The real limits of intelligence
Bruce Schneier hits the nail on the head regarding a fundamental flaw in the NSA’s current modus operandi. In a wide ranging discussion of why – if US intelligence had … Continue reading
Cairo under Curfew
I took this picture three weeks ago about five minutes before curfew in Cairo from the roof of the Novotel on Zamalek looking towards Tahrir Square which is behind the … Continue reading
Why pandas hog the conservation limelight
Given the amount of panda-related news of late this seemed like an interesting corrective for all the recent mania. It’s Andrew Jonathan Balmer making a fascinating case in this blog for … Continue reading
What Vladimir wants: Part II
I should be going climbing but it’s raining so instead I’m reading foreign policy blogs on holiday. As sad as you can get. This article by Dmitri Trenin, director of … Continue reading
Some thoughts on Russian foreign policy
A couple of thoughts from yesterday on the Syrian chemical weapons deal and what it says about Russian foreign policy. The first, here, was an instant take in the immediate … Continue reading
Threatening war but wanting a political solution
There was quite a lot of comment on my Twitter timeline regarding comments made by Secretary of State John Kerry recently both predicting the small scale of any military operation … Continue reading
Chomsky and the “fraud” of R2P
Noam Chomsky has given an interview to Al Jazeera which concludes with this rather muddled claim on Responsibility to Protect, first denying it exists except as “a fraud in western … Continue reading
Revolutionary hallucinations
I covered a large part of the “18 days” – the Egyptian revolution of 2011, arriving in Cairo from Tunisia, where I had reported on that revolution too. In the … Continue reading
The Privatisation of Post-modern Insurgencies
One of the most noticeable features of a number of the conflicts I have reported on in the last few years is how often one side tends to be represented … Continue reading
Definitions of CW and why it matters
Another colleague is repeating the assertion that phosphorous is a chemical weapon and was used by the US forces in Fallujah. Therefore the American red line over Syria is hypocritical. … Continue reading
Peter Beaumont: The Bits that Don't Fit 