-
Pages
Authors
Topics
- Africa (25)
- Asia (52)
- Asia Pacific (4)
- Cities (15)
- Climate Change (105)
- Communication (79)
- Conflict and security (114)
- Cooperation and coherence (57)
- Development (57)
- Europe (62)
- Food prices (50)
- Global economy (73)
- Influence (106)
- Leadership (64)
- Middle East (90)
- Networks (54)
- News (169)
- Off topic (11)
- Public diplomacy (41)
- Religion in politics (18)
- Resilience (56)
- Scarcity (79)
- Technology (28)
- Terrorism (60)
- UK politics (75)
- US politics (118)
Archives
Reading List- Military analysts named in Times exposé appeared or were quoted more than 4,500 times on broadcast nets, cables, NPR
- Things younger than John McCain
- Connecting with Consumers Using Deep Metaphors — HBS Working Knowledge
- Bird flu pandemic risk just as real and probably growing
- After the boomers, meet the children dubbed 'baby losers' | World news | The Observer
- 13 Year Old Steals Dad's Credit Card to Buy Hookers
- Kimmage fired: resource tradeoffs and the war on ideas
- Obama's Consolidation of the Party
- Resisting Authority: A Personal Account of the Milgram Obedience Experiments
- Who Participates And What People Are Doing Online
Links
- Afghanistanica
- Center on International Cooperation
- Cooperation Commons
- Dan Drezner
- Dani Rodrik
- Democracy in America
- ECFR
- Fistful of Euros
- Foreign Policy Watch
- ForeignPolicy.com blog
- Gideon Rachman
- Global Guerrillas
- i on Global Trends
- Institute for the Future
- Kevin Drum
- Many to Many
- Mapping Strategy
- Network Weaving
- New Security Beat
- Schneier on Security
- Small Wars Journal
- The Carpetbagger Report
- The Interpreter
- The Politics of Wellbeing
- The Strategist
- William Lind
- Yorkshire Ranter
-
Meta
The orphan of Whitehall
Posted on May 16, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Global economy, Leadership, News, UK politics | Leave a Comment
I’ve got a short piece about organised crime on the Guardian’s blog Comment is Free. From the intro:
The annual report from the Serious Organised Crime Agency, published yesterday, is a mix of self-congratulation and spectacular underachievement. While the rhetoric from politicians has been to get tough on organised crime, the reality is more humbling: we [...]
A shambolic response to organised crime
Posted on May 14, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Global economy, Networks, UK politics | Comments Off
Tomorrow the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) will publish its annual report/ threat assessment. It will make for uncomfortable reading at the Home Office and No.10. The Agency is not living up to the great expectations officials placed upon it in 2006. In the febrile political atmosphere of Westminster you can be sure the Conservative [...]
Cause and effect
Posted on May 13, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Conflict and security, Food prices, Scarcity | Comments Off
Is the global economic situation having an impact on poppy eradication in Afghanistan? Afghan farmers are capitalising on soaring food costs by growing wheat instead of poppy crops, with the fall in heroin prices further fuelling the switch. This comes at a time when the price of a tonne of wheat in Afghanistan has almost [...]
Americans: Anxious but increasingly savvy about world affairs
Posted on May 11, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on News | Comments Off
According to the latest Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index (CFPI), 60% of Americans say reducing energy dependence would strengthen their nation’s security “a great deal.” The report shows that the public has begun to zero in on economic and energy issues, and believe that becoming less dependent on other countries for their supply [...]
Responsibility to protect?
Posted on May 11, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Asia Pacific, Influence | Comments Off
Is Lebanon going to war over a network?
Posted on May 8, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Communication, Conflict and security, Middle East, Networks, Technology | Comments Off
It may be too soon to determine what has trigged the current violence in Beirut. Some analysts have suggested Hezbollah took advantage of a labour strike on Wednesday by using it as a political opportunity and the strike quickly escalated into a flashpoint over Lebanon’s 17-month-old political crisis.
What is more clear is that the Lebanese [...]
Cyclone Nargis - Burma
Posted on May 7, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Asia Pacific, Resilience | Comments Off
Before [...]
Water water everywhere (so what’s all the fuss)
Posted on May 6, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Africa, Asia Pacific, Climate Change, Conflict and security, Middle East, Scarcity | Comments Off
Is the lack of fresh water a catalyst for conflict? The scenario has become fashionable of late, with Ban Ki-moon pondering such a future earlier this year, while John Reid made a great song and dance of it when he was Defence Secretary (perhaps he even did a rain dance). But it seems, according to [...]
Is suicide bombing rational?
Posted on April 30, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on News | Comments Off
Asks William Saletan over on Slate. Actually he raises a number of questions about whether suicide bombings are increasing around the world, why they might be and if so what can we do about it. The stats are revealing. According to
an article by Robin Wright of the Washington Post last week:
Suicide bombers conducted 658 attacks [...]
Organised crime: Out of sight. Out of mind?
Posted on April 29, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Communication, Conflict and security, UK politics | Comments Off
Last year I held a seminar at Demos on Silent Risks Tackling organised crime in the 21st century. A central argument put forward by the panel of experts was that as much of the harm done by organised crime remained hidden from the public eye the scale of the threat was still not widely [...]
In bed with a mosquito
Posted on April 29, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Climate Change | Comments Off
I admit I have never heard this but will now shameless use it… in answer to a question about what impact an individual can really have on climate change:
If you think you’re too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito
I have no evidence, I have a story
Posted on April 29, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Africa, Asia, Climate Change, Communication, Conflict and security, Cooperation and coherence, Development, Global economy | Comments Off
What are the connections between climate change and migration? Not as obvious as one might think… one of the conversations we’ve been having in the coffee break is the lack of hard evidence when it comes to the relationship(s) between development, conflict, and climate change and the increasing difficulty to demonstrate cause and effect. Rhetorically [...]
Tory foreign affairs spokesman lost in Africa: Can you help him?
Posted on April 24, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Africa, News | Leave a Comment
The Conservative foreign affairs spokesman William Hague issued a press release on Tuesday calling on David Miliband, foreign secretary “to take urgent action with regard to the Chinese ship, currently heading to Uganda carrying arms bound for Zimbabwe”.
From the FT blog:
Hague’s intervention sent the Foreign Office into a spin, as officials pored over atlases trying [...]
Labour advisers flee Government nest (according to PR week)
Posted on April 24, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Communication, UK politics | Comments Off
PR week, the gossip-laden magazine for political apparatchiks and comms people will no doubt set tongues wagging with their latest installment of Brown baiting. According to the mag rag:
Hordes of senior Labour special advisers are said to be passing their CVs to headhunters and recruitment consultants amid concern that their stock is falling. With Gordon [...]
Networked security and system vulnerability
Posted on April 23, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Networks | Comments Off
Next week the Hudson Institute is holding a seminar on the future of the US defence industry. Before you stifle a yawn take a look at one of the scenarios they will be considering:
‘…hypothetical Chinese aggression towards Taiwan provokes a Sino-U.S. military confrontation. Initially, the technologically superior and network-centric American military is quickly devastated [...]
A new Anglo-American relationship
Posted on April 16, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on UK politics, US politics | Comments Off
Brown’s in the US and is promising a new Atlantic relationship. Unlike his predecessors Brown has not yet launched into a new Anglo-American security or defence deal instead he wants (t)his relationship to be firmly based around skills, science and innovation.
This new relationship is based on 6 proposals
1 Cooperation between UK and US universities.
2. [...]
Currently zipping round cyber space is this picture of Dick Cheney: Vice President of the US of A, keen fisherman and a man who clearly enjoys the finer things in life…
FBI predicts AQ defeat in under 4 years
Posted on April 7, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Communication | Comments Off
Robert Mueller the head of the FBI, believes the West can achieve victory over al-Qaeda within three-and-a-half years.
In a speech to Chatham House Mueller describes the West confronting a three-layered threat from al-Qaeda:
The top tier is the core of the organisation which has established new sanctuaries in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
The middle tier is the [...]
Headlines of our times
Posted on April 7, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Communication | 1 Comment
Soaring corn prices hit ethanol profits (The Times)
Darling accused of failing to spot credit danger (The Times)
IMF head calls for global action on turmoil (The Financial Times)
‘We are aiming for climate disaster’ (The Guardian)
Web could collapse as video use soars (The Telegraph)
Soaring price of food ‘may lead to riots’ (The Telegraph)
Economic Woes Render Growth [...]
Olympic torch relay… going…going…gone.
Posted on April 7, 2008 | Charlie Edwards | More on Communication, Conflict and security, Influence | Comments Off
Istanbul
London
Paris
