Posts By: Jacob Charles

Boko Haram: taking liberties

In the aftermath of Boko Haram’s audacious kidnapping of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls, John Chisholm examines the group’s history and ambitions, and asks how they can be stopped   The April 2014 kidnapping of an entire class of girls by Boko Haram in northern Nigeria has propelled the organisation into the global consciousness. Public figures as… Read more »

Pirates be warned!

As cargo ships traversing Africa’s west coast face an increasingly deadly threat from pirates, Philippe Minchin explores the countermeasures available to crews and warns that no one solution is 100 per cent effective   The threat of piracy has dogged maritime commerce for centuries, reaching new destructive heights in recent years off the coast of… Read more »

The Ukrainian faultline

Amid warnings that Ukraine is descending into civil war, John Chisholm asks whether Kiev can hold the country together and examines the potential geopolitical repercussions if it fails   So the crisis develops. Russia has, with some predictability, reversed the decision of the 1950s and re-attached Crimea to the motherland. But now the situation has… Read more »

Time to negotiate?

As evidence emerges that Western governments often engage with terrorist groups, Eilish O’Gara asks whether the time has come to abandon the non-negotiation policy altogether   It is widely assumed that we must not negotiate with terrorists. We must not accept their political statuses or condone their methods of terror. But does “must not” mean… Read more »

Explosive hide and seek

Following fresh alerts over aviation security, Lina Kolesnikova examines the evolving explosive threat to airlines and argues enhanced behavioural detection should be used alongside explosive detection technology     Aviation security is built upon layers of often negative or even deadly experience. Changes in aviation security have always being introduced in the aftermath of incidents…. Read more »

Out of Afghanistan: Part 1

On the eve of the British withdrawal from Afghanistan, Anthony Tucker-Jones asks whether Task Force Helmand has achieved lasting security in the province   The US-led Regional Command (South West) assumed control of combat operations in Helmand on 1 April 2014, marking the end of the British-led Task Force Helmand (TFH). The British military HQ… Read more »

The IED war

As Nato forces shift their focus from operational engagement to operational preparedness in 2014, Chris Hunter looks at the evolution of explosive ordnance disposal tactics and technology over the last 13 years in Afghanistan   Rendering safe an improvised explosive device (IED) is often dirty, unpleasant and brutal work. One minute you’re dripping with sweat,… Read more »

Secured from within

Tamir Eshel outlines the evolution of the Israeli homeland security and counter terrorism industry, and explains why it has become a world-leader in the field   Israel has always faced a mix of high and low-intensity threats, representing different challenges that required specific military and security responses. While regular military forces, operated by neighbouring or… Read more »

Syria’s siren song

Dean C Alexander examines why so many foreign fighters are drawn to the conflict in Syria, and calls on governments to implement policies which prevent their citizens from fighting overseas   Syria is suffering a devastating civil war with cataclysmic effects in the region. There appears to be some recent momentum in favor of the… Read more »

Crowdsourcing counter terrorism

Professor Babak Akhgar tells Robert de la Poer how police and security services can use social media and other open source data to combat terrorism and organised crime   RP: Some of our readers may not be familiar with the field of informatics. Could you begin by outlining what it involves and how it can… Read more »