Paul Rogers is professor of peace studies at Bradford University, northern England. He is openDemocracy’s international-security editor; his weekly column for the site has been published since September 2001. He is a consultant to the Oxford Research Group, for which he produces a monthly security briefing. Among his books are Losing Control (Pluto Press, 3rd edition [forthcoming], 2009); A War Too Far: Iraq, Iran and the New American Century (Pluto Press, 2006); Global Security and the War on Terror: Elite Power and the Illusion of Control (Routledge, 2007); and Why We're Losing the War on Terror (Polity, 2007)

Recent articles

In an age of climate change and deepening inequality, the spreading Naxalite insurgency in India - not al-Qaida - may show the world its future.

(This article was first published on 5 November 2009)

The United States faces mounting problems in the three leading conflict-zones of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. The escape-route lies not in military escalation but in a change of thinking. 

(This article was first published on 29 October 2009)

The United States air force’s sophisticated new “bunker-buster” weapon could become a critical factor in any escalation of tension over Iran’s nuclear programme.

The United States is preparing both to escalate its commitment and retool its strategy in Afghanistan. But the realities of war - and, crucially, the calculations of Pakistan's elite - mean that this will only postpone the moment of real decision.

A prospective change in the character of the Afghan war has momentous implications for the United States and its allies.