23rd April 2012 Washington DC, USA
At the 18 April meeting of the NATO Foreign and Defence Ministers in Brussels, the British Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond announced a firm UK commitment to help fund the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) after 2014. He said “The UK contribution of £70m per annum to the funds to support the Afghan National Security Forces will make […]
2nd April 2012 Washington DC, USA
I recommend you take a look at the latest blog written by Helmand’s new Head of Mission, Catriona Laing, on the recent DCC elections in Sangin. Famous for its dangerous past where many British and American soldiers lost their lives, Sangin now boasts its first ever District Community Council elections where over 2,000 people travelled […]
31st March 2012 Harare, Zimbabwe
Its not often in recent years that there has been a carnival type atmosphere in the Helmand district of Sangin. Internationally Sangin is known for the large number of ISAF casualties – 100 British, and many US Marine deaths since they took over the battlefield in 2010. But this week saw a unique event […]
8th March 2012 Washington DC, USA
I’d like to draw your attention to the latest blog by our Head of Mission in Helmand, Michael O’Neill. The post covers Helmand Province on today, International Women’s Day. Helmand Province offers a microcosm of the wide range of conditions facing women and girls in Afghanistan. In many rural areas it’s hard for girls to […]
6th March 2012 Washington DC, USA
I’d like to draw your attention to the latest blog by our Head of Mission in Helmand, Michael O’Neill. The post covers his recent trip to Sangin, and highlights the impressive progress that has been made there over the last year and a half. As Michael notes, when he first visited Sangin in late 2010, […]
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11th October 2011 Bucharest, Romania
Guest blogger: Colonel Giles Orpen-Smellie, the British Defence Attaché, on his contribution to the visit by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to Bucharest It was a pleasure to be able to address the British Parliamentary delegation, led by Sir Menzies Campbell MP, a former leader of the British Liberal-Democrat Party, who visited Bucharest over the weekend […]
9th September 2011 New York, USA
In some ways, it feels presumptuous for me to write about the tenth anniversary of 9/11. At the time of the attacks, I wasn’t here yet – my posting in New York didn’t begin until 2008. It seems like so much has been written by people better qualified to reflect on the last ten years. However, […]
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31st August 2011
Mark Sedwill, the UK’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, visited Canberra last week. He is a former British Ambassador in Kabul, and was NATO Civilian Representative alongside General Petraeus until earlier this year. So he was already well known to many of the Australian interlocutors on whom he called. I took him to see […]
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14th July 2010 London, UK
Here’s my latest video blog, this time reflecting on my recent trip to Budapest!