Defence – Ian Birrell

Inside a secret Ukrainian drone factory

Published by UnHerd (21st May, 2025)

Sunak’s not so cunning plan

Published by The i paper (27th May, 2024) Right you ‘orrible lot, fall in. Our forces are staring defeat in the face. Our officers look useless. Their strategies […]

Defence / Europe / Policy / Russia / Ukraine

West must wake up to Putin danger

Published by The i paper (13th May, 2024) Historians will look back in bafflement at the gullibility of Western leaders in their response to Vladimir Putin. When this […]

Defence / Europe / Policy / Russia / Ukraine

Russian invasion will drive more nations to seek weapons of mass destruction

Published by The i paper (28th March, 2022) The town of Slavutych was the Soviet Union’s attempt to atone for the world’s worst nuclear disaster by carving out […]

Afghanistan / Defence / Feature / Policy / World

Our troops are doing their best. But Kabul shows how impotent we are without America

Published by The Daily Mail (25th August, 2021) There are few institutions that can still unite our nation in uncritical admiration after a series of scandals challenged our […]

China / Defence / Education / Policy / World

MI6 fears over UK university links to Beijing as at least 12 of them are probed by spooks

Published by The Mail on Sunday (7th February, 2012) (Written with Glen Owen, Political Editor) More than a dozen British universities are under investigation over commercial relationships with […]

Defence / Estonia / Europe / Policy / Russia

The Plague of Putin

Published by The Mail on Sunday (30th October, 2016) As heavy rain gushed down from glowering skies and cars snaked through heavily fortified customs points, it was impossible […]

Defence / Policy / Politics / Syria / World

Cameron’s long-awaited victory on Syria

Published by The Financial Times (3rd December, 2015) So here we go again. Britain has embarked on another military intervention, with Royal Air Force Tornado jets setting off […]

Defence / Europe / Germany / Politics / Russia

Europe’s defence wanes as the Putin threat grows

Published by The Wall Street Journal (4th March, 2015) The chill of a new Cold War is descending over Europe. In Ukraine, ripped apart by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s […]