Basil Stephen Talbot Eastwood CMG (born 4 March 1944)[1] is a retired British diplomat.
[3] In July 1998, while serving in Syria, Eastwood announced a courtesy visit to Damascus by HMS Marlborough and the supply ship RFA Fort Victoria.
In a lengthy statement carried by Reuters, he said he hoped this would be the beginning of programmes of military co-operation between Syria and the United Kingdom.
[6] In 2004, Eastwood and Richard W. Murphy, a United States Assistant Secretary of State under the Reagan presidency, published a joint study which noted: "In the Arab Middle East, the awkward truth is that the most significant movements which enjoy popular support are those associated with political Islam".
[7] Their study called on the western powers to seek to engage with moderate Islamists.