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foreign affairs in strategic context
Browsing All Posts filed under »Iraq«
Sykes-Picot is not to blame for Syria
August 16, 2012
For many in the Arab world, the Sykes-Picot Agreement is what the Yalta conference was for many conservatives in the United States during the Cold War. It is a betrayal of a people seeking freedom, a damning indictment of Great Power politics, and the source of all the problems in the Middle East. As with […]
Libya: A clarification
August 18, 2011
Since February, when the drumbeat for war with Colonel Gaddafi began, and I made an awful racket in response, I have been bugged by someone called Kellie Strøm. He has supported the intervention from the beginning and regularly makes obtuse comments about my opposition. Yesterday, Strøm pointed out my apparently uncertain position. On 17th March, […]
Ellis of Benghazi!
August 16, 2011
This letter, which has been classified for fifty years, sheds a fascinating light on British foreign policy in the early 21st Century and the career of Lord Litherland (more popularly known as “Ellis of Benghazi”…) 16th August, 2011 To the Rt. Hon. William Hague MP, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs My dear, […]
Realism: to be sandwiched between craziness and naivety
June 21, 2011
Late this morning I tweeted sardonically, ‘If I had a pound for every pound I had for each day a government minister said Gaddafi is on his way out…’ The next thing I know, I’m being asked to speak on the BBC World Service about the surprising durability of the regime three months after our […]
Michael Burgoyne: Old Luk-Oie and military adaptation
February 9, 2011
I am pleased to publish a guest post by Michael Burgoyne, as he has been more than helpful to me with some of my writing. Michael is a Major in the United States Army and author of The Defense of Jisr al-Doreaa. Incidentally, his co-author Jim Marckwardt will be discussing full spectrum operations at the […]
Afghanistan, the Conservatives and the Special Relationship
January 26, 2011
Why does David Cameron support the war in Afghanistan? I have touched on this here and here, but one reason not yet addressed is the importance of the United States. Though not crucial to them, the Special Relationship is vital for us; and Hew Strachan believes this is the reason for our involvement in the […]
Don’t bring in the Bismarck unless you know what you’re doing
October 4, 2010
There are few things more dangerous than a historical analogy. It must be made carefully, the scenarios mirroring one another as much possible if people like me aren’t going to ridicule it. And if the comparison is with a period the reader fancies himself knowledgeable on, each sentence better be referenced by at least six […]
Up to a point, Lord Copper…
August 24, 2010
Tim Montgomerie, the editor of influential blog ConservativeHome, has written an article in the London Times today (£) defending George W. Bush and his legacy. He credits the president with many deserved but underrated achievements, from Africa and his outreach to moderate Islam to a burgeoning special relationship between India and the United States. ‘The […]
November 16, 2012
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