From ‘Bride to Body Bag’: The Death of Corporal Sarah Bryant and the Gendered ‘War on Terror’
The recent death of Corporal Sarah Bryant, the first British servicewoman to die on a “deliberate” operation in Afghanistan, attracted much attention from the UK print media. The tributes reveal wider cultural discomfort towards the death of a young, bright servicewoman as a direct result of conflict. They also demonstrate the significance of gender to the legitimation of the ‘war on terror’.
Kosovo: misreading the lessons for Iraq – and now Iran
According to a widely-accepted myth, NATO’s military intervention over Kosovo, bear-led by the US and UK, was a grand success. This misperception helped to encourage the blundering attack on Iraq four years later, and may yet lead to further blunders over Iran. So it’s important to learn the true lessons of the Kosovo events if mistakes made then are not to be repeated yet again.
Burma and the responsibility to protect: first, do more good than harm
Paranoid and mistrustful of the outside world, Burma’s generals were criminally tardy in permitting emergency humanitarian supplies and personnel to come into the country after a devastating cyclone in early May. Yet attempts to invoke R2P were ill advised.
French Foreign Policy under Sarkozy
The presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy has certainly brought a change in the style of French foreign policy, but has it altered the substance? The answer, I will argue, is a qualified yes, not least because it is characteristic of the new French president to blend style and substance until the two become indistinguishable.
John McCain Discovers Nuclear Arms Control and Disarmament
On May 27, John McCain took what appeared to be a strong stand in favor of nuclear arms control and disarmament. He argued that “it is our responsibility to build” a world in which there are “far fewer” nuclear weapons “than there are today.” Therefore, he said, “the time has come to take further measures to reduce dramatically the number of nuclear weapons in the world’s arsenals.”
What to do about Russia? The German view
The European states and the United States are increasingly having to consider what policy they should adopt towards Russia. Aggression abroad, suppression of freedom at home, intimidation of all opposition, murder, corruption and anti-Semitism have given rise to increasing alarm. Germany is struggling to reconcile the political, military and economic issues raised by its powerful neighbour to the east.
The Nuclear Question: what should we demand from Iran?
The question about what the international community should demand from Tehran may seem inappropriate in light of last autumn’s NIE. ‘Why should we demand anything at all?’ one may ask. Perhaps from now on suspicions should be erased and Iran should enjoy its “inalienable rights” to conduct unlimited enrichment on its soil. This is simply not the case.
Freezing Arctic Jurisdiction: The case for a regional oil bank
In the spring of 1970, Canada unilaterally enacted legislation to regulate activities in the Arctic Ocean. While criticized as an attempt to assert ownership over what was then perceived to be international territory, the act signalled a bold willingness to prosecute polluters in the absence of sufficient rules of international law. Canada acted to protect the Arctic Ocean’s pristine nature for all of mankind. Today, retreating polar ice and the potential for extensive oil and gas reserves have renewed interest in the region, but for a far less altruistic motive.
After Iraq, What Will the US Learn?
Although a downturn in the economy has taken some attention away from the Iraq war in the US, very soon a period of reflection will begin. The war continues, but after 5 years and over 4000 deaths it is apparent to everyone except Vice-President Dick Cheney that the US will begin to pull its troops out in the next administration, especially if one of the democrats wins the presidential race. Even now, political struggles to shape the “the lessons of Iraq” have begun.
Britain in Europe: A (Further) Response to John Redwood
I believe in appreciating the EU for what it is: a uniquely well developed form of interstate cooperation focussed around a single market. Yet Europe could be made to suit us still better. Rather than playing on people’s fears of a power hungry EU that is the stuff of fiction, let us begin this task.
