Brian Crozier
Encyclopedia
Brian Rossiter Crozier is a British-based historian, strategist and journalist.
Crozier was born in Australia
, although he was raised in France, learning French. Thereafter his family moved to England where he would receive a scholarship to study piano and musical composition at the Trinity College of Music
in London. Early in his life, Crozier believed in communism
- as a reaction to the Great Depression
and to Adolf Hitler
- but changed his mind and later worked to combat it.
He eventually became interested in journalism, and pursued a career that would lead him to become a foreign correspondent for Reuters
, columnist for The Economist
, reporter for the BBC
and - during a brief return to Australia - a writer for The Sydney Morning Herald
.
Crozier was the director of Forum World Features, a 1966 outfit setup by the Congress for Cultural Freedom that had ties with the CIA. John Hay Whitney
was FWF's first owner, its ownership later promulgated to Richard Mellon Scaife
. Crozier stated in 1975 that FWF had broken all ties to the CIA when he became director in the 1960s.
In 1970, Crozier founded The Institute For The Study Of Conflict, a London-based group that studies insurgencies and terrorism, which he would preside over for the better part of a decade. According to a profile written by David Rees in 1985 for the American fortnightly National Review
, it: For many years, Crozier authored the regular column, "The Protracted Conflict," in the National Review.
Joseph D'Agostino of Human Events states: "Crozier has another distinction: In 1988, he appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records
for having interviewed the most heads of state or government, 58 in all."
Crozier has provided advice to the British Secret Intelligence Service, the Information Research Department
(IRD) of the British Foreign Office, and the CIA. His memoirs appeared in 1993 as Free Agent: The Unseen War 1941-1991.
Crozier is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow on War, Revolution, and Peace of Stanford University
's Hoover Institution
. He is a member of the international advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
.
Crozier was born in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, although he was raised in France, learning French. Thereafter his family moved to England where he would receive a scholarship to study piano and musical composition at the Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
in London. Early in his life, Crozier believed in communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
- as a reaction to the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
- but changed his mind and later worked to combat it.
He eventually became interested in journalism, and pursued a career that would lead him to become a foreign correspondent for Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, columnist for The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, reporter for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and - during a brief return to Australia - a writer for The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
.
Crozier was the director of Forum World Features, a 1966 outfit setup by the Congress for Cultural Freedom that had ties with the CIA. John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney , colloquially known as "Jock" Whitney, was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, and a member of the Whitney family.-Family:...
was FWF's first owner, its ownership later promulgated to Richard Mellon Scaife
Richard Mellon Scaife
Richard Mellon Scaife is an American newspaper publisher and billionaire. Scaife owns and publishes the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. With $1.2 billion, Scaife, a principal heir to the Mellon banking, oil, and aluminum fortune, is No...
. Crozier stated in 1975 that FWF had broken all ties to the CIA when he became director in the 1960s.
In 1970, Crozier founded The Institute For The Study Of Conflict, a London-based group that studies insurgencies and terrorism, which he would preside over for the better part of a decade. According to a profile written by David Rees in 1985 for the American fortnightly National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
, it: For many years, Crozier authored the regular column, "The Protracted Conflict," in the National Review.
Joseph D'Agostino of Human Events states: "Crozier has another distinction: In 1988, he appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
for having interviewed the most heads of state or government, 58 in all."
Crozier has provided advice to the British Secret Intelligence Service, the Information Research Department
Information Research Department
The Information Research Department, founded in 1948 by Christopher Mayhew MP, was a department of the British Foreign Office set up to counter Russian propaganda and infiltration, particularly amongst the western labour movement....
(IRD) of the British Foreign Office, and the CIA. His memoirs appeared in 1993 as Free Agent: The Unseen War 1941-1991.
Crozier is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow on War, Revolution, and Peace of Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
's Hoover Institution
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford....
. He is a member of the international advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is a non-profit educational organization in the United States, established as a result of an Act of Congress in 1993 with the purpose to commemorate "the deaths of over 100,000,000 victims in an unprecedented imperial communist holocaust"...
.