Azeem Ibrahim

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September 8, 2009

"Big Business Fears Obama's Plans to Radically Reform Healthcare in US"

Op-Ed, The Scotsman

By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program

"...[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."

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August 20, 2009

"The Spiralling Cost of ID Cards Will Exceed All Their Benefits"

Op-Ed, The Scotsman

By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program

"...[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."

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August 17, 2009

"The Cruelty of Britain's Extradition Policy"

Op-Ed, politics.co.uk

By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program

"[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."

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August 14, 2009

"ID Cards — A Government Mandated Facebook?"

Op-Ed, politics.co.uk

By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program

"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."

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August 11, 2009

"How America Is Funding Corruption in Pakistan"

Op-Ed, Foreign Policy

By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program

"For the last eight years, U.S. taxpayers' money has funded hardly any bona fide counterterrorism successes, but quite a bit of corruption in the Pakistani Army and intelligence services. The money has enriched individuals at the expense of the proper functioning of the country's institutions. It has provided habitual kleptocrats with further incentives to skim off the top. Despite the U.S. goal of encouraging democratization, assistance to Pakistan has actually weakened the country's civilian government. And perhaps worst of all, it has hindered Pakistan's ability to fight terrorists."

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August 9, 2009

"Reclaiming Islam"

Op-Ed, Sunday Herald

By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program

"In Britain, the radicalisation process has been exacerbated by a gaping lack of mainstream Islamic education for the young, and a dearth of advice on how to apply the rules in a business context. When Islamic companies have needed advice in accordance with mainstream interpretations of Islamic law, there has been no organisation qualified to provide it. This gap has often been filled by scholars who interpret Islamic law in ways that are not appropriate to modern life. In some areas it has been filled by extremist preachers, unqualified in Islamic law and theology, normally from outside Europe, who have replaced traditional pietistic, apolitical Islam with an ignorant, pamphlet-based Islam which emphasises politics. So the best answer to the question of what we can do to break the link between foreign policy and radicalisation is simply to educate our young people in genuine, authentic Islamic teachings. Then, if they encounter radical narratives, dubious theology or ignorant preaching, they will be able to see these for the perversions of the religion that they really are. The fact that the vast majority of extremists have not undergone this process reinforces the point."

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August 5, 2009

"Every Quango Should Be Put before a 'Dragon's Den' to Question Its Role and Very Existence"

Op-Ed, conservativehome

By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program

Everybody is talking about cutting the number of quangos, organisations set up by the government. Unlike companies like Woolworths, which can go bust if not enough people have any use for what they're doing, once a quango is created it will exist forever until a minister or civil servant decides to shrink or abolish it. And unlike a company, we pay for its services through taxes whether we want to or not, whether or not we find it useful.

There has never been a better time for cutting wasteful spending on quangos than right now. In this financial climate, companies all over the world are having to tighten their belts, and us taxpayers understand that government should do the same.

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August 1, 2009

"Britain Must Change If It Is to Keep Its Seat at World's Top Table"

Op-Ed, The Scotsman

By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program

"It is increasingly clear Britain's knowledge sectors are our best hope for regaining a world-leading industry. But the government must support that effort towards building a knowledge economy faster and more effectively. That means putting greater investment into our communications infrastructure and universities, which suffer from under-investment compared to their US competitors. It also means offering the right incentive structures."

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July 2009

"U.S. Aid to Pakistan—U.S. Taxpayers Have Funded Pakistani Corruption"

Discussion Paper

By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program

The United States must not provide Pakistani institutions with incentives to act counter to U.S. foreign policy objectives in the future. It has done so in the past. But until the spring of 2009, no comprehensive overview of the full funding to Pakistan was possible as the figures were kept secret. Those figures, as well as a full analysis of what is known about how they were spent, can now be evaluated. The available information paints a picture of a systemic lack of supervision in the provision of aid to Pakistan, often lax U.S. oversight, and the incentivization of U.S. taxpayer–funded corruption in the Pakistani military and security services. The author believes that this is the first attempt to present an overview of U.S. aid to Pakistan since 2001, evaluate it, and present recommendations on how to ensure that mistakes are not repeated and lessons are learned.

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July 30, 2009

"What Nobody Will Admit about Defence Spending"

Op-Ed, politics.co.uk

By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program

"These cuts have come in an atmosphere in which the public seem to have a dwindling understanding of the need for consistent defence spending. This is partly because the wars which we have fought in recent years have been far away and have not led to a public wartime mentality, as previous wars have done, and partly because of the perception that the world has grown safer since the Cold War ended and that current threats to Britain do not require a military response."