When we came to the idea of building this consultancy group, we wondered what we should call it. As we would be working in the field of Muslim World- West relations, we needed to have a name which would translate well into Arabic. We settled on the word 'Visionary'. hence, the Visionary Consultancy Group.

The word 'Visionary' can be translated into Arabic in a variety of ways, the two major ones being 'ru'yah' and 'firasah'. In Arabic, the word 'firasah' has several different connotations, one is obviously 'vision', but it is more often used as 'foresight'. The word 'ru'yah' can refer to 'vision' but also to 'dream'.

In founding this consultancy group, we chose the word English word of 'Visionary' to refer to the twin ideas of ‘dream’ and ‘foresight’. In Arabic, we have settled on 'firasah' for now... perhaps, in the future, we will dare to dream as well.

This relates to our hope of providing insight and imagination in the goal of realizing a dream for the future: in general, a more comprehensive and constructive engagement between the Muslim world and the West.

VCG was founded by H.A. Hellyer, PhD., and D. M. Rateb, who are joined by a select network of specialists based throughout the world, including in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North America & Europe. Each of them possess either two bachelor degrees and/or higher university degrees. Together, they bring together decades of experience and expert knowledge in a variety of fields; within some of the most noted universities in the West (such as Oxford and Warwick), and within some of the most famous think-tanks, in addition to various government departments.

Please see our fields of expertise page for further details of what sort of things we do, and who our consultants have dealt with in the past, including the Brookings Institution in the US, Demos in the UK, and ISIS in Malaysia.

Disclaimer

This web site is produced by the Visionary Consultants Group, a set of independent consultants. By agreement of the consultants affiliated to VCG, this web site has been prepared for information purposes only.

The VCG has no collective legal entity of any kind. All affiliate consultants in VCG are solely responsible for her or his own consultancy. No consultant in VCG employs another consultant in VCG.

The information in this site and any commentary on issues contained here is provided free of charge for information purposes only. Every reasonable effort is made to make the information and commentary accurate and up to date, but no affiliate consultant assumes any responsibility for its accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying on it. The information and commentary does not, and is not intended to, amount to legal or professional advice to any person on a specific case or matter.