The guiding idea at the heart of today’s political system is freedom of choice. The belief that if you apply the ideals of the free market to all sorts of areas in society, people will be liberated from the dead hand of government. The wants and desires of individuals then become the primary motor of society.
But this has led to a very peculiar paradox. In politics today we have no choice at all. Quite simply There Is No Alternative. …
It is about the rise of the modern Think Tank and how in a very strange way they have made thinking impossible.
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Category Archives: What interests us
US ‘to quadruple defence budget for Europe’
On Europe, Mr Carter said increased funds would allow greater numbers of troops to be deployed to European bases, as well as more training and exercises with allies.
“We’re taking a strong and balanced approach to deter Russian aggression,” he said. “We haven’t had to worry about this for 25 years, and while I wish it were otherwise, now we do.” …
The Pentagon’s proposed 2017 defence budget will include $3.4bn for its European Reassurance Initiative – up from $789m for the current budget year. Continue reading
UK – Saudi arms sales
Just over fifty years since this “Letter of Intent”, what can we learn from the history of British arms deals with Saudi Arabia?
1) “Bribery has always played a role in the sale of weapons”
2) The Saudi Kingdom can successfully intimidate British politicians and officials
3) The British arms industry has extensive political connections
4) British military equipment will be used
RAND: Nuclear weapons in Europe useless to deter Russian attacks
The central nuclear observation of the report is thatNATO nuclear forces do not have much credibility in protecting the Baltic States against a Russian attack.
That conclusion is, to say the least, interesting given the extent to which some analysts and former/current officials have been arguing that NATO/US need to have more/better limited regional nuclear options to counter Russia in Europe. Continue reading
Saferworld new reports: Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia
However, alternatives to the dominant military-authoritarian paradigm – in which militarised notions of masculinity are also a prominent feature – are available. In the discussion paper, Dilemmas of Counter-Terror, Stabilisation and Statebuilding, Saferworld provided a review of global evidence on the impacts of existing approaches, and suggested a number of constructive directions for improved policy, including:
- Avoiding defining conflicts narrowly as problems of ‘terror’, ‘extremism’ or ‘radicalisation’, and instead adopting a more impartial, holistic and sustainable approach to resolving them
- Changing international and national policies and approaches that fuel grievances and undermine human rights
- Redoubling efforts for diplomacy, lobbying, advocacy and local-level dialogue to make the case for peace and adherence to international law by conflict actors
- Looking for opportunities to negotiate peace – balancing pragmatic considerations with a determined focus to achieve inclusive and just political settlements in any given context
- Considering the careful use of legal and judicial responses and targeted sanctions as alternatives to the use of force
- Taking greater care when choosing and reviewing relationships with supposed ‘allies’
- Supporting transformative reform efforts to improve governance and state-society relations and uphold human rights
- Choosing not to engage if harm cannot be effectively mitigated and no clear solution is evident.
Nobel Physics Laureate questions the foundation of economics
“All of these questions have something to do with randomness, and the way to deal with them in the 17th century was to imagine parallel worlds representing everything that could happen,” Gell-Mann said. “To assess the value of some uncertain venture, an average is taken across those parallel worlds.”
This concept was only challenged in the mid-19th century when randomness was used formally in a different context—physics. “Here, the following perspective arose: to assess some uncertain venture, ask yourself how it will affect you in one world only—namely the one in which you live—across time,” Gell-Mann continued.
“The first perspective—considering all parallel worlds—is the one adopted by mainstream economics,” explained Gell-Mann. “The second perspective—what happens in our world across time—is the one we explore and that hasn’t been fully appreciated in economics so far.”
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War on Want: UK leads booming global private military industry
The UK multinational G4S is now the world’s largest private security company, and no fewer than 14 companies are based in Hereford, close to the headquarters of the SAS, from whose ranks at least 46 companies hire recruits, says the report by British-based charity War on Want.
The huge increase in the number of private military and security companies, with contracts running into billions of pounds, signals the return of the “dogs of war” (mercenary) era that followed the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, said John Hilary, executive director of War on Want. Continue reading
French and British arms sales to Armenia
It is very worrying that the Armenian army, having committed aggression and invasion against Azerbaijan, has access to the British and French sniper rifles, the spokesperson noted. “Despite the Foreign Ministry’s expression of concern regarding the export of these sniper rifles to Armenia back on 25 April 2015, the manufacturing states have not clarified this issue,” he said.
However, France and the UK always state their compliance with the arms embargo imposed on both Armenia and Azerbaijan under the relevant decision of OSCE, stressed Hajiyev. “At the same time, there is a strict arms export control regime within the EU,” he added.
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The Conservatives to take take away the right to decide on fracking wells away from local councils
The Sunday Telegraph reported that the Government plans take away the right of local council to decide on future shale gas production in their area.
Wasn’t this an attack on local democracy and devolution? Absolutely.
Charity Friends of the Earth, which leaked the letter show that the Tories plans to haveindustrial-scale shale gas fracking production in Britain “within 10 years”.
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New Report: 500 F-35s may be built before proven combat ready
Tests of how Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 will perform in combat won’t begin until at least August 2018, a year later than planned, and more than 500 of the fighter jets may be built before the assessment is complete, according to the Pentagon’s test office.
“These aircraft will require a still-to-be-determined list of modifications” to be fully capable, Michael Gilmore, the U.S. Defense Department’s top weapons tester, said in his annual report on major programs. “However, these modifications may be unaffordable for the services as they consider the cost of upgrading these early lots of aircraft while the program continues to increase production rates in a fiscally constrained environment.” Continue reading
Russia deploys latest jets SU-35S to Syria
“It’s a great airplane and very dangerous, especially if they make a lot of them,” one senior U.S. military official with extensive experience on fifth-generation fighters told me some time ago. “I think even an AESA [active electronically scanned array-radar equipped F-15C] Eagle and [Boeing F/A-18E/F] Super Hornet would both have their hands full.”
The Syrian deployment will allow the Russian air force to gain valuable operational experience on the Su-35 — even if four warplanes don’t add a decisive material value to the fight.
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F-35s hit by another big setback
The code delay is the latest—and possibly most damaging—setback for the Pentagon’s ambitious and controversial plan to replace almost all of its Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps fighters with three different versions of the F-35 at a cost of more than a trillion dollars over the next 50 years.
Damaging, because the military and F-35-maker Lockheed Martin have increasingly sold the F-35 as a sort of “flying computer” whose software can outthink enemy pilots even when the enemy’s own planes fly faster, maneuver better and carry more weaponry than the F-35 does.
The stealth fighter’s software is its last possible claim to being a first-class warplane. If the F-35’s code doesn’t work, then neither does the F-35. Saddled with thousands of dysfunctional F-35s, the Pentagon could lose command of the air. Continue reading
5% — February 2016
Britain is at centre of global mercenary industry, says charity
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/feb/03/britain-g4s-at-centre-of-global-mercenary-industry-says-charity
RAND Report Questions Nuclear Role In Defending Baltic States
https://fas.org/blogs/security/2016/02/nato-nukes-rand/
Feeding the Military-Industrial Complex
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34683-feeding-the-military-industrial-complex
In surprise move, France rejects Israeli drones
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/surprise-move-france-rejects-israeli-drones
The F-35’s turbulent march to combat readiness is far from over — here’s everything that’s wrong with it
http://uk.businessinsider.com/f35-problems-2016
What we’ve learned from fifty years of Saudi arms deals
https://opendemocracy.net/uk/harry-blain/what-we-ve-learned-from-fifty-years-of-saudi-arms-deals
GOP candidates need to focus more on waste and inefficiency in Defense budget
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/268294-gop-candidates-need-to-focus-more-on-waste-and
This NHS crisis is not economic. It’s political
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/08/this-nhs-crisis-is-not-economic-its-political
Taiwan – the un-noticed Asian tax haven?
http://www.taxjustice.net/2016/02/10/taiwan-the-un-noticed-asian-tax-haven/
Bernie Sanders Is More Serious on Foreign Policy Than You Think
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/02/bernie-sanders-foreign-poicy-213619
Trident: the British question
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/11/trident-the-british-question
Commentary: Obama’s Gift to Next President: A Defense Budget Train Wreck
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/commentary/2016/02/11/commentary-obamas-gift-next-president-defense-budget-train-wreck/80199380/
Is Everything We Thought We Knew About Russia Wrong?
http://reinvent.net/is-everything-we-thought-we-knew-about-russia-wrong/
Saudi Arabia leads surge in arms imports by Middle East states
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/22/saudi-arabia-surge-arms-imports-middle-east
SIPRI Report: World crises driving international arms trade
http://www.dw.com/en/sipri-report-world-crises-driving-international-arms-trade/a-19064590
Practical Theoretical Ethics
http://www.ianwelsh.net/practical-theoretical-ethics/
U.S. Air Force Arsenal Plane Could Help Outgun China
http://warisboring.com/articles/u-s-air-force-arsenal-plane-could-help-outgun-china/
What is the F-35B and Why is the UK Buying It?
http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2015/08/what-is-the-f-35b-and-why-is-the-uk-buying-it/
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/31/new-u-s-stealth-jet-can-t-fire-its-gun-until-2019.html
The Trillion Dollar F-35 Won’t Even be Able to Shoot its Gun Until 2019
http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2015/01/the-trillion-dollar-f-35-wont-even-be-able-to-shoot-its-gun-until-2019/
New US fighter jet on course to becoming ‘one of history’s biggest white elephants’
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/new-us-fighter-jet-on-course-to-becoming-one-of-history-s-biggest-white-elephants-10238761.html
American Society of Civil Engineers 2013 Infrastructure Report Card: $3.6 trillion invetment needed by 2020
Now the 2013 Report Card grades are in, and America’s cumulative GPA for infrastructure rose slightly to a D+. The grades in 2013 ranged from a high of B- for solid waste to a low of D- for inland waterways and levees. Solid waste, drinking water, wastewater, roads, and bridges all saw incremental improvements, and rail jumped from a C- to a C+. No categories saw a decline in grade this year. …
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Hans Blix supports Corbyn’s call to scrap Trident
In this web extra, Hans Blix, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) supports Corbyn’s call, saying Trident is “a tremendous cost and very little gain”.
The former IAEA chief also says he does not think it adds to British security. “I think it’s more a question of sentimental status seeking,” Blix says, “They will keep their seat in the Security Council even if they do not continue Trident.”
” I have never seen such destruction conducted in such a short period as in Yemen”
Many civilians continue to live in Saada, northern Yemen, despite almost daily airstrikes in the area. Michael Seawright from Auckland, New Zealand, was recently Project Coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) projects in the war-torn region.
“I’ve worked in war zones for the past 11 to 12 years, in some of the worst conflicts like Syria, but I have never seen such destruction conducted in such a short period as in Yemen. I was based in Saada, in the north, in a Houthi-controlled area that was experiencing almost daily attacks from Coalition air forces. These air strikes were often close to our facilities and we clearly felt their effects.
Offshore Balancing
… but sometimes a concept drawn from such discussion points to an overlooked and fundamentally better way to approach such decisions. Such a concept is offshore balancing, which involves the United States not trying to do everything itself but instead exploiting rivalries between other states to prevent any one of them from acquiring hegemonic power and regional dominance. Scholars such as Christopher Layne and Stephen Walt have elaborated on the concept, and in the not-too-distant past the principles involved were applied to some actual U.S. policies with major regional import.
UK to spend tens of millions of pounds more to refit £1bn warships’ unreliable engines
In an email seen by the BBC, a serving Royal Navy officer wrote that “total electric failures are common” on its fleet of six £1bn Type 45 destroyers.
The Ministry of Defence said there were reliability issues with the propulsion system and work to fix it would be done to ensure “ships remain available”.
One Royal Navy officer said the cost could reach tens of millions of pounds. Continue reading
British Brimstone missile
Proving George Orwell’s dictum that “Circus dogs jump when the trainer cracks the whip, but the really well-trained dog is the one that turns somersaults when there is no whip,” significant sections of our free press and many so-called independent experts faithfully echoed the government’s official line.
“The missile uses a low-powered but highly focused explosive warhead to reduce shrapnel hitting civilians,” noted the Telegraph. “The Brimstone is capable of hitting moving targets travelling at speeds of up to 70mph” and “can be launched from an aircraft up to seven miles away from as high as 20,000 feet.” The Daily Mail transformed from a newspaper into a sales brochure: “The missile that never misses: watch the incredible moment a drone launched Brimstone hits a car moving at 70mph from seven MILES away’. The Sun was equally enthusiastic just a week before the parliamentary vote: “Raining hell on IS: RAF missile will pinpoint jihadists SEVEN miles away.” The online media watchdog Media Lens accurately dubs this kind of overexcited narrow focus on the technical aspects of weaponry as “war porn”, with the BBC a big culprit.
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UK’s role in Saudi-led bombing campaign
A United Nations panel investigating the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen has uncovered “widespread and systematic” attacks on civilian targets in violation of international humanitarian law, raising questions over UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia and the role of British military advisers. Continue reading
Tipping Point North South 