Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

First  we must look at the rise of the Islamic State and its implications for other shaky states in the Middle East. It is too late now to roll it back. The bloodshed and mayhem would be endless. The policy will have to be to contain it within boundaries which will include parts of Syria and Iraq which it already occupies. Syria will become smaller and it would make strategic sense for the Free Syrian Army to join with Assad to regain the territory occupied by other Islamist elements, mostly Al Qaeda led. Surviving extremists will disperse into the Islamic State. This is political dynamite but the only way out of a war without end.

What is left of Iraq will then have to be broken up into a self governing Shia province, one for moderate Sunnis and another for the Kurds. Whether Iraq as a country could survive as a kind of umbrella confederation remains to be seen, but it should not be a condition. This would require the collapse of every previous aspiration, but once again, it is pointless to continue with endless bloodshed to try and re-create something which has been clumsily destroyed and which cannot any longer be held together either by force or consensus.

To achieve all this there is a pre-condition. The covert partnership between the West, Iran and Russia, linked in common interest by the game changing emergence of ISIS, must become overt and full hearted. This will require the West to settle its differences with Moscow over the Ukraine and for a deal to be struck over Iran’s nuclear programme. When all that is done, the way will be open for the final prize; peace between Israel and the Palestinians via a two state solution, which gives a fair deal to both. Neither will ever agree to terms acceptable to the other. The solution will have to be imposed by the international community, in particular upon Israel. This is why all must stand together to impose the settlement and guarantee the resultant peace.

Palestine must become a viable state able to build a strong economy with a population as free to move about as any other. Its militias must renounce terrorism and be regrouped into a conventional defence force in a generally de-militarised area. Israel will have to significantly reduce its armed forces and set out on a peaceful future unthreatened but also unthreatening. It must also be disarmed of nuclear weapons. That will only be possible if Iran does not acquire them.

Finally Russia must become a part of NATO and the EU. All of this will take time, but the value of the outcome makes the effort worthwhile.

To promote the launch of the new compact edition, with a striking new cover, of Hitler’s First Lady in denser type and therefore 100 pages shorter, the paperback will be on  offer  for a short period at the special price of £5.99, or currency equivalent, worldwide from Amazon.  The new Kindle  of this edition will be on sale at £0.77p.  Get it now!

Customer Review   ” I really enjoyed this book – fascinating plot that had me gripped. At centre of the story is an Anglo-German family whose loyalties are torn during the second world war. The woman has an affair with Hitler – seems rather far-fetched but the book draws you in and I couldn’t put it down!”

Historical drama spanning more than one hundred years, from its origins at the beginning of the twentieth century to continuing repercussions into the twenty-first. Here is an extract:

Lise gave the prime minister a full and detailed briefing of her visit, of Hitler’s acceptance of his terms, of the coming attack on Russia and the conviction that Germany would achieve a quick victory. She told him frankly of the carefree atmosphere she had found, but also of Kaufmann’s doubts. Churchill listened attentively. When she finished, he remained silent for some while, sipping his tea and puffing at his cigar.

‘This is the single most critical decision of the whole war. If Germany beats Russia as Hitler believes she can, we shall have to make peace on his terms. If Germany breaks its war machine against Stalin hoards and wears out its materiel in Russia’s vast spaces, as I believe it will, we shall have peace, but on our terms. The third possibility is that Hitler loses outright and Stalin advances towards German frontiers. Then we shall have to launch a second front, ostensibly to finish off the Third Reich, but in reality to stop the Russians over-running all Europe and reaching the channel coast. For that we will need the Americans.’

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President Obama had no choice. The US has in place the military assets to prevent genocide among Yazidis and Christians in flight without food or shelter and pursued by columns of Islamic State militia. Such is the chaos in the region which the neo-con Bush administration intended to be a beacon of democracy, America finds itself supporting a grouping which includes Russia, Iran and Syria all of whom are engaged directly or indirectly in fighting the same extremist adversary. There is a very real risk that, unless a coordinated alliance with a clear vision and a firm plan is established, the shaky government structures struggling against an anti-government ideology, will implode. If that happens the whole region will explode.

Think about that over the weekend.

To celebrate the launch of the new compact edition, with a striking new cover, of Hitler’s First Lady in denser type and therefore 100 pages shorter, the paperback will be on  offer  for a short period at the special price of £5.99, or currency equivalent, worldwide from Amazon.  The new Kindle  of this edition will be on sale at £0.77p.  Get it now!

Customer Review   ” I really enjoyed this book – fascinating plot that had me gripped. At centre of the story is an Anglo-German family whose loyalties are torn during the second world war. The woman has an affair with Hitler – seems rather far-fetched but the book draws you in and I couldn’t put it down!”

Historical drama spanning more than one hundred years, from its origins at the beginning of the twentieth century to continuing repercussions into the twenty-first. Here is an extract:

It is easy to speculate on the variety of dramas which could be expected to ensue when a twenty four year old bride of three months is confronted by such a scene, but this was no ordinary bride. This was a girl born in a hazardous environment in a frontier country on the edge of modern civilisation, who had survived tropical fever, a native armed uprising and the sting of a scorpion, later to be driven from her mother’s country by irrational prejudice, to make a new life in the New World, en route to which she had been swept by a storm wave from one end of a liner to the other. She had at last arrived in the country of her ancestors to find it in chaos and political dysfunction, where she had identified the men who could save it and had become part of their mission. This was undeniably a matrimonial crisis on an unusual scale. But Lise was a Bauer and in a crisis the Bauers held their nerve. As silently as she had come she crept back to her bed.

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To celebrate the launch of the new compact edition, with a striking new cover, of Hitler’s First Lady in denser type and therefore 100 pages shorter, the paperback will be on  offer  for a short period at the special price of £5.99, or currency equivalent, worldwide from Amazon.  The new Kindle  of this edition will be on sale at £0.77p.  Get it now!

Customer Review   ” I really enjoyed this book – fascinating plot that had me gripped. At centre of the story is an Anglo-German family whose loyalties are torn during the second world war. The woman has an affair with Hitler – seems rather far-fetched but the book draws you in and I couldn’t put it down!”

Historical drama spanning more than one hundred years, from its origins at the beginning of the twentieth century to continuing repercussions into the twenty-first.

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The stark simplicity and blanket nature of the Russian move has caught the West, in particular the EU, by surprise. A total ban on food imports from the EU, USA, Canada and Australia will impact directly on the agricultural sectors of all the countries but with particular ferocity in the EU. Apparently the value to the EU of its food exports to Russia was about 12 billion euros per year. With the EU on the brink of recession the loss of this market cannot be good news.

The situation in Gaza is appalling. It is not a natural disaster but man made. Never mind the politics, the ideology or the disagreements, the innocent civilians, especially the children, need your help. Follow me and donate now to the DEC appeal. Please! DONATE

To celebrate the launch of the new compact edition, with a striking new cover, of Hitler’s First Lady in denser type and therefore 100 pages shorter, the paperback will be on  offer  for a short period at the special price of £5.99, or currency equivalent, worldwide from Amazon.  The new Kindle  of this edition will be on sale at £0.77p.  Get it now!

Customer Review   ” I really enjoyed this book – fascinating plot that had me gripped. At centre of the story is an Anglo-German family whose loyalties are torn during the second world war. The woman has an affair with Hitler – seems rather far-fetched but the book draws you in and I couldn’t put it down!”

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To celebrate the launch of the new compact edition, with a striking new cover, of Hitler’s First Lady in denser type and therefore 100 pages shorter, the paperback will be on  offer from today at the special price of £5.99, or currency equivalent, worldwide from Amazon.  The new Kindle  of this edition will be on sale at £0.77p, but today for ONE DAY ONLY WILL BE FREE to download. Get it now!

Customer Review   ” I really enjoyed this book – fascinating plot that had me gripped. At centre of the story is an Anglo-German family whose loyalties are torn during the second world war. The woman has an affair with Hitler – seems rather far-fetched but the book draws you in and I couldn’t put it down!”

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Whatever snap polls say and ignoring the spinners for either side, neither Salmond nor Darling delivered a knockout blow. Both had success but both had a critical failure. What was good was the emotion which both men brought to the debate; sometimes they found it hard to control themselves. Salmond waffled over the currency. Everybody knows that you cannot have a currency without a government in charge and that a shared currency demands a shared sovereignty in which the largest economy will be sovereign over the joint economies. This is a limited form of independence which falls far short of the Salmond promise. To the extent that they understand the complexities of the issue, Scots can see this and those who do not fully understand the complexities worry about it. If Salmond loses the referendum and Scotland votes No, it will be on this issue that the dream will turn to nothing.

The problem with the No campaign and its leader, Alistair Darling, is that in pointing up all the reasons why Scotland is better off in the Union, it is necessary to be negative about the prospects for Scotland outside it and that means giving the impression of running Scotland down. The message should be that Scotland will be good whatever it does, but it will do it best in the future, as it has in the past, within the Union, in which it punches well above its weight. If you look at the history of Scotland its Golden Age has been inside the Union. That message had failed to get across; Darling had the opportunity to proclaim it with fervour last night and he repeatedly shunned the opportunity to do so. If No loses on voting day, it will be because of this failure.

In the end Yes voters have to have faith in Salmond, but No voters do not have to have faith in Darling. That makes the contest even more interesting. There are some commentators, as well as social media chatter, suggesting Salmond fell short last night. If they are right Yes has lost.