Archive blogs from Washington DC

Click here to see the 32 lighthearted posts I sent from Washington as the only Brit Pentagon Correspondent between 2010 and 2013.

Trumpism

It's Trump Trump Trump. When John K Kennedy entered the White House there was hope and vision, when Barack Obama won the presidency there was a feeling of excitement and an expectation of change, when Trump sits down in the Oval Office, the world will be thinking: "Oh my God, now what!!" It's totally a new era. Nothing can be taken for granted. Trump wants to be the Power Man. Everyone says Putin is chuckling with joy but I wonder. Even he must be thinking: "Can I risk sneaking into the Baltics and hope he doesn't care, or perhaps I better wait and see." In that sense, the unpredictability of Trump might act as a deterrent, at least to start with. Let's hope so. But Trump might turn to his European "allies" and say: "Right, this one is down to you, I'm too busy building roads, bridges and Trump legacy monuments to go off on another war. Your turn!"

Plenty more thoughts on Trumpism over the next few weeks.

Hot off the press - my new book

Well, after blogging for two years while I was Pentagon Correspondent for The Times in Washington, 2010-2013,  I sort of blogged off to write a book instead. It's now coming out - November 30th - called First with the News, published by a smashing all-female publishing company called Rowanvale Books who are a wonder to deal with. Full of enthusiasm. It's a memoir of my life as a Fleet Street journalist on and off the frontline. It covers my six wars in the field - Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Afghanistan.  Plus a lot of other stuff, scoops and all! It has been two years of fun and hard toil and editing like mad. But it's finished. It's coming out as a paperback and I think all my compatriots in warzones will like it. It's dedicated to them, reporters and photographers.
Check out My Book Store page: http://www.rowanvalebooks.com/book/first-with-the-news