Download or read book Lions Donkeys and Dinosaurs written by Lewis Page and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2006 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lewis Page's cover story in Prospect on the military's most useless and expensive hardware set off a firestorm of controversy, back pedalling, and accusations. In this irreverent and provocative book, he gives us the full story: how British soldiers are sent off to war with some of the worst guns in the trade, how the MOD keeps financing useless toys (at huge expense to taxpayers), and how decisions seem to be made with an eye, above all, for the interests of British Aerospace. He shows how politicians and the top brass are hopelessly entrenched in yesterday's wars and pouring their talents and energies into making sure that money is wasted right, left and centre. Lions, Donkeys and Dinosaurs does for the military what Not on the Label did for supermarkets - it takes us behind the scenes and exposes the real ingredients whipped up in the name of defence.
Download or read book Lions Donkeys and Dinosaurs written by Lewis Page and published by Random House. This book was released on 2007 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this irreverent and provocative book, Lewis Page exposes the scandalous state of our armed forces: how British soldiers are sent off to war with some of the worst guns around, how the MOD keeps financing useless toys (at huge expense to taxpayers), and how decisions seem to be made with an eye, above all, for the interests of British Aerospace. He shows how politicians and the top brass are hopelessly entrenched in yesterday's wars and pouring their talents and energies into making sure that money is wasted right, left and centre.
Download or read book The Military Covenant written by Sarah Ingham and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-03 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Military Covenant states that in exchange for their military service and their willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice, soldiers should receive the nation’s support. Exploring the concept’s invention by the Army in the late 1990s, its migration to the civilian sphere from 2006 and its subsequent entrenchment in public policy, Ingham seeks to understand the Covenant’s progress from the esoteric confines of Army doctrine to national recognition. Drawing on interviews with senior commanders, policy-makers and representatives of Forces’ charities, this study highlights how the Army deployed the Military Covenant to convey the pressure on the institution caused by the concurrent combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. While achieving a better deal for soldiers whose sacrifice became all too apparent, the Military Covenant licensed unprecedented incursion into politics by senior commanders, enabling them to out-manoeuvre the Blair-Brown governments and to challenge the existing norms within Britain’s civil-military relationship. As British Forces prepare to leave Afghanistan, this study considers the value Britain accords to military service and whether civilian society will continue to uphold its Covenant with those who have served the nation.
Download or read book Conundrum written by Richard Bacon and published by Biteback Publishing. This book was released on 2013-06-18 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Government failure is affecting everyone. The single mum worried sick by a tax credit demand from HMRC to 'repay' thousands of pounds she never received; the family whose holiday was ruined because the Passport Office couldn't issue passports in time; the school that couldn't open at the start of term because CRB checks were being carried out by an organisation in meltdown; the farmers led to bankruptcy and even suicide by a Kafkaesque system for administering farm payments; and rail operators facing an uncertain future because the Department for Transport inadvertently landed the whole rail franchising system in chaos. Why is government getting it so wrong? Richard Bacon and Christopher Hope delve into the astonishing world of cock-ups and catastrophes and ponder why those at the top continue to fall short.
Download or read book Asymmetric Warfare written by Rod Thornton and published by Polity. This book was released on 2007-02-12 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, the nature of conflict has changed. Through asymmetric warfare radical groups and weak state actors are using unexpected means to deal stunning blows to more powerful opponents in the West. From terrorism to information warfare, the Wests air power, sea power and land power are open to attack from clever, but much weaker, enemies. In this clear and engaging introduction, Rod Thornton unpacks the meaning and significance of asymmetric warfare, in both civilian and military realms, and examines why it has become such an important subject for study. He seeks to provide answers to key questions, such as how weaker opponents apply asymmetric techniques against the Western world, and shows how the Wests military superiority can be seriously undermined by asymmetric threats. The book concludes by looking at the ways in which the US, the state most vulnerable to asymmetric attack, is attempting to cope with some new battlefield realities. This is an indispensable guide to one of the key topics in security studies today.
Download or read book Contemporary Military Strategy and the Global War on Terror written by Alastair Finlan and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2014-06-19 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary Military Strategy and the Global War on Terror offers an in-depth analysis of US/UK military strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2001 to the present day. It explores the development of contemporary military strategy in the West in the modern age before interrogating its application in the Global War on Terror. The book provides detailed insights into the formulation of military plans by political and military elites in the United States and United Kingdom for Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Alastair Finlan highlights the challenges posed by each of these unique theatres of operation, the nature of the diverse enemies faced by coalition forces, and the shortcomings in strategic thinking about these campaigns. This fresh perspective on strategy in the West and how it has been applied in recent military campaigns facilitates a deep understanding of how wars have been and will be fought. Including key terms, concepts and discussion questions for each chapter, Contemporary Military Strategy and the Global War on Terror is a crucial text in strategic studies, and required reading for anyone interested in the new realities of transnational terrorism and twenty-first century warfare.
Download or read book Tommy This an Tommy That written by Andrew Murrison and published by Biteback Publishing. This book was released on 2011-10-31 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is nothing new about the military covenant, a freshly minted term for something that's been around for as long as soldiering itself. 'Tommy' may have to make the ultimate sacrifice for his country. But what will his country do for him? Over centuries the covenant has been variously honoured and ignored. Confronted daily with flag-draped coffins, shameful stories of inadequate kit and shocking images of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan: what exactly are we doing to honour those who sacrifice all in the service of their country? In Tommy This an' Tommy That Andrew Murrison uses his perspective as a senior Service doctor and frontline politician to set the events of the past ten years in historical context. He charts the ways in which societal and political changes have impacted on the wellbeing of uniformed men and women, and the nation's changing sense of obligation towards the military. Crucially he asks what the future holds for the military covenant.
Download or read book Europeanization of British Defence Policy written by Robert Dover and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-29 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The phenomenon of Europeanization has become a topic that is constantly under debate. This critical volume examines Europeanization through examples of British defence policy, the European Security and Defence Policy, the legal arms trade and the decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003. Drawing on examples from Austria and France, as well as unveiling the role of the Prime Minister and his close confidants in driving through this controversial defence policy, Robert Dover provides an original and engaging contemporaneous account of Europeanization. Academics, post-graduate researchers and analysts concerned with British foreign and defence policy and those interested in European defence policy more generally, will all find this study a must read.
Download or read book Walking The Line written by Stan Abbott and published by Saraband. This book was released on 2021-06-21 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An authoritative guide to the history, landscape and lore along the scenic English train line between Settle and Carlisle, by an established travel writer and railway aficionado. Widely known as England's most picturesque line, the enduring Settle-Carlisle Railway crosses the north Pennines between Yorkshire and Cumbria, traversing stunning scenery from the Dales through the lonely and lofty fells to the limestone pavements of Westmorland, and on into the lush, green Eden Valley. The line was built by the Midland Railway company in the 1870s, to forge an independent route connecting its English network with Scotland. Uniquely for a railway in the UK, the entire infrastructure is a Conservation Area in its own right—comprising viaducts, stations, bridges, tunnels, trackside structures and railway workers' cottages.
Download or read book The Leadership Direction and Legitimacy of the RAF Bomber Offensive from Inception to 1945 written by Peter Gray and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-06-07 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a fresh approach to the debate on the RAF's bomber offensive by using modern strategic leadership theory as an analytical tool to examine the campaign. In particular, it looks at the legality and legitimacy of the offensive and explores the key interfaces between the military leaders, the politicians and allies. It also looks at the major controversies in the aims and objectives of the campaign and the personalities involved. Modern literature from the leadership field is used to consider the challenges facing those charged with the formulation and execution of the offensive. Aspects of the senior leadership disputes are also dealt with in the context of the leadership literature and in the wider context of the strategic challenges then facing Churchill, Sinclair and Portal. A multi-disciplinary bent to the book enables the reader to move beyond the narrow confines of military considerations to the thorough investigation of the legality, legitimacy and morality of the offensive.
Download or read book Contemporary Military Culture and Strategic Studies written by Alastair Finlan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-02 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores and compares the contemporary military cultures of the United States and the United Kingdom. The last decade has witnessed astonishing global events, from 9/11 and military operations in Afghanistan in the same year, to the military intervention in Libya in 2011. Western military forces have been involved in all of these campaigns and have been engaged in continuous military operations for over ten years. It is therefore now apt to focus a spotlight on the military cultures of these state-based armed forces. This book examines how contemporary American and British military culture is formed, focusing explicitly on the six major military institutions. The author dedicates a chapter to each of these institutions with each one sharing a unifying analytical framework. These chapters explore the formation and sustenance of US/UK military culture under the rubric of common themes that include social origins, transformative events, leaders, approaches to war, technology and contemporary identity. To conclude, the book considers the impact of the War on Terror on the military cultures of the US and UK, as well as likely directions for the future. This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, strategic studies, security studies and comparative politics.
Download or read book Sexing the Soldier written by Rachel Woodward and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-08-07 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sexing the Soldier takes a critical look at how gender is understood within the contemporary British Army. Drawing on original research, this book argues that dominant ideas about gender, evident in areas as diverse as policy documents and cultural pract.
Download or read book Imagining Sustainable Food Systems written by Alison Blay-Palmer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-13 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What defines a sustainable food system? How can it be more inclusive? How do local and global scales interact and how does power flow within food systems? How to encourage an interdisciplinary approach to realizing sustainable food systems? And how to activate change? These questions are considered by EU and North American academics and practitioners in this book. Using a wide range of case studies, it provides a critical overview, showing how and where theory and practice can converge to produce more sustainable food systems.
Download or read book Making British Defence Policy written by Robert Self and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-06-16 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the process by which defence policy is made in contemporary Britain and the institutions, actors and conflicting interests which interact in its inception and continuous reformulation. Rather than dealing with the substance of defence policy, this study focuses upon the institutional actors involved in this process. This is a subject which has commanded far more interest from public, Parliament, government and the armed forces since the protracted, bloody and ultimately unsuccessful British military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The work begins with a discussion of two contextual factors shaping policy. The first relates to the impact of Britain’s ‘special relationship’ with the United States over defence and intelligence matters, while the second considers the impact of Britain’s relatively disappointing economic performance upon the funding of British defence since 1945. It then goes on to explore the role and impact of all the key policy actors, from the Prime Minister, Cabinet and core executive, to the Ministry of Defence and its relations with the broader ‘Whitehall village’, and the Foreign Office and Treasury in particular. The work concludes by examining the increasing influence of external policy actors and forces, such as Parliament, the courts, political parties, pressure groups and public opinion. This book will be of much interest to students of British defence policy, security studies, and contemporary military history.
Download or read book The Global Arms Trade written by Andrew T. H. Tan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-05-22 with total page 582 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Global Arms Trade is a timely, comprehensive and in-depth study of this topic, a phenomenon which has continued to flourish despite the end of the Cold War and the preoccupation with global terrorism after 11 September 2001. It provides a clear description and analysis of the demand for, and supply of, modern weapons systems, and assess key issues of concern. This book will be especially useful to scholars, policy analysts, those in the arms industry, defence professionals, students of international relations and security studies, media professionals, government officials, and those generally interested in the arms trade.
Download or read book The Political Economy of Defence written by Ron Matthews and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-09 with total page 525 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A contemporary and comprehensive analysis of national and supranational defence governance in an uncertain and increasingly dangerous world. This book will appeal to policymakers, analysts, graduate students and academics interested in defence economics, political economy, public economics and public policy.
Download or read book Understanding UK Military Capability written by Andrew R. Curtis and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2024-05-14 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who decides how to use the UK military budget and how can we be sure that the UK’s armed forces can meet the threats of tomorrow? This book provides the answers to these questions. Concentrating on decisions taken below the political level, it uncovers the factors that underpin the translation of strategic direction into military capability.
