MA Strategic Communication graduate Nigel Atkin is a Regional Public Affairs Advisor to the Iraqi government.

His career in public relations has taken him from a PR firm on Fleet Street to the provincial departments of the Canadian government. He has worked in municipal affairs, agriculture, tourism, and property assessment.

For more than 10 years Nigel has taught public relations part-time at the University of Victoria in British Columbia in Canada and in 2005 he completed his MA at UCLan.

He talked to UKAC about his new job in Iraq….

- What is your job title and how long have you worked for the Iraqi government?

I am a Regional Public Affairs Advisor and I’ve been in Iraq for three months working on the Local Governance Program for RTI International, a contractor to the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The Local Governance Program (LGP) is an effort to strengthen government in Iraq at the local, municipal, and provincial levels. LGP’s goal is to improve governmental management and administration, provide training and technical assistance on the roles and functions of government officials and agencies, and support the establishment of a legal framework for a democratic, representative, and decentralized government in Iraq.

- How did you end up taking on this job role?

I stayed in contact with a former boss who recognizes the importance of communication, the skill base I maintain as well as my motivation to do good work. Last summer, he was asked by a recruiter if he knew someone who could do public affairs in difficult circumstances and he put my name forward. The application and interview process along with bio data, security, and medical checks were completed in October and I deployed in November.

In a general sense, where you end up is always part of your destiny. The cultural building blocks that shape our life through our upbringing, experience, and education are intricate and possibly more complex than our physical DNA. Doing this work now is a logical extension of everything I have done to date. Being here isn’t a surprise to anybody who knows me.

- What does it involve on a day to day basis?

Right now, I live in a trailer and eat meals with colleagues in a small tented restaurant. We work six days a week, with Saturday off. Each day begins with a morning staff meeting. This is an opportunity to share program, operations and security information. I then set up my laptop, write articles, prepare briefings, collapse reports into executive summaries, edit discussion papers, polish translations and offer strategic communication advice. I also adapt communication training material to the needs of people I will meet in the field.

Daily life is not boring. Baghdad’s International Zone (IZ) is a non-permissive environment, secure with many check points. There are occasional indirect rocket and mortars fired into the IZ so we are all kitted out with personal protection equipment. Traveling outside the IZ requires a security detail and armor is mandatory.

This is a war zone replete with rapidly evolving situations, surprises and chaos. There are many difficulties but I do enjoy the speed of events and the get-it-done attitude of many people here. In this environment there are different communication styles to call upon and mental dexterity is important. For example, military officers require explicit, purposeful, clear and accurate information. At the same time, local Iraqis are interested in building relationships and might have time for tea, are less rushed and even poetic in their conversations.

On a daily basis, physical and psychological mobility is important. While the skill base of a wide range of governance advisors is a given, most were hired because of their ability to adapt. When I am posted to a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRTs) at a forward operating base I expect life will be somewhat different than here in Baghdad. Experience to date does reinforce the idea that understanding the concepts of vested interest, consequence, and empathy can carry the day in many situations.

- How rewarding do you find your job and do you feel like you are making a difference?

As part of an international team with 37 new hires from 24 countries selected from more than 18,000 applicants it is an honor to be here. It is as Maimonides who wrote in his Code of Law, “Each person must see himself as though the entire world were held in balance and any deed he might do could tip the scales.”

It is rewarding in many ways. The access to the people, the depth of Iraqi history and traditions, being here in this turning point moment in history are all significant to me. The realities of globalization demand better communication skills in all groups. There are many barricades being built everywhere due to a rapidly accelerating rate of change and this requires more people who can successful span boundaries and build better relationships. That is what communication is about.

- What are the most difficult aspects and what is your long term goal in this role?

There are many difficult aspects to being here. Travel in and out is difficult. The dust and cold of this winter have been difficult. Being away from people I care for is difficult. But being here is not as difficult as having this opportunity and not taking it. It is also difficult listening to peoples’ stories of how they have lived under severe repression, and when the car and suicide bombs go off it is very hard hearing the explosion and knowing the needless suffering being inflicted. Much of the violence directly impacts people I am working with.

Much of the harsh reality of this place is countered by a great spirit of people experiencing freedom for the first time. Many young people are joyous and positive about their futures. Many older people pray that peace will last and the country can heal from three decades of wars and other strife.

My long term goal is to be open to possibilities so that I can continue to operate in the front lines of information age war. That might be continuing to teach at University or it might involve working in this and other post conflict environments. Both are rewarding and effect positive change.

- How does an MA in Strategic Communication prepare you for such a challenging job?

Iraq is reemerging from a totalitarian dictatorship that imposed a centralized system that has elsewhere, as well, been doomed to failure. A societal change in attitudes and behaviors requires strategic communication at the forefront of practice.

Local government is working in Iraq in part because public participation models are taking hold. From this activity provincial development strategies are written. In all stages of reconstruction communication is needed to develop community awareness, understanding and acceptance. As strategies are implemented, thousands of projects will need funding and implementation. Strategic organizational positioning is needed in Iraq as it is in all sectors elsewhere in the world.

- How long do you think you will continue to work for the Iraqi government and do you know what your career plans are for the future?

It is my intention, to serve in Iraq for one year. This is the first time that I have been directly involved in on-site post-conflict work and I expect the world to be a different place a year from now with new options to consider.

This experience is part of my career. I expect there will be many places to teach and many organizations like RTI International will welcome on-site training in communication, as well as direct public relations to effect change.

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