Military power in as safe away as possible in a difficult combat environment. He has experienced, not only as a pilot but also as an individual who helped coordinate unmanned aerial situations with a background as well in foreign area operations. He has a sophisticated understanding of the way in which military operations affect populations in which they take place. Vanda is the author of the aspirations of excellence when , we had an event at brookings, one of our copanelists described that in words i would concur with as the single best book on afghanistan conflict in recent years. She also wrote her first book which was a nexus of counter narcotics, counterinsurgency criminality, and the ways in , which these issues and concerns occur in places like i like afghanistan. She has done a great deal of Field Research in afghanistan and other countries. She has wrestled with the issue of Human Security and the broader issue of trends and governance in governance and operations in politics
Thanks for joining us. Got one or two problems with our Technical Department there, but lets focus on our main story. Russian president Vladimir Putin has used his annual state of the nation address to attack the west for what he described as its hypocritical attitude over the conflict in ukraine. The president said he was certain that if ukraine hadnt experienced a political crisis, the west would have come up with another excuse to contain russian power. Russias economy has been hurt by western sanctions over the countrys role in the confrontation in ukraine. Also by the fall in oil prices. Mr. Putin said that events in ukraine were simply an excuse to impose sanctions on russia. Well, our correspondent in moscow Sarah Rainsford has been following this speech. She gave me her reaction to what he had to say. As feared, we cant bring you that at the moment, so we will come back to that if we can a little bit later in the program. The situation facing mr. Putin, a challenging effort in
We begin the show with what has been a day of celebration for the European Union. The three senior figures representing the eu have been in the norwegian capital, oslo, to collect the Nobel Peace Prize. It was awarded to the 27member bloc for six decades of promoting peace, democracy, and human rights. However, not everyone is happy. Some have asked whether the price is justified at that time when the eu is mired in economic and financial the prize is justified at that time when the eu is mired in economic and financial crisis. Desmond tutu says it is an organization based on military force. Coveted award was accepted with pride by the eus 3 president , martin schulz, herman van rompuy, and jose manuel barroso. The standing ovation they received was a rare accolade for the eu in these tough economic times. In light of the financial crisis that is affecting so many innocent people, we can see that the political framework in which the union is rooted is more important than ever. We must
The European Union collect the Nobel Peace Prize in oslo. The thousands of jobs under threat. Carmaker opel halts production at one of its biggest plants in germany. And will he or wont he mario montis back and forth on resignation casts uncertainty over italys economic and political future. We begin the show with what has been a day of celebration for the European Union. The three senior figures representing the eu have been in the norwegian capital, oslo, to collect the Nobel Peace Prize. It was awarded to the 27member bloc for six decades of promoting peace, democracy, and human rights. However, not everyone is happy. Some have asked whether the price is justified at that time when the eu is mired in economic and financial the prize is justified at that time when the eu is mired in economic and financial crisis. Desmond tutu says it is an organization based on military force. Coveted award was accepted with pride by the eus 3 president , martin schulz, herman van rompuy, and jose ma
He will also sign the book after the program. I think todays program will be very interesting. You may hear differing perspectives and a lot about the history of afghanistan. If you read these two books, which are both wonderful, you will the context and the history of afghanistan. If you read the other you will see a character that comes to life during the history that will talk. Be will start off. [applause] thank you all for being here. Thank you to the Commonwealth Club. Let me check the time so i dont go over. I am sure all of you are interested in what is going on in afghanistan right now, who is contesting for the president ial seat and the election is next year, what happens after the nato forces withdraw, ive they do. We can get into all of them with questions and so on, but as a historian what i am interested as i got here. And i feel that how we got here is part of the question of where we go from here. And, you know, this book, i have gone back to what i consider the origin