Chatham House: Can the UK afford to fight a war?

The Chatham House event focused on the UK’s defense obligations and spending, highlighting concerns about readiness for potential conflicts, particularly with Russia. Discussions emphasized the need for urgent action to enhance defense capabilities, accountability in spending, and a national dialogue on strategic priorities. Comparisons to Germany and Poland revealed the UK lagging in defense investment.

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Chatham House: Iraq’s 2025 Elections: What comes next?

The Chatham House event, led by Dr. Renad Mansour, highlighted challenges in Iraq’s upcoming elections, including sectarian politics and government formation. The presidency is expected to be awarded to a Kurdish party, but significant obstacles remain, including political fragmentation and public disillusionment, as citizens seek improved governance and basic services.

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Review: The Rule of Law – by Tom Bingham

Tom Bingham, a distinguished British judge, explores the Rule of Law in his concise book. He discusses its principles, their application in the UK, and contrasts them with foreign interpretations. The text examines Human Rights and legal fairness, offering valuable insights for aspiring law students while highlighting the flaws in the British Justice System.

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Review: Defending The Realm – MI5 and The Shayler Affair – by Mark Hollingsworth and Nick Fielding

This is just another one of the many books I’ve read on the security services / spies / intelligence agencies in general. I guess I have a morbid fascination. Non-fiction throws up some pretty weird stuff – Life itself is a lot stranger than fiction. This tale from a turncoat…

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Review: Spare – by Prince Harry

If you were a hermit living in a remote cave then I expect that even you would be well aware that Prince Harry and his wife have been in the news recently quite a lot. Initially I decided I was going to avoid the mass hysteria and not tune into…

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Review: The Dragons and the Snakes – How The Rest Learned to Fight The West – by David Kilcullen

This is one of the very best books I have ever read. It is up to date material and full of cutting edge military theory and ideas and I believe is critical essential reading for any politician or military personnel, especially those who conduct their employment in the NATO led…

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Review: From Pablo to Osama – Trafficking and Terrorist Networks, Government Bureaucracies, and Competitive Adaptation – by Michael Kenney

This book is an academic study of two of the major opponents of Western governments today. It examines both Narcotraffickers and Cartels and also Terrorists, mainly Islamic terrorists. Not only does it cover the methods and practices of these two criminal enterprises in their working practices, the book also examines…

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Review: Blood Year – Islamic State and the Failures of the War on Terror – by David Kilcullen

This is the second book that I have read by David Kilcullen. The author is a former Australian soldier and a senior advisor to the US Military in addition to being a leading theorist of modern warfare. This book looks deeply at the fundamental Islamic terrorist state ISIS. ISIS grew…

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Review: Out of the Mountains – The Coming Age of the Urban Guerrilla – by David Kilcullen

David Kilcullen is an experienced Australian military professional. He is a senior advisor to the US Military. In this book, Kilcullen describes the recent Western conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq as relative anomalies in the progress of future wars and conflict. He focus on the Urban, networked littoral. Giant coastal…

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Review: The Rise Of Islamic State – by Patrick Cockburn

This is an excellent introductory text for those wishing to better understand the complex details of the rise of Islamic State, ISIS or ISIL. From its arrival due to the Syrian Civil War and its cancerous spread into post-war Iraq, this extremist-terrorist Sunni Islamic (Wahhabi) nation/fundamentalist organisation, has been indefatigable.…

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Review: Dirty Wars by Jeremy Scahill

Following on from his book on the mercenary force Blackwater, Jeremy Scahill delves into the Dirty Wars of the Bush and Obama era in the War on Terror. The main theatres covered include Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Scahill writes about the excesses of the Bush administration, in particular…

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Krust – Warhead (Wez G End Of Terror Remix)

This remix I did was originally for a remix competition (that unfortunately I didn’t win). The original Warhead song by Bristol’s very own Full Cycle memeber and dnb pioneer, DJ Krust, was an absolute darkside jungle classic record. It was a real pleasure working with the original stems in my…

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