it was during his student days at Durham University that his interest was honed. The academic connections he made there also meant he chose to add to his studies with a master’s degree in Middle Eastern politics. And, as serendipity would have it, when Gareth was graduating in the mid-90s, his connections at Durham facilitated his working with the UN in Iraq as part of an HMG (Her Majesty’s Government) funded programme.
Packing his bags, Gareth began working with UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) in Iraq but following Operation Desert Strike in 1996, the Iraq government stopped Britons and Americans from working for the UN in Iraq. So, this meant a change of plans. When the UK government directly tasked him with working with the political parties of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in terms of the building of their government, humanitarian programme and distribution plan, Gareth was excited. But to do so he had to enter Kurdish-held Iraq, which was outside the control of Saddam’s government in Baghdad.
“I travelled through Damascus, negotiating my way across Syria into Kurdish-held Iraq which involved crossing the Tigris on a motorboat in the middle of the night.”
Gareth recalls: “I travelled through Damascus, negotiating my way across Syria into Kurdish-held Iraq which involved crossing the Tigris on a motorboat in the middle of the night. I was 23 at the time and it was exciting; I think I was too young to be afraid. This was also a time where Middle East politics could be dangerous, but we hadn’t yet had the exposure to organisations such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. It’s bizarre to recall that then I had newspaper articles being written about me in Baghdad, describing my journey and putting a price on my head as I was entering.”
During the five years he spent there, Gareth also completed his PhD on Kurdish politics in Iraq which was enhanced by knowing many Kurdish political figures. It provided rich material for his thesis in terms of exploring de facto state formation whilst also trying to place that theoretically within international relations theory. A challenge in itself, as the theory has no place within it for non-state nations that remain under the sovereignty of the established, internationally-recognised, state.
Gareth’s career – and what led him to receive his OBE – has been defined by this mix of in-country research and unique expertise that he brings to the rooms he enters. It has been a journey rich with both rewards and challenges.
For instance, one of the difficult aspects of his time in Iraq was supporting the Kurdish leaders transitioning from being militia chiefs to government administrators, as after 1991 they suddenly found themselves in control of this territory and four million people.
Remembering this time, Gareth shares: “They didn’t really have any information on what to base their policies on. I had to manage the first comprehensive survey of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (which involved approx. 4,500 villages). This was a huge task as in the 1980s ethnic cleansing took place which destroyed many villages and there was no knowledge of what had happened to many of them. It was particularly challenging seeing what had happened in the rural areas, in terms of the systematic destruction of settlements, the forced resettlement of people, and the summary executions which had taken place.”
He goes on to say: “During the 1980s, some 180,000 men were eliminated, and women and children taken into ‘collective settlements’ (purpose-built towns) to make them easier for the state security apparatus to control. These settlements had never been surveyed. With very high proportions of female-headed households and often living on the margins of society, the conditions in these settlements displayed very high levels of poverty and deprivation. As such, at a young age I gained very deep insights into facets of life in the region, and in a way that you don’t necessarily do if you study it purely from an academic viewpoint. Being involved in these surveys and living there was a powerful and formative experience.”
Gareth has continued his work with the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence, and remains a deployable civilian expert in the former, but made the University of Exeter his home in 2002. Since then, he has worked in various roles, and his career grew and developed alongside Exeter’s Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies. During these positions, Gareth has been part of the process of growing Middle East studies at Exeter, and he was involved in the expansion of its subject areas.
He shares some of his highlights from the last two decades: “At Exeter I’ve had lots of joy. I’ve supervised nearly 50 PhD students to completion – which is a great honour in itself – and taught many great students on our courses. Exeter has always been a big name in Middle Eastern studies, and it’s been great to see it consolidate and be recognised as one of the world’s leading places that you can do Middle East studies across the board. Looking to the future, I’m excited for it to embark on its next chapter as we put up the new Al-Qasimi building next to the current Institute to expand the interdisciplinary study space.”
So, with all that weight of personal, academic, institutional and international history behind him how did it feel for Gareth to find out he’d been awarded an OBE?
He explains: “I was truly honoured by the recommendation coming through via the diplomatic and international list which means that it was the Foreign Office staff themselves that put me forward. It’s great to have a national honour but to be recognised by the people I’d been working closely with meant even more.”
