Afghanistan

Commenting on Pakistan last Friday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that Pakistan had failed to grasp just how much more it must do to quash Islamist militancy. Today, Mrs Clinton arrived in Islamabad, a visit that was unannounced amid, intensifying speculation about the status of the relationship between the US and Tripoli since the killing of Osama bin Laden.Clinton and U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen were due to meet President Asif Ali Zardari as well as Army chief...

France, which currently holds the rotating presidency for the Group of Eight and the G20 is hosting the annual G8 summit in Deauville on May 26 and 27. The meeting is due to focus on issues including the global economy, political and security issues such as drug trafficking and terrorism, exiting from Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear program, the Middle East and North Africa and Internet governance. Following the March 11 Japanese earthquake and tsunami that damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant, n...

After bilateral talks and a much talked about barbecue, both held at Ten Downing Street, Barack Obama continued his three-day state visit to the United Kingdom with a joint press conference where he and British Prime Minister David Cameron answered questions posed by the press.

Barack Obama is currently holding talks with David Cameron in Downing Street, with the conflicts in Afghanistan and Libya expected to be high on the agenda of the bilateral talks that are expected to last about 90 minutes.

After a much mediatised first day of his state visit, Obama will today address MPs and peers in Westminster Hall giving his visit a much more political twist. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will also attend the meeting, where the state of the global economy, counter-terrorism the Nato-led operation in Libya and on-going recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa and the conflict in Afghanistan are expected to be high on the agenda.

In 2009 Obama went on his first official visit to Europe with a planned In 2009 ObamaIa five-nation tour in which he was said to be determined to tackle almost every global problem. He came out of the G20 as victorious as he managed to broker a deal a deal at the G20 summit in London, which he has hailed as a "turning point" in the economic crisis. The negotiations were however tough as French PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to walk out from what he said were "false compromises"...

Ahead of the US president's visit in Europe a lot has been said about the implications of the trip on the U.S-E.U relationships. What seems to be a little bit confusing is however whether it is the president who hopes to reassure his counterparts on the strength and importance of their relationship or whether his counter-parts expect him to do so.

Following the U.S. President's European trip, critics in the United States have claimed the president is using it as a way to deflect attention from the domestic issues that preoccupy Americans. For several months, Barack Obama's ratings on the economy have plummeted which, given that the 2012 election approaches, cannot be good news for the President.

Us President Barack Obama's trip to Europe is indeed quite a trip as it will include visits to Ireland, Britain, France and Poland and a G-8 summit. The visit will start with Ireland, and finish with Poland.

Obama's speech was of broad scope, with the US leader tackling different issues in different countries while using this as an opportunity to give the US response to the Middle East uprisings and regime changes. He pledged international economic support for countries undergoing democratic change, notably Egypt and Tunisia and warned Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to lead transition in his country, or to "get out of the way".

Barack Obama’s widely anticipated speech will see him try to rehabilitate the image of the US in the Middle East by repositioning the country as a solid supporter of newly-emerging Arab democracies. His speech comes amid criticism that the US has been too slow to support the uprisings, and has adopted contradictory approaches in its dealings with different countries.

In comparison to other regions in the world, the Middle East attracts a relatively large part of US foreign policy time and has often presented it with its most enduring challenges. In the last decades, protecting the US interests within the region has become a complicated tasks as America has had to deal with the rise of Iran as a regional and influential power in the region and its illegal nuclear activities, the toppling of Saddam Hussein and his regime, invade Afghanistan, try to fight...

US President Barack Obama yesterday introduced sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Assad and six of his deputies as the regime continued to impose oppressive measures against its own people. The announcement came a day before President Obama is due to make a major policy speech on the recent developments in the Middle East and northern Africa. The sanctions are largely symbolic as Assad has few assets in the US and is unlikely ever to visit the country but come as a reinforcement of pre-ex...

Last week, the Daily Telegraph revealed that David Cameron has ordered British commanders to draw up plans to start pulling hundreds of British troops out of Afghanistan within weeks, triggering a row with military chiefs who do not approve of the Prime Minister's new strategy.

Greg Mortenson, author of the bestseller "Three Cups of Tea," has been sued for fraud in a class-action case accusing him of fabricating much of his story to promote the book and his Montana-based charity.

The killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. Special Forces came as something of a surprise to the world and many questions have been raised about the circumstances of his death, but there is little doubt that after this life will be different for both the Obama administration and for Pakistan.

Looking at the Sun and Daily Star newspapers on Thursday, 31 March 2011, one could be forgiven for being totally unaware of any conflict taking place in Libya. For any news on the current war, the Sun managed an article on page 13. The Daily star was bereft of any comment on the topic.

The head of the Royal Air Force has said that he expects operations over Libya to last at least six months and has said that the British government needs to increase funding to the service if it is to perform the tasks assigned to it by the government.

The imposition of a no-fly zone in Libya has succeeded in one thing at least: it has enforced a stalemate onto what was seemingly the opening moves of the Libyan civil war.

The civil war in Libya, the length and result of which is of course unknown, has shown the USA and the European powers to be sufferers of what Winston Churchill once described as a "disease of the will".

This week the No to AV campaign started to lay out its case to the British people ahead of a May referendum on changing the voting system. It was a poor start to what should be an easy task.

The Chair of the Conservative Party, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, is to speak out today against prejudice against Muslims, which she claims is the last acceptable form of bigotry in Britain.

With 2011 well under way it might be worth reflecting on the fact that this year will mark the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 11 September and the beginning of the still raging war in Afghanistan.

Yesterday Bob Ainsworth, who served as Minister of Defence under Gordon Brown, called for an end to the "War on Drugs" and for legalisation on the grounds that it is a war we are losing.

It's not often that an article in the Guardian interests me, but yesterday between the regular complaints about the cuts and the stories of the plight of downtrodden workers in far away places, there was a real gem of a piece about the Chinese dissident and now Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.

When I was a small child I loved the Royal Tournament. I still remember one year when jousting knights took part in the tournament as being, for me, the high point of the show, that, and the sight of cavalry and horse drawn guns manoeuvring dangerously around the field and the legendary field gun race. All done of course to some of Britain and the world's best military music (Suppe's Light Cavalry Overture was particularly apt).

It's been more than twenty years since Margaret Thatcher was evicted from Downing Street by her own party, yet despite this the memory of the "Iron Lady" is still present in both the Conservative and Labour parties.

The European Union, a body of which I am no fan, has shown today that it is capable of being of some use to people and businesses in Europe.

Within minutes of Ed Miliband being elected as Labour leader, commentators, notably those on the right, were quick to paint him as the candidate of the trade unions due to his clinching his victory with union votes, despite trailing his brother when it came to support from Labour MPs and members.

As party conference season begins Britain's politicians will be seeking to create some stability following the general election in May, the election which led to Britain's first coalition government since the Second World War.