Well, I was going to sit down and write one of the articles off my list until I noticed something quite interesting that might be worth looking at just briefly. Many news agencies are reporting that Spain has evacuated most of its aid workers, along with aid workers of some other countries, from Western Algeria. This has been caused by increasing violence and kidnappings aimed at aid workers working in refugee camps who are handling those fleeing from fighting and famine in Northern Mali.
Sunday, 29 July 2012
Thursday, 26 July 2012
Coming soon... ish.
Just to keep everyone updated, this is the list of stuff that I have planned, though not necessarily in this order;
Project Management - I wrote this down on my list... then immediately forgot what it was that had triggered the idea. Still, I have a number of thoughts on this and eventually I will cram them together into one place.
Lessons Learned - I stumbled across an open source document a while back from the US, basically containing some of the lessons learned from operations in Iraq. Thought that might be interesting to go over, especially as it covers equipment and its associated problems from the perspective of how people actually use it in the field, as opposed to looking at it from a "Top Trumps" wikipedia aspect.
Desert Ninjas - Although we don't know much about what the SAS got up to Iraq (not yet anyway), we do know a little and I have a question about it.
Comparisons - To other nations basically, taking a look at how they organise and structure their armed forces. This will be a somewhat random series that will crop up here and there.
CVF; likes and dislikes - Guaranteed to start a war no doubt, but at some point I'd like to assess the CVF program and what I like and dislike about it.
Why Africa? - Indeed. In my first proper post I honed in on Africa at the end. But why? Well, eventually I'll explain.
Regional Bomber - There's often calls for the RAF to invest in one but for someone who often gets accused (like Think Defence) of being a shill for the RAF, I'm not so sure. I'll explain why.
Cold War Russia - Or more specifically, how Russia's over arching cold war strategy often differed greatly from the Americans, but in some ways the two mirrored each other. And how much fun they had pulling America across the globe.
High/Low Fighter Mix - Examining briefly the nature of high/low fighter aircraft mixes.
At some point I'm also going to try and do something about how bloody faint the text appears. I'm not sure what though. So if you see colour changes and the like in the coming days, you'll know why.
Project Management - I wrote this down on my list... then immediately forgot what it was that had triggered the idea. Still, I have a number of thoughts on this and eventually I will cram them together into one place.
Lessons Learned - I stumbled across an open source document a while back from the US, basically containing some of the lessons learned from operations in Iraq. Thought that might be interesting to go over, especially as it covers equipment and its associated problems from the perspective of how people actually use it in the field, as opposed to looking at it from a "Top Trumps" wikipedia aspect.
Desert Ninjas - Although we don't know much about what the SAS got up to Iraq (not yet anyway), we do know a little and I have a question about it.
Comparisons - To other nations basically, taking a look at how they organise and structure their armed forces. This will be a somewhat random series that will crop up here and there.
CVF; likes and dislikes - Guaranteed to start a war no doubt, but at some point I'd like to assess the CVF program and what I like and dislike about it.
Why Africa? - Indeed. In my first proper post I honed in on Africa at the end. But why? Well, eventually I'll explain.
Regional Bomber - There's often calls for the RAF to invest in one but for someone who often gets accused (like Think Defence) of being a shill for the RAF, I'm not so sure. I'll explain why.
Cold War Russia - Or more specifically, how Russia's over arching cold war strategy often differed greatly from the Americans, but in some ways the two mirrored each other. And how much fun they had pulling America across the globe.
High/Low Fighter Mix - Examining briefly the nature of high/low fighter aircraft mixes.
At some point I'm also going to try and do something about how bloody faint the text appears. I'm not sure what though. So if you see colour changes and the like in the coming days, you'll know why.
Sunday, 22 July 2012
The Influence of Influence
Find any blog, any forum, any news article or any ministerial speech related to defence these days, and I practically guarantee you that you will see the word “influence” crop up at some point. This is especially the case with the United Kingdom, as we seek to maintain our “influence” on world affairs despite a declining budget and the rising cost of military equipment.
The problem I have with this is how easily the term “influence” is thrown around nowadays. It almost seems like “influence” is the new “effects”, “warrior”, or “war fighting”. At every turn the word “influence” pops up and is bandied around like it were some quantifiable item, like money or gold, that can be easily measured and then valued.
The problem I have with this is how easily the term “influence” is thrown around nowadays. It almost seems like “influence” is the new “effects”, “warrior”, or “war fighting”. At every turn the word “influence” pops up and is bandied around like it were some quantifiable item, like money or gold, that can be easily measured and then valued.
Labels:
Abu Dhabi,
Africa,
Asia,
Assassination,
Bodyguards,
Embassy,
Influence,
Iran,
JFK,
Jomo Kenyatta,
Jordan,
Kenya,
Middle East,
Oman,
Royal Air Force,
Royal Navy,
SAS,
Strategy,
Trade
Friday, 20 July 2012
The First Post
So this is it. I have my own blog to fill with mindless waffle about UK defence and the associated disciplines that affect it.
Yes. I know it looks naff. Welcome to the world of free blogging my friends! My techno savvy runs about as far as being able to add things to my favourites bar so this is probably as good as it will get for now. I'm happy with it. It's the content that will hopefully make the difference, in time.
For now though.... I have nothing. I've literally only been live for a few minutes. So come back later, when I've had time to write something much deeper and informative.
Go on, shoo!
P.S. On a quick side note, amen to Bloggers spell check function, which doesn't recognise the words "Blog" or "Blogging". I can see we're going to get along handsomely.
Yes. I know it looks naff. Welcome to the world of free blogging my friends! My techno savvy runs about as far as being able to add things to my favourites bar so this is probably as good as it will get for now. I'm happy with it. It's the content that will hopefully make the difference, in time.
For now though.... I have nothing. I've literally only been live for a few minutes. So come back later, when I've had time to write something much deeper and informative.
Go on, shoo!
P.S. On a quick side note, amen to Bloggers spell check function, which doesn't recognise the words "Blog" or "Blogging". I can see we're going to get along handsomely.
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