by Alex Evans | Jul 14, 2009 | UK
Prospect editor David Goodhart has an intriguing idea:
Sweeping schemes for constitutional reform and global salvation abound. Not to be left out, Prospect has a plan that neatly solves two problems in one—and doesn’t even need primary legislation. The idea is this: cap the number of government members drawn from parliament at 50 (down from the current figure of 124)—and draw the remaining talent from outside. At a stroke, this would create more competition for government jobs—not a bad thing in itself—and give a boost to the parliamentary career path. With fewer government jobs to chase, more of parliament’s brightest could focus on chairing select committees, improving legislation and keeping the government in check; all of which would strengthen the legislature against an over-mighty executive.
In his chaotic June cabinet reshuffle Gordon Brown brought in a record number of lords, seen by some as an indication of a government low on steam. Much better to start afresh with a new system where genuine experts and talented non-parliamentarians could fill the vacant slots—and thus strike a blow against the professionalisation of politics, where too few MPs have experiences outside Westminster. America stuffs its executive with able non-politicians drawn from businesses and charities. And just as in the US, this new breed could fairly easily be made accountable to the legislature. So why shouldn’t we? Go on Gordon—cut the ministers, not the MPs. A genuine government of all the talents is there for the taking.
by Mark Weston | Jul 14, 2009 | Africa, Conflict and security
Cross-border wars in Sub-Saharan Africa have been few and far between since the end of the colonial period. Instead, the continent’s disaffected have fought numerous battles with their own countrymen. Last weekend, however, Guinea’s new leader, Dadis Camara, who took power in a coup last Christmas, claimed that neighbouring Guinea-Bissau was amassing troops at the border in preparation for an invasion of his country.
This would be a remarkable move by Guinea-Bissau, which doesn’t currently have a leader (the second round of presidential elections is due on 26 July) and whose army is a disaffected ragbag of poorly paid, badly trained young men who have enough trouble keeping the peace at home (their chief of staff was assassinated in March) without contemplating an invasion of a much bigger neighbour.
Camara reckons the planned invasion is a plot by the region’s drug lords, from Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Latin America, to remove him. Camara has been surprisingly thorough in his purging of those Guineans involved in the cocaine trade which has plagued the countries of the Mano River basin in recent years, and he believes those high up in the industry want him out so that they can maintain their freedom to operate.
A war between the two countries would be disastrous for both and for their region. Both are extremely fragile politically, dirt poor and surrounded by other historically unstable states (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal’s Casamance region). Guinea’s opposition parties are less worried, however. They see Camara’s warning as a ploy to entrench his power ahead of promised elections in October. Given that he has also banned all political and union activities in his country, it seems that a false alarm of an invasion would indeed be in keeping with a strategy to stay in power, despite his promise to step down once elections are held.
by Richard Gowan | Jul 13, 2009 | North America, Off topic
From the Wasilla Frontiersman, Sarah Palin’s hometown newspaper:
To the editor:
I am a supporter of Gov. Palin from Staten Island, N.Y., and blog exclusively about her accomplishments, an activity I find particularly uplifting and inspirational.
[Cue some stuff about N.Y. governors being rubbish. Then…]
I am compiling a master list of Gov. Palin’s 2009 accomplishments — a project that has taken several hours and is nowhere near finished. I had to build a team of authors on my blog just to cover her accomplishments. There are simply too many in volume, size, scale and scope to be covered by one person. Sarah Palin accomplished every goal set forth when she campaigned to be your state’s governor. Her staff remains and is on the same page with her. She is a textbook transformational leader — the type studied in MBA courses. She performed her service with honor, grace and to the highest of standards.
Free of gubernatorial limitations and unbound from the shackles of frivolous ethics complaints, Gov. Palin can and will accomplish even more for Alaska and for our nation. Everything she has done thus far will pale in (pun intended) comparison to what she is about to do.
Ron Devito
He’s not making it up. Check out Ron’s month-by-month breakdown of our next President’s accomplishments.
by Richard Gowan | Jul 13, 2009 | Conflict and security, Europe and Central Asia, South Asia
Is Afghanistan just the prologue? The Times of India thinks so:
A leading defence expert has projected that China will attack India by 2012 to divert the attention of its own people from “unprecedented” internal dissent, growing unemployment and financial problems that are threatening the hold of Communists in that country.
“China will launch an attack on India before 2012. There are multiple reasons for a desperate Beijing to teach India the final lesson, thereby ensuring Chinese supremacy in Asia in this century,” Bharat Verma, Editor of the Indian Defence Review, has said.
Verma said the recession has “shut the Chinese exports shop”, creating an “unprecedented internal social unrest” which in turn, was severely threatening the grip of the Communists over the society.
Among other reasons for this assessment were rising unemployment, flight of capital worth billions of dollars, depletion of its foreign exchange reserves and growing internal dissent, Verma said in an editorial in the forthcoming issue of the premier defence journal. In addition to this, “The growing irrelevance of Pakistan, their right hand that operates against India on their behest, is increasing the Chinese nervousness,” he said, adding that US President Barak Obama’s Af-Pak policy was primarily Pak-Af policy that has “intelligently set the thief to catch the thief”.
Verma said Beijing was “already rattled, with its proxy Pakistan now literally embroiled in a civil war, losing its sheen against India.” “Above all, it is worried over the growing alliance of India with the US and the West, because the alliance has the potential to create a technologically superior counterpoise.
“All these three concerns of Chinese Communists are best addressed by waging a war against pacifist India to achieve multiple strategic objectives,” he said.
“Therefore, the most attractive option is to attack a soft target like India and forcibly occupy its territory in the Northeast,” Verma said. But India is “least prepared” on ground to face the Chinese threat, he says and asks a series of questions on how will India respond to repulse the Chinese game plan or whether Indian leadership would be able to “take the heat of war”.
So, time to stop worrying about Helmand and learn more about Assam…
by Charlie Edwards | Jul 13, 2009 | Conflict and security
Interesting. 55 per cent of Chatham House members (and, one assumes, visitors to the website) believe the conflict in Afghanistan will become ‘another Vietnam’.
