The Birmingham Brief - intelligent thought on policy issues.
- Description
- On Sunday 25 September 2011 King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, during his annual speech to the Shura council, surprised his male audiences and delighted Saudi women activists who have been pushing for a greater public role in the affairs of their own country. He announced that after consultation with his religious advisers he had decided to grant Saudi women the right to vote and run for office in the next municipal elections.
- Date:
- Thursday 29th September 2011
- Categories:
- Arts and Law
- Description
- Western leaders have breathed sighs of relief and contentment at the unexpectedly swift breakthrough of rebel forces in Western Libya, which was a prelude to their march into Tripoli. At long last, the NATO-backed Libyan National Transitional Council has found a way of breaking Gaddafi's stranglehold. Yet, achieving military victory is relatively easy when compared to building peace after decades of authoritarian rule.
- Date:
- Friday 26th August 2011
- Categories:
- Arts and Law
- Description
- On the 26 June 2011, after 16 years in hiding, one of the most notorious alleged war criminals from the former Yugoslavia was captured in Serbia. He has been sent to the Netherlands to face charges (first issued in 1996) of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), an international tribunal set up by the UN Security Council in 1993.
- Date:
- Thursday 16th June 2011
- Categories:
- Arts and Law
- Description
- The Defence Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, has recently announced the approval of the Initial Gate Business Case for the replacement for the Vanguard Class nuclear submarines. The contracts for this phase are likely to be in the region of £3bn. However, the Defence Secretary admitted that the total cost was likely to reach £25bn by the time the boats are built. Given that the initial estimates prepared in 2006 were in the region of £15–20bn, the sceptics around Whitehall, who are well used to Ministry of Defense (MoD) 'guesstimations', anticipate the final bill being closer to £38bn.
- Date:
- Tuesday 7th June 2011
- Categories:
- Arts and Law, Research