17 March 2008

A Suez moment

All materials from the Oxford Research Group are well worth reading, and I regard the monthly briefings from professor Paul Rogers (Bradford University chair of Peace Studies) as an essential. This particular month's briefing, A Suez moment? , effectively crystallises the current position of US-centred power dynamics on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion which has so pointedly revealed the cracks in the foundations.

To quote the final paragraph of the briefing:

"...another outcome is that a ‘Suez moment’ for the United States has yet to happen and a long-term continuation of occupation and conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan is an inevitable consequence. That will be an issue of great satisfaction to the wider al-Qaida movement, leaving us with the bitter irony that a military operation that has curbed some violence is likely to mean a much longer war."


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