Azeem Ibrahim
Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
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."
AP Photo
October 16, 2009
"Thinking Outside the Box Could Save Royal Mail"
Op-Ed, The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"Since 1969, it has been a public limited company owned by the government. But as mail volumes have fallen, the debate about whether it should be public or private has forced it to live in uncertainty about its future. Some see it as an essential public service which the government should run. But last year's Hooper Report says it is 40 per cent less efficient than its European counterparts...."
AP Photo
October 12, 2009
"Why PR Won't Represent the Country"
Op-Ed, politics.co.uk
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"Coalitions are held together by leaders 'buying off' the smaller parties to prevent them splitting and triggering new elections. That inevitably result in leaders kowtowing to factional whims and offering concessions to the preoccupations of small parties, however arcane. That would be a very real risk here, where small party support has grown from 3 per cent to 14 per cent in the last thirteen years. In many countries this results in money for the pet projects of small parties or individuals. This is an awful idea at a time when there is such an urgent need to restrict spending."
AP Photo
October 7, 2009
"Business Sense and Maturity Could Save Us All a Pretty Penny"
Op-Ed, The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
All too often, we are governed by politicians who either do not have the experience to match their responsibility or the abilities to match their power....Over the past 20 years, MPs have got younger and younger. Of course, it is important for MPs to be in touch with the electorate, but this needs balance. Less experience of life and work outside politics means less experience of the society they represent. That has not led to better governance."
AP Photo
September 28, 2009
"Paying for University Education is Key to Improving its Quality"
Op-Ed, The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"Because of rising incomes and falling travel costs, education is internationalising. And universities themselves are now competing globally. Whereas, for example, St Andrews would have once worried about its standing compared to Oxford or Manchester, it must now worry about its standing compared to Yale or the University of Tokyo."
AP Photo
September 25, 2009
"Long-term Defence Strategy Cannot be Based on the News"
Op-Ed, The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"...[W]e cannot make defence decisions only on those threats which are foreseeable. History shows that the biggest threats are actually those we do not foresee. It is no good making defence policy decisions based on the news cycles of 2009, and then complaining that we cannot adequately defend ourselves and our interests in 2020."
AP Photo
September 8, 2009
"Big Business Fears Obama's Plans to Radically Reform Healthcare in US"
Op-Ed, The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"...[H]ealthcare reform would open up health insurance companies to more effective competition, and they fear it. Many are lobbying hard and trying to muddy the argument with scaremongering stories. In fact, many of the angry people at the town hall meetings were actually members of organised groups, paid for by vested interests."
AP Photo
August 20, 2009
"The Spiralling Cost of ID Cards Will Exceed All Their Benefits"
Op-Ed, The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"...[P]icture things from the suppliers' point of view. They have every incentive to get as much money from the project as possible. Unlike their dealings with companies, they have detailed public knowledge about the politicians' stated intention to procure the service. They will know the market better than the minister, so they will know what options they have. And unlike their dealings in the private sector, they may even know how much taxpayers' money is available for the project. All of this makes bargaining harder for the minister and easier for the private-sector supplier."
AP Photo
August 17, 2009
"The Cruelty of Britain's Extradition Policy"
Op-Ed, politics.co.uk
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"[T]o stay as close to America as possible, Britain signed a new extradition treaty with the US which gave more protection to Americans than to Brits. Passing into law as the Extradition Act 2003, it made it easier for America to extradite British suspects than it was for Britain to extradite American ones. As things stand today, if Britain accuses an American of plotting a terrorist attack against London, the US government will only allow him on a plane to face justice if Britain shows that it has enough evidence to mount a good case against him. But if America accuses a Brit of plotting an identical attack against New York, Britain must put him on a plane to the States without so much as asking America to show that it has a good case at all. It is a lopsided legally-sanctioned double standard, and previous ministers have admitted as much."
AP Photo
August 14, 2009
"ID Cards A Government Mandated Facebook?"
Op-Ed, politics.co.uk
By Azeem Ibrahim, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, 20082010
"The quantity of arguments for ID cards looks like an attempt to hide a lack of quality. The government has been hard-pressed to explain how ID cards will make us safer. It is true that they will make it easier for, say, customs officials to ascertain that you are who you say you are. But that can already be done for everyone who has a passport. It is true that biometric chips might make the process more accurate. But that argues for biometric passports, as another recanting ex-home secretary, David Blunkett, has pointed out. If you want to make identification more accurate by introducing a biometric chip, that does not entail spending £3 billion in a recession on an entirely new biometric ID card scheme."
