On July
The Kabul conference and David Cameron’s pilgrimage to Washington have generated plenty of articles and interviews agonising about Afghanistan. Ministers are asked what would happen in that country if “we” withdrew “our” forces next...
Category: International Affairs
Afghanistan: the dog that still doesn’t bark in the night
It’s extraordinary that the national political discourse isn’t dominated by the war in Afghanistan. We have been engulfed in it for nine years already and almost every bulletin brings news of yet more deaths...
BP, the oil spill, and the Congressional committee
I’m generally a fan of the American constitution, its Bill of Rights, and especially of the American commitment to due process. In the words of the Fifth Amendment, No person shall be held to...
Whither the Labour opposition? Part 2 of an open letter to The Leader
Dear Harriet, If the Labour Party is going to make a healthy recovery in time for the next election (which, despite the CameroClegg’s pronouncements about a fixed term, may turn out to be much...
Gaza, the Israeli blockade and international law
It would be madness to venture a personal view on the latest Israel-Gaza conflict unless from under a double-thickness cycle helmet and from deep inside a suit of armour, but a cool, clear statement...
A Labour-LibDem government must be better than any alternative
My Google Alert service has belatedly noticed this: Twitter / LabourList: Brian Barder on what Gordon’s people should say to Clegg’s people if parliament is hung … https://barder.com/2526 Brian Barder on what Gordon’s people...
We’re in full-blown crisis, but obsessed with the wrong one
The media, electronic and print, are in one of their periodic feeding frenzies over the hung parliament and the leisurely horse-trading (very much the right word, alas) over who might form a British government...
Some thoughts before voting
Two items of required reading before Thursday’s election: In the London Review of Books, Vol. 32 No. 8 · 22 April 2010, Jonathan Raban analyses David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ philosophy which apparently steers many...
Volcanic ash: Brown to blame for aviation shut-down
According to a report in the Guardian of 16 April, ‘Gordon Brown apologised for any disruption caused by the eruption [of the Icelandic volcano] but said, “safety is the first and predominant consideration.”‘ A...
Allegations of Ethiopian relief aid diverted mislead the world: an up-date
On 4 March 2010 I described in a blog post how a misleading radio programme, broadcast that day in the BBC World Service, and the BBC’s even more misleading advance publicity for it, had...