Since the start of the Iraq conflict, world-renowned security expert Paul Rogers has produced a series of monthly reports scrutinising developments in the occupation and the Iraqi response to it, drawing on the unique range of contacts and material available to the prestigious Oxford Research Group. They have become the standard source material for journalists, policymakers and campaigners writing about Iraq. Now, for the first time, Paul Rogers has brought these reports together to provide a detailed and authoritative analysis of the last year in Iraq. A disturbing picture emerges, in which coalition forces repeatedly misread the direction of the insurgency, in which radical groups gain strength through the ongoing (and underreported) loss of civilian lives at the hands of the occupying forces, and in which the US's determination to secure the Persian Gulf's oil and gas resources lock it further and further into a destructive, intractable, and ultimately counter-productive war in the Middle East. Concisely-written and highly accessible, "Iraq and the War on Terror" is an indispensable book for anyone interested the Middle East, US foreign policy and international security. Its conclusions about the extent of the damage caused by the war, and how long the occupation looks set to last, will send shockwaves through policymakers in the US and the UK alike.

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<p>This dissertation offers an in-depth exploration of how temporality—and the imperative to control the unfolding of time in particular—is embedded in the practices, processes, and dynamics of contemporary world politics. While most International Relations scholarship remains conspicuously uninterested in questions relating to time, this study sees such temporal blindness as inhibiting the development of adequately nuanced and critically oriented understandings of key theoretical and practical issues in the global political realm. It thus attempts to demonstrate how time can be “brought in” to the study of world politics, and to highlight the analytical utility and critical potential of doing so. In this respect, Part I considers the importance of temporality to perhaps the most fundamental global political concept—state sovereignty—and then moves on to discuss how shifts in the contemporary political imagination have (re-)inscribed temporal contingency as a pressing problem that requires a political response. Part II then attempts to critically think through what is at stake in the resulting proliferation of anticipatory governance strategies premised upon controlling the unfolding of the future through pre-emptive intervention in the present. It is argued that by prioritizing imagination and conjecture in the context of political decision-making, such temporally-inflected strategies serve to radically reconfigure the way political power is organized and exercised, such that a paradigm of political authority best described as "exceptionalism” is enacted. This line of argument is developed through a comprehensive conceptual engagement with one particularly prominent manifestation of this ongoing “temporalization” of the political—namely, the “pre-emptive security” strategies that have emerged as central to the conduct of the global War on Terror. It is concluded that the adoption of anticipatory political rationalities is particularly problematic for the liberal democratic states that have most enthusiastically done so—both in the security realm and beyond.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The dominant trend in international security over the past decade has been a move towards ‘remote control’: the increasing use of special forces, private military and security companies and remote systems at the expense of the engagement of large forces. Paul Rogers analyses how this trend has developed, and asks whether it can really provide an appropriate response to the likely threats against global security in the coming years.

Yes / Stark illustrations of the dangers from chemical weapons can be seen in attacks using toxic industrial chemicals and sarin against civilians and combatants in Syria and toxic industrial chemicals in Iraq, as well as more targeted assassination operations in Malaysia and the United Kingdom, employing VX and novichok nerve agents, respectively. Concerns about such malign applications of chemical technology are exacerbated by the unstable international security environment and the changing nature of armed conflict, “where borderlines between war, civil war, large-scale violations of human rights, revolutions and uprisings, insurgencies and terrorism as well as organized crime are blurred” (1). It is thus essential that the global community regularly review the nature and implications of developments in chemistry, and its convergence with the life and associated sciences, and establish appropriate measures to prevent their misuse. With the parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) convening a Review Conference to address such issues beginning 21 November 2018, we highlight important scientific aspects (2)

Alexane Said MASTER'S THESIS Iran and the United States' Relations in the Context of the Nuclear Deal Abstract _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ This study analyses the evolution of relations between Iran and the United States by applying the theories of realism, liberalism and the theoretical concept of strategic culture on their contest for power, control and sovereignty. From strategic partners to strategic enemies and back to pragmatic tolerance, both countries have maintained a troublesome relationship which entered a new era of cooperation with the implementation of the Nuclear Deal in January 2016. This deal is a geopolitical breakthrough that should improve the relations between the two countries as it is in both their strategic interests to collaborate. With sanctions removal and by choosing the diplomatic route, Iran can get access to a larger trade and investors' market which could help its economy tremendously and could be seen as an important international actor. Moreover, since the deal allows for the supervision and investigation of Iran's uranium facilities, this allows for greater transparency, profitable for the US and the international community. After the Nuclear Deal implementation, American and Iranian actions on the...

Na última década, o Brasil aumentou significativamente sua presença na região do Atlântico Sul. Esse crescimento foi percebido por acadêmicos e decision-makers como evidência do novo perfil e do novo status do país enquanto poder emergente nas relações internacionais. Nesse sentido, especialistas, militares e diplomatas previram que o Brasil assumiria, paulatinamente, o papel de um líder regional e de um aglutinador de uma identidade sul-atlântica, possivelmente fundindo a costa ocidental africana e a costa leste sul-americana em um Complexo Regional de Segurança unificado, insulando outras potências da região. O objetivo dessa tese é comparar os esforços da política externa brasileira na costa africana sul-atlântica vis-à-vis a presença de outras potências principalmente Estados Unidos, China, França e o Reino Unido para poder avaliar, empiricamente, a performance do Brasil na região, entre 2002 e 2016. A hipótese principal desta tese é que a ascensão do Brasil nesse quadrante estratégico é menos pujante do que análises anteriores demonstraram e que parte do crescimento brasileiro na região pode ser compreendido como parte de tendências sistêmicas, uma vez que praticamente todas potências aumentaram significativamente seus esforços diplomáticos e cooperativos na região durante esse período. Logo, busca-se demonstrar como o papel do Brasil na região é, apesar do crescimento, menos superlativo e menos diferenciado do que outras análises acadêmicas sugeriram. Adicionalmente, os resultados ilustram como a região está se tornando profundamente fragmentada, na forma de uma governança da segurança complexa, marcada por intricadas dinâmicas de cooperação e competição entre poderes regionais e extrarregionais. Finalmente, as conclusões desse trabalho são uma contribuição para se repensar a ascensão do Brasil no sistema internacional, uma vez que demonstra alguns dos desafios e dos problemas envoltos na projeção do país enquanto potência emergente em uma região fundamental para as ambições brasileiras em matéria de política internacional. / In the last decade, Brazil increased its presence in the South Atlantic region. This growth was perceived by both scholars and officials as evidence of Brazils new profile and status as a rising power in international affairs. In this sense, pundits, military, and diplomats predicted that Brazil would slowly assume the role of a regional leader and the sponsor of a South Atlantic identity, possibly merging West Coast Africa and East Coast South America into a unified Regional Security Complex, insulating great powers dominance in the region. The objective of this thesis is to compare Brazilian foreign policy efforts in South Atlantic Africa vis-à-vis the presence of other powers mainly the United States, China, France and the United Kingdom in order to empirically assess Brazils performance in the region, between 2002 and 2016. The main hypothesis is that Brazilian performance in the region is less impressive than suggested by previous analysis and that some of the Brazilian achievements can be partially understood as systemic trends in Africa since practically every power active in the region has significantly increased its presence and material resource allocation in the region. Therefore, conclusion defends that Brazils role in the region is less superlative and less differentiated than previous academic analyses suggested. Additionally, results illustrate how the region is becoming increasingly fragmented, in the form of a complex security governance arrangement marked by intricate cooperative and competitive dynamics. Finally, the conclusions of the thesis are an important contribution to rethink Brazilian emergence in the international system, by highlighting some of the pitfalls and challenges in Brazils projection in this fundamental region for the countrys ambition in foreign affairs.