Should the UK’s cyber protection be centralised?

by Francis Grice 10 January 2012

So this evening, I was reading through the Intelligence and Security Committee’s Annual Report 2010–2011 (you know, just casually). As I delved inside, I became particularly intrigued by the sheer number of agencies who were tasked with protecting the UK from cyber attack, or at least some particular portion of it. Now I’m no cyber guru, [...]

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Please, don’t break out the bubbly

by David Betz 10 January 2012

As an undergraduate I did what used to be called ‘Soviet Studies’. The curriculum consisted heavily of political science with an admixture of Russian language, history, literature, and so on. I remain a big fan of area studies which tends to go in and out of academic fashion. The ‘holistic’ approach to analysis appeals to [...]

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Guns, Not Butter

by David Betz 9 January 2012

I probably should run this story past KOW’s actual German speaker but, what the hell, let’s throw caution to the wind and trust in Google Translate. On Zeitonline one finds this intriguing story, ‘Schöne Waffen für Athen‘, the gist of which: 1. If Greece gets the next big (80 billion Euro) tranche of IMF-EU bailout [...]

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Persian Risk: Analyzing “The Problem of Iran”

by The Faceless Bureaucrat 6 January 2012

Amidst a hockey-sock of uncertainty and anxiety, one country stands out from the crowd–and that is saying a great deal, given that the crowd includes Syria, Egypt, Nigeria, China, and North Korea (to name but a few).  That country, of course, is Iran. Now, as the sharper amongst you may have guessed, I am a bureaucrat (at least [...]

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What is conventional warfare?

by Kenneth Payne 3 January 2012

Surprisingly tough question, posed by a friend hard at work on her research proposal. I thought I’d crowd source an answer from learned readers here. But first, here’s what I suggested: Conventional warfare isn’t just about capabilities employed – that is, industrially manufactured, technologically advanced equipment, deployed by recognisably military organisations. Rather it is a [...]

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Good riddance 2011, we’ll miss you in 2012

by David Betz 31 December 2011

2011 was not a good year. 2010 was also a stinker. 2009 was crap. 2008 crap too. First order trend analysis: things get crappier year by year. It won’t last forever, of course; the sun’ll come out, you can bet your bottom dollar–just not tomorrow, or in the next 365 days after that. Prediction would [...]

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What to make of Hamas?

by David Ucko 24 December 2011

As reported in recent days, Hamas this week announced a shift in its ‘emphasis from armed struggle to non-violent resistance‘. This development ties in to the discussion prompted by the last KoW post that dealt with the Israel-Palestinian conflict. One question discussed then was the level of threat posed to Israel by the groups and states surrounding it. [...]

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Just and Unjust Signature Strikes

by Jack McDonald 23 December 2011

(Note: This is the write up of a paper I gave at a workshop in Berlin organised by Humboldt University’s Graduate School of Social Sciences and the Department of War Studies, King’s College London) The drone war in the Pakistan borderlands cops a lot of flak. Some see it as illegal, others immoral, or it [...]

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Actually, I’m Not: A Response to Prine

by Ryan Evans 22 December 2011

Carl Prine had some not-so-kind words to say (5,500 of them) about my (1,500 word) article on Foreign Policy’s AFPAK Channel and about arguments he ascribes to me that I did not make. I am going to address these issues point by point (in 1,400 words). I will address the arguments rather than the people [...]

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Happy Christmas (War is Over)…

by David Betz 15 December 2011

Well, once again it’s that time of year when Yoko Ono haunts the airwaves screeching all a ‘Happy Christmas (War is Over)’. Go on have another listen; you know you’ll only hear it another hundred times before the big day. Have I ever mentioned I just can’t stand post-Beatles Lennon? Actually, it all started going [...]

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