James Cunliffe

International Consultant. Post-conflict stability and security reform. Sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East.

[Julien Harneis @julienmh]

Thanks Tom. An ebola epidemic laid over a chronic humanitarian crisis is what makes this so challenging. @OCHAfunds, combined with @WHO technical guidance, are vital to the massive scale up needed for the Ebola response.

[James Cunliffe @PacificusLtd]

A respected UNICEF rep in Goma when I was there on PK duties. Now back spearheading the Ebola international efforts.

[Julien Harneis @julienmh]

Today the toll from Ebola in DRC passed 2,000 deaths. I spoke with @BBCMaryam on @BBCWorld. To bring the epidemic under control, we need to work with the government to build community trust, double the number of burial teams, triple treatment capacity and cover humanitarian needs

[James Cunliffe @PacificusLtd]

Thank you, Julian, for your leadership and to your fellow humanitarian workers

[Julien Harneis @julienmh]

Face à Ebola, je vois le le travail extraordinaire mené par le Gouvernement de la RDC - @SuminwaJudith, @rogerkamba and Prof. Steve Ahuka.
Je vois le travail de volontaires comme Christine et Grace.
Je vois le travail des partenaires, des médecins, des infirmiers.
Ensemble.

[James Cunliffe @PacificusLtd]

@julienmh @pass_blue @IMC_Worldwide @OCHAFunds Good to see you back in the DRC, Julien. Wise heads needed.

[James Cunliffe @PacificusLtd]

@koshercockney @wesstreeting Was General McColl on an official visit? Or a private fact finding mission?

[James Cunliffe @PacificusLtd]

@TomTugendhat And FCDO/MOD closed the excellent strategic platform that was the British Peace Support Team in Nairobi in April. Supporting regional peace initiatives. Very short sighted 🤨

[Tobias Ellwood @Tobias_Ellwood]

👇Out now - my first book:

TEN STEPS TO PREVENT WW3.

👉The threats are real and growing.

👉Let’s no longer be in denial.

👉Please do read it. Debate it. Share it.

[James Cunliffe @PacificusLtd]

@Mikeknightsiraq @AlexAlmeida2020 I will read. Thank you, Michael and Crispin.

[James Cunliffe @PacificusLtd]

@Mikeknightsiraq @MohammedASalih Absolutely right, Michael. A properly thought out and funded 2nd Generation DDR is required.

[James Cunliffe @PacificusLtd]

Hayder sums up the current situation in Iraq brilliantly.

[Hayder حيدر @HayderSH]

My latest for @The_NewArab asks whether the war on Iran is a turning point for Iraq’s political order, or just the latest shock to expose weak state authority, fragmented armed actors, and the limits of Iraq’s balancing act.

https://t.co/8YSPLwsz4e

[Renad Mansour @renadmansour]

Iraq long tried to stay out of a regional war. Now it’s being pulled in.

My latest for @ForeignAffairs on how the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran is destabilizing Iraq — from escalating violence to economic shock and societal strain — and how to curb it.

https://t.co/aPkx3689h9

[Atlantic Council @AtlanticCouncil]

Iraq: An opportunity to reestablish its sovereignty

A weakened Iran or the fall of the regime provides a dramatic opportunity to alter the course of Iraq, binding it more closely to the West and the region and reducing Iran’s influence. Iraq and Iran remain inextricably linked, with close political coordination between elites, significant economic linkages, and the continued presence of Iraqi militias supported and directed by Iran. An Iran that is less focused on meddling in Iraqi affairs could allow the Iraqi state to reestablish its sovereignty. But this will not necessarily mean that the Iraqi government will take decisions that align with US interests.

Iraq remains a venue for confrontation between the United States and Iran, with Iraq frequently pulled into conflict between the two rivals despite its attempts to navigate a foreign policy that maintains relations with both. In the short term, militia strikes against US or Israeli targets could start a cycle of retaliation that could lead to US strikes against senior Iraqi militia leaders. Thus far, there have been threats from hardline militias like Kataib Hezballah and several militia attacks by a Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhida-affiliated militia on the US base in Erbil. These attacks could increase in coming days following several US strikes in Iraq that killed militia members. At the same time, many Iraqi militias will decide to sit this out, protecting their political and economic interests in Iraq. Under pressure from the United States, a number of prominent militias, such as Asa’ib ahl al-Haq (AAH), have already announced their readiness to disarm—demonstrating the extent to which certain militias have become focused on their interests in Iraq rather than acting as a tool of Iran.

With the strikes on Iran as the new backdrop, Iraq’s Shia Coordination Framework is still paralyzed by the process to select the next prime minister after Trump’s sharp public message opposing former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s third term. US statements suggested that Iran’s support for Maliki’s candidacy was the overwhelming reason to oppose him. The deaths of the supreme leader and other senior Iranian leaders might break the gridlock. However, Maliki will remain a formidable force within Iraqi politics with or without Iranian backing.

— @VictoriaT_ is the director of the Iraq Initiative in the Atlantic Council’s @ACMidEast programs and a former deputy assistant secretary for Iraq and Iran in the US State Department.

[James Cunliffe @PacificusLtd]

@SimonLeoDiggins Action-centred leadership 👍🏻

[Peter Ricketts @LordRickettsP]

We will remember them.

[Matt Cartoons @MattCartoonist]

'One person in the BBC newsroom is not left wing, and all the others have to find out who it is'

My latest cartoon for tomorrow's @Telegraph

Buy a print of my cartoons at https://t.co/ILFJjPmckx

Original artwork from https://t.co/bVPAkgE34y

[James Cunliffe @PacificusLtd]

@LordRickettsP Thank you for sharing this story from the Far East. So typical of the time - like my father, they didn’t talk about things. Tough and resilient. “We don’t swing the lamp”.

[James Cunliffe @PacificusLtd]

@EdLlewellynFCDO @UKinItaly @JulianReillyUK And I had known him since school days. Very bright, modest and resilient. Thank you, Ed, for reminding us all of his sacrifice 🙏 Still greatly missed.

[Brendan May @bmay]

Seems like a perfect place to host both the World Cup and the Olympics. 🤔

[James Cunliffe @PacificusLtd]

@BijanOmrani @ChurchTimes Just finished reading it. A triumph. I couldn’t recommend it more. The country must know how much we owe our culture and way of life. 👏👏👏

[Kate Gerbeau @Kate_ForcesNews]

Thanks to @general_ben for fitting @TimesRadio into his busy travel schedule to speak #UkraineRussiaWar

Putin has failed to seize Ukraine even with Trump 'taking the side of th... https://t.co/VFQVJFqsF5 via @YouTube