Archive for June, 2008

Lone jihadists: The new face of UK terror?

Posted: June 16, 2008 in HSToday
Tags: , , ,
0

My latest for HSToday’s website. The converts aspect is a theme i am currently expanding further in a bigger project, and any thoughts or ideas or pointers for others doing such work would be greatly appreciated. In fact, any comment or thoughts generally would  of course be appreciated. One small prob, this has possibly the worst picture of me in circulation on it.

http://hstoday.us/content/view/3838/152/

Lone Jihadists: The New Face of UK Terror?

Monday, 16 June 2008

‘Is this the new face of terror that we can expect?‘

To surprisingly little fanfare, Britain recently faced a number of close-call domestic home-grown terrorist plots. First there was the case of Andrew Ibrahim, a 19 year old convert to Islam who was arrested on April 17 in possession of a suicide belt after a two week investigation set off by an intelligence tip-off. Then, just over a month later on May 23 in the western British city of Exeter, Nicky Reilly (aka, Mohammed Rasheed) attempted to detonate a series of bombs in a restaurant.

(more…)

Britain’s Homeland Security Architecture

Posted: June 14, 2008 in Safety and Security International
Tags: , ,
0

This is a slightly old article in the sense it came out last month, but i have been hawking a similar idea around more serious journals – this is instead for a trade magazine. Describes in relative detail what the UK is doing in counter-terrorism terms and how it all works. Turn to page 35 for my piece:

Click to access ssi_208_kpl_gesperrt.pdf

Why talk to al-Qaida?

Posted: June 10, 2008 in Guardian
Tags: ,
0

Am gradually penetrating the Brit press more, which is good. Here is my latest on the Guardian’s Comment is Free page. Was a reaction to something someone said about talking to Al Qaeda, something which on the face of it is a pretty silly idea.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/10/alqaida.northernireland

Why talk to al-Qaida?

Negotiation worked in Northern Ireland, but the conflict with al-Qaida is completely different. We should instead address the causes of radicalisation.

(more…)

Fixing Bush’s Legacy

Posted: June 3, 2008 in New Statesman
Tags: ,
0

My latest for the New Statesman about the Obama potential. I see it has already attracted ire, though i thought it was rather placid effort. Ah well.

http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2008/06/obama-usa-vote-potential-world

Fixing Bush’s Legacy

Having recently returned to planet earth from a ten day stop-over in Washington, it would appear as though Barack Obama is on the cusp of being a shoo-in not just for the Democratic nomination but for the presidency as well.

(more…)

Baltimore Sun – Tall Order for UN’s New Leader

Posted: June 2, 2008 in Baltimore Sun
Tags:
0

Another oldie that i have finally gotten around to listing from the Baltimore Sun. This was done with my boss at the time around some work we had been doing together, and ran on january 1st as the new UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon took over – it was intended to give him some ideas – whether any were taken on board is impossible to ever know. We hope. It also ran in the Windsor Star (Ontario) and The Age in Australia. So i’m very international.

Tall Order for UN’s New Leader

LONDON // New United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, who assumes office today, faces a tough job. Not only is the South Korean coming into a job as the other half of his motherland is testing the international community with nuclear saber-rattling, but he is also taking the helm at an institution that increasingly appears to have lost its way.

(more…)