There is a 1930s feel to the world at the moment. Authoritarianism is on the rise once again, geopolitical power bases are shifting, international institutions are unable to hold errant states and non-state actors to account, and rival states are seriously upgrading their hard power. To make matters worse, there is a clear absence of […]
There has been precious little good news to come out of the fall of Kabul. But yesterday’s reports that we might be able to find a home in the Army for elite Afghan soldiers certainly counts. According to the Daily Telegraph, Conservative MPs are exploring the possibility of setting up a special regiment for the […]
For all the speculation about the damage Donald Trump’s erratic personality did to America’s credibility, the sight of a Chinook departing the US embassy in Kabul feels like a far harder blow. After 20 years, $2 trillion spent, 800,000 serving soldiers deployed, and 2,352 deaths, America is leaving Afghanistan as it found it: under the control […]
The last few weeks have brought to light many unfortunate realities, one of which is the over-reliance of Nato on the US and their decision makers. Through its complete inability to act without the support of Uncle Sam, the alliance has rendered itself complicit in the failings in Afghanistan. It didn’t have to be this […]
The speed and scale of the Taliban’s advance across Afghanistan has raised a number of big questions. Should we have intervened after the 9/11 terrorist attacks? What was achieved during 20 years of Western military presence? Was this the right time to withdraw from the so-called ‘graveyard of empires’? And what should our refugee policy […]
For many in the West it’s hard to credit that Iran was responsible for the recent incident in the Gulf in which a British oil tanker struck by a drone. The unprovoked attack on the vessel, which resulted in the death of one British seaman, and his Romanian colleague, is seen by many as tantamount […]
‘The sacrifice in Afghanistan is seared into our national consciousness.’ Boris Johnson’s words to the House of Commons today are especially poignant for the many thousands of veterans of that conflict, myself included. We volunteered to serve because we believed a stable Afghanistan was good for us all. The Taliban’s impact on world affairs had […]
“Labour’s support for the UK’s nuclear deterrent is non-negotiable. The matter is settled.” These were the words of John Healey, Labour’s shadow defence secretary, in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute in February. He also said that Labour’s commitment to Nato (which as a backbencher in 2012 Jeremy Corbyn had argued should be […]
For most of my politically aware life, I’ve been a committed Atlanticist: I believe in a close (if not necessarily ‘special’) relationship with the United States, I think the UK and the US acting in concert can be a force for good in the world, and I believe NATO is the foundation of our security […]
In freedom’s spring, after the collapse of the Soviet Union at the beginning of the 1990s, some western leaders’ consciences turned to thoughts of sharing more widely the gifts democracy had given us – free choice of governments, freedom of speech and the press, civil society, dispassionate justice and more. That part of humanity should […]
In February, our Civitas paper Inadvertently Arming China? revealed the widespread sponsorship of scientific research centres in UK universities by conglomerates and elite universities linked to the Chinese military. Some of the Chinese firms that sponsor our universities produce weapons of mass destruction including intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads; others produce strike fighter engines, military […]
On Tuesday, a coroner ruled that paratroopers shot dead ten “entirely innocent” people in Belfast almost fifty years ago. On the same day, the Government pledged to “introduce legislation to address the legacy of the Troubles”, in the Queen’s Speech. The inquest’s findings, coupled with a lack of detail on proposed ‘legacy’ laws, show how […]
China takes the study of history very seriously. For years its civil servants have been scrutinising the West, trying to learn the secrets behind its hundreds of years of world domination. One of the areas it has paid special attention to is the link between the civilian and the military when it comes to technological […]
Big Tech is under pressure as never before to stop augmenting violent extremism through online platforms that fail to restrict access to materials and people who groom potential terrorists. After the Capitol Hill insurrection, animated by social media, the pressure is on for a fix before legislators step in with little regard for tech giants’ […]
For almost a week, a huge container ship has been wedged across the Suez Canal, blocking £7bn worth of goods from passing through this vital trade route every day. It’s a powerful example of how human error in ship navigation can be disastrous, but history is littered with significantly worse instances, like the Titanic in […]
The Government’s long-awaited Integrated Review is finally upon us. The first of various documents to be released this week is ‘Global Britain in a Competitive Age’, which aims to clarify some of the key threats to our national security and set out post-Brexit Britain’s role in the world. There are four key themes here: the […]
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