Azeem Ibrahim
Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
AP Photo
May 25, 2010
"British Universities Need to Invest to Be the Best"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"For too long, Britons have believed that the money should only come from the poor put-upon taxpayer. As should be painfully clear now, that is insufficient. As is starting to happen, universities need to diversify their sources of income to provide the investment that turns an adequate university into a great one. That means making greater use of alumni contacts, and aggressively looking for private philanthropy and endowments."
AP Photo
May 13, 2010
"Lessons from the Greek Bailout"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"The lesson for the euro, and so for Britain, which is currently standing on the sidelines and weighing up the euro's pros and cons is that in its first decade of life it was a rather misunderstood currency. Its perceived strength, and thus its strength in the money markets, was based not only on Europe's perceived global role, but also on the relative stability of its strongest members. What is now inescapable is the fact that the euro should be regarded as an uneasy average of some global heavy-hitters like France and Germany, but also much weaker countries like Greece (who's debt some credit agencies now rate as junk), and Portugal, whose economy has barely grown for years."
AP Photo
April 8, 2010
"Obama Must Tell It Like It Is On Afghanistan"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"Honesty is the least bad option for the Obama administration. He should address the concerns, and acknowledge that the deployment is not going as he had hoped. That way, he can begin to lay out the groundwork for how he is going to turn this around, and take the American people with him. Or, even better, how he is going to facilitate power-sharing with the least extreme Taliban, and bring American troops home, before the situation gets any worse."
AP Photo
April 6, 2010
"Trust is the Key to Defeating Islamic Extremism"
Op-Ed, The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"...[T]rust must be earned. That also means that police and politicians alike must understand how they are eroding it. Aside from foreign policy, number one on the list is data. Clearly, people will be reluctant to get involved in any programme if they have the slightest suspicion that it is feeding information to the security services, and that their details will appear on some database. If that security service is foreign, especially American, the danger to trust is even greater."
AP Photo
April 5, 2010
"There is Nothing to Discuss on the Falklands' Sovereignty"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"The fact that they are geographically closer to Argentina is of no consequence. Will the United States hand over Alaska to Russia which is famously visible from Sarah Palin's house as opposed to over 500 miles from the US mainland? Is the US going to give Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands to the Dominican Republic? Are they going to give Hawaii to Japan? Texas and Florida to Mexico? Guam to the Philippines? American Samoa to New Zealand? What about Taiwan, should that be annexed by China?"
AP Photo
March 10, 2010
"Another Nail in the Coffin of the Special Relationship"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"Let us not forget the times when we needed US assistance and it was not forthcoming. Take the Americans' reluctance to impede IRA fundraising efforts in the US. A reluctance for thirty years, a period which saw the deaths of over eighteen hundred people, including 1100 members of the British Security Forces and 630 civilians. That is above and beyond the billions of pounds of damage their bombs did to UK mainland cities. Or the US invasion of Grenada, a former British colony and member of the Commonwealth after Reagan had assured Thatcher that no such incursion was planned. Or the US siding with Mexico, Peru and Brazil in trying to force the UK to the negotiating table when the Falkland Islands sovereign British territory had been invaded by Argentina. Or the subsequent refusal of US Secretary of State Alexander Haig to allow the UK to use an airfield on Ascension Island (UK territory) to refuel Vulcan bombers to bomb Argentinean runways in Port Stanley (UK territory)."
AP Photo
March 8, 2010
"Televised Political Debates Dumb Down Democracy"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"...TV debates, far from encouraging a democratic choice, encourage us to judge the leaders in politics with the values of Hollywood. The danger is that in the minds of many viewers, cogent policies take second place to whiter teeth or a stronger jawline."
AP Photo
January 29, 2010
"How Visiting America Changed British Minds"
Op-Ed, The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"Where the inquiry can be the most fruitful, though, is in asking the former prime minister about how he managed to approve a war with such derisory postwar planning. Not even Mr Blair could assert that the years following the Iraq war went well. Many civilians were killed needlessly."
AP Photo
October 27, 2009
"We Mustn't Judge Leaders by Values of Hollywood"
Op-Ed, The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"Imagine the front-ranking opposition front-bencher, with decades of work and experience behind him, forced to conclude he was underqualified to lead his party because he lacked a full head of hair. Or the shadow cabinet team, waiting to listen to speeches by two leadership contenders, knowing before either candidate has stepped on to the podium who they will vote for as leader by looking at their faces alone."
AP Photo
October 20, 2009
"Seeking More Private Investment is a Nobel Cause for Universities"
Op-Ed, The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"For too long here, we have believed that the money should come only from the poor put-upon taxpayer. As should be painfully clear, that is insufficient. As is starting to happen, universities need to diversify their sources of income to provide the investment that turns an adequate university into a great one. That means making greater use of alumni contacts, and aggressively looking for philanthropy and endowments."
