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About Paul Rogers

Paul Rogers is professor in the department of peace studies at Bradford University, northern England. He is openDemocracy's international-security editor, and has been writing a weekly column on global security since 28 September 2001; he also writes a monthly briefing for the Oxford Research Group. His books include Why We’re Losing the War on Terror (Polity, 2007), and Losing Control: Global Security in the 21st Century (Pluto Press, 3rd edition, 2010). He is on twitter at: @ProfPRogers

A lecture by Paul Rogers on sustainable security, delivered to the Quaker yearly meeting on 3 August 2011, provides an overview of the analysis that underpins his openDemocracy column. It is available in two parts and can be accessed from here

Articles by Paul Rogers

America's turn: new wars, special forces

Paul Rogers 16 May 2013

A shift in the United States's military strategy in the direction of "remote control" involves greater reliance not just on armed-drones but on special forces.

Nigeria, the Boko Haram risk

Paul Rogers 9 May 2013

Abuja's response to Boko Haram's insurgency is flawed and self-defeating. Without a change of policy, Nigeria will move ever closer to becoming a centre of transational jihadist struggle. 

An arms craze: drones to lasers

Paul Rogers 2 May 2013

The United States, Israel and other military powers continue to seek the perfect weapon - from "unmanned aerial vehicles" to "directed energy". They forget how the story ends. 

Al-Qaida, the next stage

Paul Rogers 25 April 2013

The dispersal of the al-Qaida idea across many national territories takes some pressure off the "far enemy", the United States. But developments in Nigeria could represent a new danger for Washington and its allies.

North Korea, the hand of history

Paul Rogers 18 April 2013

All states involved in the Korean crisis are influenced by their historical experience, but the recent past weighs most heavily on Pyongyang.

A century on the edge - and of hope: Part 2

Paul Rogers 16 April 2013

Film: Paul Rogers speaks to TalkWorks on nuclear disarmament, threats confronting humanity in the 21st century and what must change as part of the 2013 Global Perspectives series.

Afghanistan, the day after

Paul Rogers 12 April 2013

There are intense efforts to portray western policy in Afghanistan in a benign light. But evidence from the country itself, and the experiences of Iraq and Libya, suggest that hard questions should be asked about what is really happening. 

A century on the edge - and of hope: Part 1

Paul Rogers 11 April 2013

Film: Paul Rogers speaks to TalkWorks on nuclear disarmament, threats confronting humanity in the 21st century and what must change as part of the 2013 Global Perspectives series. 

A decade's war: legacy and lesson

Paul Rogers 4 April 2013

The United States-led "war on terror" has spread not quelled global conflict. The next decade will do the same, unless there is a radical change of direction.

Syria, war without exit

Paul Rogers 29 March 2013

The rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran is at the heart of Syria's destructive stalemate. This proxy conflict, with Baghdad providing crucial help to Tehran, highlights the scale of the blowback from the United States's war in Iraq.

Iraq, a war foretold

Paul Rogers 22 March 2013

The gap between the invaders' expectations and the reality that emerged in Iraq was immense. But even as the ground war opened on 20 March 2003, there were clear indications of the carnage to come.

Kajaki, saga of ruin

Paul Rogers 14 March 2013

The story of how an Afghan dam was planned, prepared, fought over and now abandoned symbolises the epic failure of the "war on terror".

Wars on terror, lives in shadow: a review of Victoria Brittain

Paul Rogers 7 March 2013

The neglected experience of family members swept up into the vast detention-and-data-collection systems of the post-9/11 decade is illuminated in a valuable new book.

Mali, and remote-control war

Paul Rogers 28 February 2013

The Afghan model of future war based on armed-drones and special-forces is being refined in Mali. But the western states there risk provoking the reaction that defeated them in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Syria's war, Israel's trap

Paul Rogers 21 February 2013

The prospect of a chaotic endgame in Syria and more instability in Egypt is leading Israel further in the direction of a "fortress-state". This military entrenchment reflects not strength but vulnerability.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

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