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John Sawers

  • Monday, 30 September, 2024
    Middle East war
    Middle East’s power scales tip as Israel senses Iran’s weakness

    Regional tensions will remain high with neither Netanyahu’s coalition nor the Palestinians ready for a settlement

    People check the rubble of buildings which were levelled on September 27 by Israeli strikes that targeted and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Beirut’s southern suburbs, on September 29, 2024.
  • Monday, 5 August, 2024
    Israel-Hamas war
    Netanyahu is prepared to escalate in the Middle East

    He sees an opportunity to advance Israel’s interests in the region and to cement his position at home

    Benjamin Netanyahu leans on a podium as he speaks
  • Friday, 5 April, 2024
    Israel-Hamas war
    The real threat to Israel’s existence comes from Iran, not Hamas

    Damascus strikes this week will meet a response, even as the IDF’s actions in Gaza alienate supporters

    Emergency and security personnel in Damascus extinguish a fire after a strike against the Iranian consulate building
  • Friday, 2 February, 2024
    US-Iran tensions
    Biden’s dilemma over Iran’s skilled game of chicken

    Tehran is gradually turning the Hamas crisis to its advantage but concerns about domestic stability remain high

    Iranian protesters carry a portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a Yemeni flag as they tear an Israeli flag during an anti-US and anti-British protest in Tehran
  • Wednesday, 25 October, 2023
    Israel-Hamas war
    Israel must know that destroying Hamas is beyond its reach

    The longer-term goal should be to stabilise Gaza and prevent the violence flaring into regional conflict

    A US soldier pat searches a motorcyclist
  • Wednesday, 19 April, 2023
    ReviewBooks
    Grand Delusion — America’s imposition on incompatible Middle East realities

    Steven Simon presents a brilliantly written critique of 45 years of US foreign policy in the Mideast

    American flag flies in front of troops and their military vehicles
  • Wednesday, 8 June, 2022
    Russian politics
    Macron is playing a risky game on Ukraine

    His warning that Putin should not be ‘humiliated’ could lead to a premature ceasefire that locks in Russian gains

    Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while delivering a speech
  • Sunday, 5 July, 2020
    Huawei Technologies
    The UK should bar Huawei from its 5G network

    The west also needs to unite and stand firm against rising Chinese aggression

    British intelligence services can no longer provide assurances that Chinese-made equipment is safe to use in the UK’s telecoms network
  • Friday, 20 September, 2019
    Geopolitics
    Countries must wake up to business security risks

    The US and EU have already beefed up their scrutiny of corporate takeovers

    T92GAK G-FRAR, a Dassault Falcon 20DC operated by Cobham Aviation Services, departing Prestwick for a sortie during Exercise Joint Warrior 19-1.
  • Thursday, 27 June, 2019
    ReviewNon-Fiction
    Assad or We Burn the Country — vivid account of Syrian war

    War correspondent’s powerful new book describes the devastation and the west’s reluctance to stop it

    Aleppo, Syria in October 2012
  • Friday, 19 October, 2018
    The State of Britain
    Former MI6 chief backs second referendum

    John Sawers believes both side in Brexit debate should support another plebiscite

    John Sawers, former chief of U.K. Secret Intelligence Service, listens during a Bloomberg Television interview at the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong, China, on Friday, April 8, 2016. The conference runs from April 5 to 8. Photographer: Billy H.C. Kwok/Bloomberg
  • Sunday, 24 September, 2017
    US politics & policy
    The nuclear threat can be contained by diplomacy

    These issues are manageable if they are given the right degree of priority

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the launch of a Hwasong-12 missile in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 16, 2017. KCNA via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
  • Tuesday, 20 June, 2017
    Brexit
    Britain on its own will count for little on the world stage

    Leaving the EU removes a crucial platform for projecting British power

    (L-R) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, U.S. President Donald Trump, Hungarian Prime Minister Voktor Orban and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May pose during a family photo at the start of NATO summit at their new headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
  • Wednesday, 19 October, 2016
    Chinese politics & policy
    We are returning to a world of great-power rivalry

    The US unipolar era lasted less than 25 years, writes John Sawers

    HANGZHOU, CHINA - SEPTEMBER 04: Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) shakes hands with U.S. President Barack Obama to the G20 Summit on September 4, 2016 in Hangzhou, China. World leaders are gathering in Hangzhou for the 11th G20 Leaders Summit from September 4 to 5. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
  • Friday, 2 September, 2016
    Terrorism
    Isis is down, but not yet out

    In the long term, al-Qaeda is a more sustainable organisation, writes John Sawers

    Militant Islamist fighters waving flags, travel in vehicles as they take part in a military parade along streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province...Militant Islamist fighters waving flags, travel in vehicles as they take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq, a monitoring service said. The Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot previously known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), posted pictures online on Sunday of people waving black flags from cars and holding guns in the air, the SITE monitoring service said. Picture taken June 30, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR3WKTZ
  • Sunday, 15 November, 2015
    Middle Eastern politics & society
    Intelligence failure or not, Germany and Britain are now at risk

    US cannot lead fight against terrorist plan to divide Europe, says former MI6 chief John Sawers

    Police take up position under the Eiffel Tower the morning after a series of deadly attacks in Paris , November 14, 2015.      REUTERS/Yves Herman
  • Thursday, 14 May, 2015
    LombardJonathan Guthrie
    Adding ex-spy Sawers to BP board could spook nervous customers

    Ex-spooks on boards is a funny way to demonstrate group’s arm’s length relationship with the state

    John Sawers, chief of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), arrives in Downing Street ahead of a meeting of the National Security Council in central London on August 28, 2013. British Prime Minister David Cameron was set to chair a meeting with top ministers, advisors and defence chiefs of the National Security Council on August 28 to discuss a response to the Syria crisis in the wake of a chemical weapons attack that Washington, London and Paris believe was carried out by the Syrian regime. AFP PHOTO / CARL COURT (Photo credit should read CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images)
  • Thursday, 14 May, 2015
    Non-executive directors
    Former MI6 chief Sir John Sawers joins BP board

    First high-profile move into private sector for former UK intelligence head

    File photo dated 15/8/2013 of a BP petrol station sign. The rate of job losses across BP in the UK and abroad will increase after dropping oil prices intensified the company's simplification plans, the oil giant said. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Monday December 8, 2014. Some 15,000 of BP's employees are based in the UK, while the company employs about 84,000 people worldwide. See PA story INDUSTRY BP. Photo credit should read: Nick Ansell/PA Wire
  • Wednesday, 4 February, 2015
    World
    Pentagon nominee supports arming Ukraine

    Ashton Carter hints at US shift on military aid

    TOPSHOTS Ukrainian servicemen of the Don...TOPSHOTS Ukrainian servicemen of the Donbass volunteer battalion take part in clean-up operations in a village in the Lysychansk district of the Lugansk region, controlled by pro-Russian separatists on January 28, 2015. Ukraine's president appealed to Russia's Vladimir Putin and Washington threatened tougher measures should Moscow fail to rein in separatist fighters mounting a new offensive in the east of the ex-Soviet republic. AFP PHOTO/ ANATOLI BOIKOANATOLII BOIKO/AFP/Getty Images
  • Monday, 19 January, 2015
    FT AlphavilleAmie Tsang
    FirstFT (the new 6am Cut)
  • Sunday, 18 January, 2015
    Syrian crisis
    Mideast turmoil biggest threat to Europe since cold war, warns ex-spy chief

    Former head of Britain’s MI6 says terror attacks show heightened dangers

    Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) chief, John Sawers, arrives for a meeting of the UK's National Security Council, at 10 Downing Street in London August 28, 2013. Britain will put a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on Wednesday condemning attacks by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and authorising 'necessary measures' to protect civilians from chemical weapons, Prime Minister David Cameron said. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett (BRITAIN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX12YSM
  • Tuesday, 4 November, 2014
    Business blogJohn Gapper
    Britain’s spies break cover to campaign for their industry
  • Friday, 3 October, 2014
    World
    Career spy Alex Younger to head Britain’s MI6

    New intelligence agency chief Younger served in Afghanistan

    New MI6 spymaster Alex Younger who joined the secret intelligence service in 1991
  • Friday, 19 September, 2014
    Lunch with the FT
    Lunch with the FT: Sir John Sawers

    In his first on-the-record interview the UK’s spy chief talks about risk, the Snowden revelations and reforming MI6

    illustration by James Ferguson of MI6 chief Sir John Sawers
Previous page You are on page 1 Next page

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