Gladio B: Gladio Revisited

[Magda Hassan]

Fascinating...

George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

George Islay MacNeill Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, KT, GCMG, FRSA,FRSE, PC (born 12 April 1946) is a British Labour Party politician who was the tenthSecretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, between October 1999 and early January 2004; he succeeded Javier Solana in that position. He served as Defence Secretary for the United Kingdom from 1997 to 1999, before taking up his NATO position and becoming a life peer as Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, of Islay in Argyll and Bute.

Early life

Born in Port Ellen, Isle of Islay, Scotland, the son of a policeman, he was educated atDunoon Grammar School and studied Economics at the Queen's College, Dundee. When he was 15 years of age, he was involved with protests against US nuclear submarines docking in Britain.[SUP][1][/SUP]
During Robertson's time at Queen's College it broke away from the University of St Andrews to become the University of Dundee, of which Robertson was one of the first graduates (MA, 1968).[SUP][2][/SUP] During his time at University he played a full part in student life. Notably he wrote a column for the student newspaper Annasach, launched in 1967, and took an active role in student protests.[SUP][2][/SUP][SUP][3][/SUP][SUP][4][/SUP] Robertson used his newspaper column to back the new University and encouraged his fellow students to take a University of Dundee degree (students who had started before 1967 could opt to take a degree from either the University of Dundee or the University of St Andrews).[SUP][4][/SUP] In 1968 Robertson was one of a number of Dundee students to invade the pitch during a rugby match at St. Andrewsinvolving a team from the Orange Free State to protest against apartheid.[SUP][5][/SUP] The same year he organised a 24-hour work-in by students in the university library in opposition to proposed cuts by the government in student grants.[SUP][5][/SUP]
Lord Robertson married Sandra Wallace on 1 June 1970. They are the parents of three children: Malcolm, Martin and Rachael.
Robertson survived a serious crash in January 1977 of his car with a Navy Land Rover, which was carrying 100 lb of gelignite and a box of detonators, and hit his car head-on in the Drumochter Pass, leaving him with two wrecked knees and a broken jaw. Robertson was wearing a seat belt at the time and attributes his survival to this factor.[SUP][citation needed][/SUP]
Political career

He was six times elected to the United Kingdom House of Commons, was Chairman of theLabour Party in Scotland, and was appointed to the Privy Council.[SUP][6][/SUP] After Labour won the1997 General Election, Robertson was appointed Secretary of State for Defence, a position he held until he resigned from the Cabinet in order to become Secretary General of NATO in 1999.
Quote on devolution

In 1995, Robertson said that "Devolution will kill Nationalism stone dead" while he was Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland.[SUP][7][/SUP] This quote was designed to assuage fears that devolution would provide a greater platform for the Scottish National Party (SNP). Robertson's quote has been frequently recalled, usually in a mocking fashion, after the SNP won Scottish Parliament elections in 2007[SUP][7][/SUP][SUP][8][/SUP] and2011.[SUP][9][/SUP][SUP][10][/SUP]
Dunblane libel action

Robertson's three children are former pupils of the school in Dunblane where gunman Thomas Hamilton went on the rampage in 1996, murdering 16 children and their teacher. After the massacre, Mr Robertson, a long-time resident of the town, acted as a spokesman for the victims' families. He was also a key figure in the subsequent campaign that led to the ban on handguns in Great Britain.[SUP][11][/SUP]
In 2003, the Sunday Herald newspaper ran an article entitled "Should the Dunblane dossier be kept secret?", a reference to documents relating to the Cullen Inquiry into the massacre which are to remain classified for 100 years. In a discussion board on the newspaper'swebsite, anonymous contributors claimed that Robertson had signed a recommendation for a gun licence for Thomas Hamilton in his capacity as Hamilton's MP. In fact, Robertson had never been the gunman's MP, and the claims were totally unfounded. Robertson sued the Sunday Herald and the paper settled by paying him a five-figure sum plus costs. A subsequent action by Robertson, related to the terms of the newspaper's apology, was unsuccessful. The first case became an important test case as to whether publishers can be held responsible for comments posted on their websites.[SUP][12][/SUP][SUP][13][/SUP]
After NATO

Robertson has received numerous honours (including a total of 12 Honorary doctorates from various universities). Currently he holds directorships of several notable companies in the UK, including the Weir Group,[SUP][14][/SUP] and Cable and Wireless.
In addition, Lord Robertson is a Senior Counselor at The Cohen Group, a consulting firm in Washington D.C. that provides advice and assistance in marketing and regulatory affairs.
Career

• 19681978, Official of the GMB Union for the Scottish whisky industry.
  
• 19781999, Member of the United Kingdom House of Commons, member for Hamilton or Hamilton South, elected six times.
  
• 1979, Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Social Services.
  
• 1979??, Opposition Spokesman on Scottish Affairs.
  
• 19??82, Opposition Spokesman on Defence.
  
• 198293, Opposition Spokesman on Foreign Affairs.
  
• 198393, Chief Opposition Spokesman on Europe.
  
• 199397, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland.
  
• May 1997, Appointed to the Privy Council
  
• May 1997 October 1999, Defence Secretary of the United Kingdom
  
• October 1999 January 2004, 10th Secretary General of NATO and Chairman of the North Atlantic Council.
  

Other former or present posts

• Chairman of the Labour Party in Scotland
  
• Vice-chairman of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy
  
• Vice-Chairman of the British Council for nine years
  
• Vice-Chairman of the Britain-Russia Centre
  
• Member of the Council of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) seven years, now President
  
• Member of the Pilgrims Society
  
• Governor of the Ditchley Foundation
  
• Trustee of the 21st Century Trust
  
• Patron to the British-American Project
  
• Currently serves on the Board of Cable & Wireless International
  
• Currently serves on the Board of The Weir Group PLC
  
• Currently serves on the Board of The TNK-BP
  
• Currently serves on the Global Panel America Advisory Board
  
• Currently a member of the Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation, established in October 2009.[SUP][15][/SUP]
  

Honours and awards

• 4th recipient of the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award
  
• 2004 Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, First class[SUP][16][/SUP]
  
• 30 November 2004 Knight of the Order of the Thistle
  
• 12 November 2003 Presidential Medal of Freedom (United States)
  
• 8 September 2003 Ridder Grootkruis in de Orde van Oranje Nassau (Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Orange-Nassau).
  
• 2003 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
  
• 2000 Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania
  
• 24 August 1999 created a life peer as Baron Robertson of Port Ellen.
  
• 1 December 2003 - Grand Order of King Petar KreÅ¡imir IV (Croatia)
  
• 1993 joint Parliamentarian of the Year for his role in the Maastricht Treaty ratification
  
• 1991 Grand Cross of the German Order of Merit
  
• Honorary Regimental Colonel of the London Scottish (Volunteers)
  
• Honorary Doctorate from the University of Paisley (awarded 5 July 2006)
  
• Honorary Doctorate from the University of Dundee
  
• Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bradford
  
• Honorary Doctorate from Cranfield University (Royal Military College of Science)
  
• Honorary Doctorate from the Baku State University, Azerbaijan
  
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
  
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE)
  
• Elder Brother of Trinity House.
  
• 2003 - Atlantic Solidarity Award bestowed by the Manfred Wörner Foundation
  

References

• ^ The Future of NATO - C-SPAN Video Library
  
• ^ [SUP]a[/SUP] [SUP]b[/SUP] "General Election Special 2". Archives Records and Artefacts at the University of Dundee. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  
• ^ "Making Contact. 12 decades of staff and student magazines". Contact: 27. June 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  
• ^ [SUP]a[/SUP] [SUP]b[/SUP] Baxter, Kenneth, Rolfe, Mervyn and Swinfen, David (2007). A Dundee Celebration. Dundee: University of Dundee. p. 34.
  
• ^ [SUP]a[/SUP] [SUP]b[/SUP] Baxter, Kenneth, Rolfe, Mervyn and Swinfen, David (2007). A Dundee Celebration. Dundee: University of Dundee. p. 35.
  
• ^ NATO (6 January 2004). "NATO Secretary General (19992003) The Rt. Hon. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen". Who is who at NATO?.NATO. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  
• ^ [SUP]a[/SUP] [SUP]b[/SUP] Warner, Gerald (6 May 2007). "How Bulldog Brown could call Braveheart Salmond's bluff". Scotland on Sunday. Johnston Press. Retrieved 2007-05-06.
  
• ^ Devine, Tom (11 May 2008). "Old Scotland took the high road. New Scotland is upwardly mobile". The Independent (London). Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  
• ^ Watt, Nicholas (6 May 2011). "Tony Blair's Scottish nightmare comes true as Alex Salmond trounces Labour". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  
• ^ "Q&A: Scottish independence referendum". BBC News (BBC). 29 May 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2011. "The 2011 result has blown out of the water the claim once made by Labour veteran Lord Robertson that devolution would "kill nationalism stone dead" - ironically, Labour, the party which set up devolution - has never managed to gain the overall majority achieved by the SNP."
  
• ^ BBC profile, 1999
  
• ^ McDougall, Dan (October 2005). "Robertson sues over Dunblane killer allegations". The Dunbane Shootings and Gun Law. Martin Frost. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  
• ^ Thompson, Bill (10 September 2004). "Be careful what you say on the net". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  
• ^ http://www.weir.co.uk/Group/home.nsf/luP...edirectors
  
• ^ Borger, Julian (8 September 2009). "Nuclear-free world ultimate aim of new cross-party pressure group". The Guardian (London).
  
• ^ (in Estonian) EESTI TÄNAB 1995-2009
  

External links

• Lord Robertson of Port Ellen profile, www.parliament.uk
  
• Hansard 18032005: contributions in Parliament by George Robertson
  

The Cohen Group




The Cohen Group is a firm providing advice to corporate leadership and assistance in marketing and regulatory affairs.[SUP][1][/SUP] It is based inWashington, D.C. with offices in Beijing and Tianjin, People's Republic of China.[SUP][2][/SUP]

History

The firm was founded by former United States Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen in 2001 to help multinational clients expand overseas. The Cohen Group has a strategic alliance with DLA Piper, a global law firm specializing in business, real estate, and technology.[SUP][3][/SUP]
Staff

Team members of The Cohen Group bring years of experience from the White House, the State Department, the Defense Department, and Congress. The senior talent at the Cohen Group includes, among others:

• Joseph Ralston, former United States Air Force general, NATO Supreme Allied Commander and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  
• Marc Grossman, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, United States Ambassador to Turkey
  
• R. Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, United States Ambassador to Greece
  
• James Loy, who served as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration,Commandant of the Coast Guard
  
• George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, who served as Secretary General of NATO and United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defence
  
• Paul J. Kern, who served as the Commander of the Army Materiel Command and the Senior Adviser for Army Research, Development and Acquisition
  
• Joe Yakovac, who served as Director of the Army Acquisition Corps and Military Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology
  
• Harry Raduege, who served as Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency and Commander of the Joint Task Force Global Network Operations
  
• Frank Miller, who served as Senior Director for Defense Policy at the National Security Council as well as many years in senior roles at the Department of Defense.