In February 2016, I co-founded Legatus Private Embassy, a ground-breaking start-up. Legatus is a bespoke, British run, private embassy solution for ultra high net-worth individuals & families with global interests.
In June 2015 I joined Contest Global, which published a three-minute interview with me here. I became co-Director in September 2015. Contest Global is a new-generation risk and strategic consultancy. We specialise in empowering governments, corporations and individuals with the intelligence capabilities they need to make informed decisions and manage risks effectively. ‘You’ve recently written about the dangers of global… Read more →
With Chris Mackmurdo, former head of terrorism and national security analysis at the Foreign Office, I consider the ways in which the terrorist risk picture is changing, and argue for a full-spectrum approach to counter-terrorism.
For PS21, a new global think tank founded by Reuters Global Defence Correspondent Peter Apps, I examine the rise of the Islamic State in Libya. Located 400 miles from the southern shores of Europe, Libya unfortunately recommends itself as the next staging ground for a major IS advance After elections in June 2014, two rival alliance blocs each claimed… Read more →
For my Al Jazeera opinion column, I argue that the use of chemical weapons as a trigger for a US strike on Syria seems morally and legally arbitrary. At the same time, responding only to the chemical weapons dimension promises to leave the fundamental dynamics behind the horrific cycles of violence untouched. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/08/2013831192052577528.html
In light of the ongoing hunger strikes at Guantanamo Bay, I consider the Bush administration’s defence of this controversial detention facility which rested on the notion of a ‘supreme emergency’ and posited an existential threat to civilisation. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/04/2013417122912694944.html
On the tenth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, I review the Bush administration’s case for war against Saddam Hussein, which involved arguments about WMD, the assertion of an al-Qaeda-Saddam connection, and the claim to be liberating Iraqis. Since 2005, the dominant justification for the invasion of Iraq has been the overthrow of a vicious regime and the rescue… Read more →
I explore the latest (tenth) edition of Al-Qaeda’s English-langauge magazine, Inspire, for Al-Majalla. Despite being sent on the run by the new government in Yemen, and having lost Inspire’s key architects to drone strikes, its producers remain committed to this labor- and resource-intensive publication. http://www.majalla.com/eng/2013/03/article55239777
In my latest opinion column for Al Jazeera, I argue that, alongside a clash between the narratives and policies of the US and Russia with regard to the Syria crisis, there has been a discernible gulf between each power’s discourse and their actions. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/03/20133415272744259.html
For Al Majalla, I explore the wider context of the French intervention in Mali and the Algerian hostage crisis. I argue that the Islamist takeover of northern Mali and the subsequent French action occurred in the context of longstanding governance failures by Bamako, the unresolved problem of Algerian militancy, an emerging subscription to global jihad on the part of local… Read more →