It is difficult, but try to put aside for a moment the appalling conflict in Gaza, with its daily toll of lives and destruction. We need to focus on a major difficulty, obscured now by bombs and rockets, but which stands in the way in of ending this conflict. Continue reading
This article first appeared in the 7 January 2009 edition of The Irish Times and is reproduced here with their kind permission.
There’s a fuzzy perception of Russia today as being like a teenager “going through a bad patch.” Squabbling with its neighbours, inclined to throw its weight about, not fully reconciled to the loss of the Soviet Empire, overkeen on the trappings of wealth, but nothing it won’t – given a bit of time – grow out of. Having observed the fall of communism with some relief, many Western observers have been prepared to indulge the Kremlin’s post-Soviet antics, “throwing shapes” while it adjusted to a new reality. Continue reading
This article first appeared in the 28 November 2008 edition of The Irish Times and is reproduced here with their kind permission.
The atrocities committed in Mumbai are a reminder that al-Qaeda has not gone away. It remains as determined as ever to kill, maim and terrorise to advance its cause, writes Richard Whelan.
This article first appeared in the 10 September 2008 edition of The Irish Times and is reproduced here with their kind permission.
Our latterday scruples about economic development make little sense to those who see prosperity coming their way for the first time, writes Richard Whelan. Continue reading
This article first appeared in the 6 August 2008 edition of The Irish Times and is reproduced here with their kind permission.
Al Qaeda – having made Afghanistan almost ungovernable – is poised to also destabilise Pakistan, says Richard Whelan Continue reading
Behind the negotiators on both sides looms the “Sadat Military Option” Continue reading
he issue of Iranian nuclear activities will not be solved by repeating Iranian propaganda on the matter. Continue reading
Israel did succeed in destroying a Syrian clandestine nuclear reactor designed for military purposes last year. Long the subject of claim and denial, the independent “think tank” the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) has accepted the veracity of US documents released earlier this year. They show that the bombed building had been designed to produce plutonium, and was too small for generating electricity commercially. Continue reading
This article first appeared in the 12 June 2008 edition of The Irish Times and is reproduced here with their kind permission.
It is time for the international community to halt Iran’s nuclear programme – if Tehran obtains nuclear weapons, the Middle East will self-destruct. Continue reading