EUROPE
AP Photo
July 14, 2009
"Islamic Law Enhances Rather than Threatens the UK Legal System"
Op-Ed, The Scotsman
By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program
"People who think that Sharia law threatens UK law tend to confuse UK law and non-legally binding arbitration, which settle disputes outside the legal system....We live under the rule of law, there can only be one set of laws, and that is British law. Not least because our experience with Unity Family has shown that incorrect rulings by some of these so-called Sharia councils go against the fundamental ethos of Islam, and are often more suitable to Pakistani mores. We must reject calls to allow Sharia rulings to be formally recognised in British law under the 1996 Arbitration Act."
AP Photo
July 10, 2009
"Politicians are Demolishing the Reputation of the British Military"
Op-Ed, politics.co.uk
By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program
"In 2006, British and Canadian forces arrived in Helmand province. We were to hold and secure it. But our forces did not receive the support they needed. Resources were split between Afghanistan and Iraq, and the government repeatedly turned down requests to spend more on equipment, particularly helicopters.
The results speak for themselves. Firstly, Taliban fighters have been able to tap into opium revenues. They have increased their areas of drug cultivation from 71 square milles in 2001 to 400 square miles in 2008. This would not have been possible if our strategy to make the area unsafe for Taliban had been adequately supported."
AP Photo
July 6, 2009
"Defense For a Real Threat"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By Trey Obering and Eric S. Edelman, Senior Associate, International Security Program
"The East-West Institute released a study in late May by U.S. and Russian "experts" on the Iranian missile threat that concluded the threat "is not imminent and that in any event the system currently proposed would not be effective against it." The next day, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says, Iran apparently tested a multistage, solid-propellant missile with a range of 1,200 to 1,500 miles, putting much of Europe within range."
AP Photo
June 29, 2009
"Do not count on the Tories winning just yet"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Niall Ferguson, Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"Most commentators assume that whenever the election happens it will be won by the Conservatives. The Labour party had its worst performance in the recent elections since 1910. As in the 1990s, the electorate is sick of the incumbent party. Just as the Labour party had young, telegenic Tony Blair in 1997, so the Tories today have young, telegenic David Cameron.
Yet this is to overstate the strength of the Conservative position."
AP Images
June 28, 2009
"Regulating banks calls for attack on inertia"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Sir John Gieve, Former Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
"Of course, banks have had a terrible shock. They do not need telling that subprime mortgages can damage their health. They know that their risk management systems prepared them only for showers, not hurricanes. If they show signs of forgetfulness, at least for the next few years, their investors will remind them."
AP Photo
June 18, 2009
"Foreign Students are an Opportunity, Not a Threat"
Op-Ed, politics.co.uk
By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program
"...[W]e should resist the temptation to react to the fear of terrorism by turning inwards, reducing ties to foreign countries, and denying more students entry. Reducing the number of foreign student Visas would be counterproductive. The US tried it after September 11th, but has now reversed its approach, realising the harm it is doing. To do the same would be to be cowed into becoming a more closed society. We must remain open, outward-looking and vibrant. It is precisely many of these foreign students who will help their countries to reduce terrorism over the long run."
AP Photo
June 2009
"Improving Russia-U.S. Relations: The Next Steps"
Policy Memo
By Thomas M. Nichols, Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom
There is no endemic reason for Russian-U.S. relations to be as tense as they have become over the past several years. Th is situation is largely due, on one side, to mishandling of Russian affairs by both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and on the other by the obvious manipulation of anti-Americanism for domestic gain by the Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev administrations in Russia. Unfortunately, this means that only unilateral U.S. action can undermine the cynical policies of the Russian leadership and restore dynamism to the Russian-U.S. relationship.
AP Photo
June 15, 2009
"The Media Must Take Some Responsibility"
Op-Ed, politics.co.uk
By Azeem Ibrahim, Research Fellow, International Security Program
"The first responsibility is to tell the whole truth. In this scandal, too many commentators have seemed to think that the public interest is best served by their all jumping onto the same bandwagon to tell us the same story: politicians are the bad guys. They are wrong. The public interest is best served by their actually doing what they are paid to do — to report fairly who did what. And that involves admitting that not only did a few MPs make honest mistakes, but that some have come out of these revelations with their reputations actually improved, by claiming little or nothing."
AP Image
June 14, 2009
"Preventing another collapse"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Sir John Gieve, Former Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
"There are four key areas in which the change has to go beyond the incremental: discipline on the biggest firms, using capital requirements to dampen the economic cycle, international cooperation, and institutional change."
AP Photo
June 12, 2009
"How Do You Teach and Learn Successful Leadership in a Democracy?"
Op-Ed, Daily Star
By Joseph S. Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor
"[W]hatever the failures of particular British legislators, the issues go further than merely allowing voters to "throw the rascals out." There is also a question of how successful leadership is taught and learned in a democracy. A successful democracy requires leadership to be widespread throughout government and civil society. Citizens who express concern about leadership need to learn not only how to judge it, but how to practice it themselves."
