Julia Bicknell

Director, World Watch Monitor

Type of expert: Terrorism, Middle East and Religious expert

Areas of expertise: Broadcasting, Charity, Expert Women, Middle East, Religion

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Since summer 2012, Julia has led a digital niche news agency focussing on religion and conflict, www.WorldWatchMonitor.org.
Its specific expertise and contacts are around issues facing Christians under pressure for their faith, not only from radical Islam in Middle East and Africa, but also from extreme Hinduism in India, and even Buddhism in Sri Lanka. She is knowledgeable about minority human rights and issues of freedom of religion or belief, but also about the wider social and regional context in which they arise.

Before starting WWM, Julia spent most of her 35 year career on the staff of BBC News – mainly in international news and current affairs – as producer, reporter and presenter, so her background in geo-political issues and crises is strong.
She lived in Pakistan for a year as a BBC and Telegraph correspondent, and in Vietnam for the BBC.
Julia has done her own reports for BBC World TV from Delhi, Islamabad and Kabul amongst other cities.

She also spent years working on major broadcast media projects for BBC Media Action (formerly the World Service Trust) and living in countries such as Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan and Afghanistan, often training journalists for the BBC. In Afghanistan, she was one of the first team of three to work on the now famous BBC \’Archers for Afghanistan\’ (“New Home, New Life”): she raised the major funds from the UN agencies and found the first house from which it worked.

She’s a former producer/reporter/presenter on BBC World Service, but has also reported for CNN and appeared on Al Jazeera, explaining the global Church amongst other issues such as conflict prevention.

As a former producer of ‘Woman’s Hour’ and the ‘Development Programme’ on World Service, she understands international development issues such as governance, health, human rights, women in development and so on.

Keywords

Middle East, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Somalia, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, 9/11, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Amman, SA, the states, America, North America, oil security, gulf, red sea, middle east politics, international politics, kidnap, hostage, hostages, beheading, beheaded, murder, execution, mass execution, genocide, kidnap and ransom, politics, Islam, Muslim, Muslims, UK, United Kingdom, Great Britain, GB, religion, Christianity, Christians, writer, author, historian, education, burka, nicab, veil, war, military, IS, ISIL, ISIS, Islamic State, Islamic caliphate, religion, state, Islamism, terrorism, war, jihad, attacks, threats, Taliban, Hamas, Hezbollah, Hizbullah, Hizballah, AQAP, AQIM, AQMI, al-Nusra Front, Jabhat al-Nusra, Brotherhood, Muslim Brothers Society, Ikhwan, Sunni, Shia, schism, sectarian divide, weapons, nuclear, power, torture, ideology, country, nations, nationalism, secularism, Arabism, socialism, communism, Pan-Arabism, Arab-socialism, Ba’athism, Pan-Islamism, Political Islam, Islamisation, fundamentalism, radicalism, extremism, Wahhabis, Wahhabism, Salafists, Salifism, Sharia Law, dictatorship, force, fighting, crisis, hegemony, war, prisoners, abductions, killings, beheadings, rockets, bombings, struggle, strikes, security, peace, ceasefire, tactics, strategy, ethnic minorities, negotiations, deal, treaty, peace accords, elections, democracy, diplomacy, UN, International system, government, governance, sanctions, institutions, United Nations, Arab league, military, intervention, transparency, popular participation, civil society, people, structural change, social relations, leader, revolutions, emancipation, protests, Arab Spring, social change, social movements, human rights, politics, international relations, US, West, Orient, Arab, MENA, post-colonialism, colonialism, foreign domination, independence, modernity, development, economy, politics, social movements, school, children, muslim, yazidi, Middle East such as Syria and Iraq; West, Central, North and East Africa including Nigeria, Kenya and Somalia; South Asia, especially Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh, and East Asia, especially Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia, ISIS, IS, Islamic State, Jihad, Jihadi, terror, terrorism, slavery, slave, Christian, Catholic, religion, Jesus, Christ.

Middle East expert especially on the plight of Christians in the Middle East.