Published by The Times (5th July, 2023) Somalia is a shattered country associated with chaos, conflict and piracy, host to an Islamist terrorist group described by a senior […]
Arts / Books / Europe / Norway / Syria / World
The tragedy of Syria: how protest spiralled into savagery
Published by The Spectator (26th April, 2018) Two Sisters: Into the Syrian Jihad by Asne Seierstad (Virago); No Turning Back: Life, Loss and Hope in Wartime Syria by Rania Abouzeid (Oneworld) […]
Africa / Kenya / Somalia / Somaliland
Myths, murder and militancy
Published in The Independent (September 24th, 2013) For two years, Kenyans have been bracing themselves for the barbarism we have just witnessed in Nairobi. Ever since their army […]
Arts / Books / Immigration / Policy
Frightened by foreign bodies
Published in The Observer (14th April, 2013) The British Dream by David Goodhart (Atlantic); The Diversity Illusion by Ed West (Gibson Square) A couple of years ago I […]
Aid
The aid business has grown fat. It’s time there was proper scrutiny
Published in The Spectator (February 18th, 2012) Such a simple question: should Oxfam spend a couple of hundred pounds a month opening up the swimming pool at its […]
Africa / Aid / Somaliland
The former British colony that shows Africa doesn’t need our millions to flourish
Published in The Mail on Sunday (July 24th, 2011) The Summer Time restaurant was buzzing. On the dusty road outside, new four-wheel drive cars fought for space with […]