The Frontline Club

Jehad Nga is one of the most talented emerging photographers on the international scene and for the last three years has worked intensely in and around Mogadishu. For one night only he will present a selection of images from his portfolio and talk about operating as a photographer in one of the world’s most dangerous environments.

Nga’s photography style is unique – artistically sensitive, vibrant and thought provoking yet with the ability to shock and appall.

In addition to his work in Somalia, Nga has worked widely in Iraq on assignment for the New York Times. His image of blindfolded Iraqi prisoners arrested by US forces was used as the main publicity shot for the Oscar-winning documentary, Taxi to the Dark Side.

Nga’s work in Somalia is an ongoing project. The work has been shown at the M+B Gallery in Los Angeles and the Bonni Benrubi Gallery in New York, and funds from his art sales are going to build a school in Somalia. “It’s all one big piece of work,” he says.

I Wouldn’t Start from Here is the result of Mueller’s curiosity to go to some of the most troubled places on earth. An alternative guidebook to the modern world, with dispatches from Africa, Europe, America and the Middle East his book offers snapshots of civil wars, religious conflicts, terrorism and tyrannical dictatorships. He hangs out with the IRA, is arrested for espionage in Cameroon, goes on night patrol in Basra and has hundreds of enlightening (and less enlightening) encounters with the locals.

Andrew Mueller was born in Wagga Wagga, Australia, in 1968. He is now a London-based rock critic, travel writer, foreign correspondent and columnist. He contributes to the Guardian, Independent, Monocle, Arena, The New Humanist and The Times, among others.

James Brabazon is an award winning frontline journalist and documentary filmmaker. Based in London, he has reported in over 60 countries investigating, filming and directing in the world’s most hostile environments.

I Wouldn’t Start from Here is the result of Mueller’s curiosity to go to some of the most troubled places on earth. An alternative guidebook to the modern world, with dispatches from Africa, Europe, America and the Middle East his book offers snapshots of civil wars, religious conflicts, terrorism and tyrannical dictatorships. He hangs out with the IRA, is arrested for espionage in Cameroon, goes on night patrol in Basra and has hundreds of enlightening (and less enlightening) encounters with the locals.

Andrew Mueller was born in Wagga Wagga, Australia, in 1968. He is now a London-based rock critic, travel writer, foreign correspondent and columnist. He contributes to the Guardian, Independent, Monocle, Arena, The New Humanist and The Times, among others.

James Brabazon is an award winning frontline journalist and documentary filmmaker. Based in London, he has reported in over 60 countries investigating, filming and directing in the world’s most hostile environments.

In a world of shrinking defence budgets, smaller standing armies and increased threats from terrorism, the space for freelance soldiering is growing. Since 9/11, the number of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) has rocketed – in Iraq alone, there are now an estimated 180,000 private contractors, outnumbering serving military personnel. Since 2003, the British government alone has spent an estimated £225 million on security contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The industry differs wildly from multi-million pound, multi-national corporations to misguided adventurers seeking to take over small, central African governments. However, one thing they all have in common is a lack of accountability and effective regulation.

It is not only governments who rely on PMSCs for their protection, many large media groups use PMSCs to train and protect their staff in hostile environments.

Join us while we discuss some of the worst excesses and examples of good practice within the industry. What is the likelihood of the industry ever being effectively regulated?And will the industry’s efforts to escape its mercenary past be successful?

Andy Bearpark is the Director General of the British Association of Private Security Companies (BAPSC), an independent trade association representing the leading UK companies in the specialist private security and risk management sector. Prior to taking up his position, Mr. Bearpark served as Director of Operations and Infrastructure for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq.

From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Bearpark served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General (DSRSG) in charge of the EU Pillar of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and was responsible for overseeing the province’s reconstruction and economic development.

Adam Roberts is author of The Wonga Coup – the definitive book about the failed coup in Equatorial Guinea. He been on staff at The Economist since 1998. Between 2001 and 2005 he was the Johannesburg correspondent for the publication, covering political, business and economic news, mostly in southern Africa. He is now the online news editor for The Economist.

Tony Gerahty is author of Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering and is a British-Irish writer and journalist. He served in the Parachute Reigment, and was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal for his work as a military liaison officer with US forces during the Gulf War. He has been a journalist for The Boston Globe and was the Sunday Times Defence Correspondent in the 1970s.

Ruth Tanner is senior campaigns officer at War on Want which fights poverty in developing countries in partnership and solidarity with people affected by globalisation, and campaigns against the root causes of global poverty, inequality and injustice. War on Want are authors of the report Corporate Mercenaries: The threat of Private Military and Security Companies and are campaigning for UK government regulation to hold PMSCs to account.

Andrew North has spent most of the past five years working in Iraq and Afghanistan for the BBC. He was BBC correspondent in Baghdad 2006-2007 and before that was based in Kabul, after covering the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In a world of shrinking defence budgets, smaller standing armies and increased threats from terrorism, the space for freelance soldiering is growing. Since 9/11, the number of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) has rocketed – in Iraq alone, there are now an estimated 180,000 private contractors, outnumbering serving military personnel. Since 2003, the British government alone has spent an estimated £225 million on security contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The industry differs wildly from multi-million pound, multi-national corporations to misguided adventurers seeking to take over small, central African governments. However, one thing they all have in common is a lack of accountability and effective regulation.

It is not only governments who rely on PMSCs for their protection, many large media groups use PMSCs to train and protect their staff in hostile environments.

Join us while we discuss some of the worst excesses and examples of good practice within the industry. What is the likelihood of the industry ever being effectively regulated?And will the industry’s efforts to escape its mercenary past be successful?

Andy Bearpark is the Director General of the British Association of Private Security Companies (BAPSC), an independent trade association representing the leading UK companies in the specialist private security and risk management sector. Prior to taking up his position, Mr. Bearpark served as Director of Operations and Infrastructure for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq.

From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Bearpark served as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General (DSRSG) in charge of the EU Pillar of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and was responsible for overseeing the province’s reconstruction and economic development.

Adam Roberts is author of The Wonga Coup – the definitive book about the failed coup in Equatorial Guinea. He been on staff at The Economist since 1998. Between 2001 and 2005 he was the Johannesburg correspondent for the publication, covering political, business and economic news, mostly in southern Africa. He is now the online news editor for The Economist.

Tony Gerahty is author of Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering and is a British-Irish writer and journalist. He served in the Parachute Reigment, and was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal for his work as a military liaison officer with US forces during the Gulf War. He has been a journalist for The Boston Globe and was the Sunday Times Defence Correspondent in the 1970s.

Ruth Tanner is senior campaigns officer at War on Want which fights poverty in developing countries in partnership and solidarity with people affected by globalisation, and campaigns against the root causes of global poverty, inequality and injustice. War on Want are authors of the report Corporate Mercenaries: The threat of Private Military and Security Companies and are campaigning for UK government regulation to hold PMSCs to account.

Andrew North has spent most of the past five years working in Iraq and Afghanistan for the BBC. He was BBC correspondent in Baghdad 2006-2007 and before that was based in Kabul, after covering the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Will the release of Ingrid Bettancourt – arguably the world’s most famous hostage, and FARC’s main bargaining chip – along with 14 other hostages – mean the end of FARC and the beginning of serious peace negotiations with the Colombian government?

In what is perhaps the mortal blow in a series of declining fortunes for the 44 year old insurgency movement – the release of the hostages has left the already weakened FARC with no negotiating power and has vindicated President Uribe in his hard line policy against the movement.

FARC lost its leader – Manuel Marulanda – earlier this year, as well as suffering the assassination of two senior commanders and a withdrawal of support from former proponent Hugo Chavez. Facing constant combat, the insurgency is losing members in record numbers and popular support is dissipating.

Is this now the beginning of the end for FARC? Will we see the return to the negotiating table and the commencement of mass demobilisation?

Malcolm Deas is Director of Graduate Studies at the Latin American Centre, University Lecturer in the politics and government of Latin America, Fellow of St Antony’s College, Oxford. His Colombian articles have been published under the title Del poder y la gramática (1993) and his recent works are an essay on Colombian violence in David Apter’s collection, The Legitimisation of Violence, London, Macmillan, 1997, and Vida y opiniones de Mr William Wills, 2 vols, Bogota, Banco de la República, 1996.

Andy Higginbottom is Secretary of the Colombian Solidarity Campaign and Senior Lecturer in Politics and Human Rights at Kingston University. Andy is editor of Frontline Latin America. His essay Globalization, Violence and the Return of the Enclave to Colombia is in Development, 2005 and his Killer Coke is a chapter in Dinan and Miller (eds) 2007 Thinker, Faker, Spinner, Spy London, Pluto.

Hernando Alvarez was born in Bogota, Colombia. In 1996 he moved to London. He wrote for various magazines and newspapers while doing a Masters in History at the London School of Economics. In 2000 he joined the Latin American Section of the BBC World Service, where he is now the current affairs editor.

Alice O’Keeffe is arts editor at the New Statesman magazine and regularly reports on Latin America. She worked for the British Council in Colombia for two years 2001-2003, and has subsequently returned many times as a journalist. She reported from Bogota during the recent diplomatic crisis between Colombia and Venezuela, where she conducted extensive interviews with former combatants from the FARC and other armed groups. She has previously written reports from Brazil, Venezuela and Cuba.

Isabel Hilton has covered a wide range of Home and Foreign Affairs. She covered the Falklands War from Buenos Aires, and subsequently reported extensively from Central and South America. In 1986 Isabel Hilton joined The Independent newspaper, pre-launch, as Latin America Editor.

Hilton joined The Guardian in 1997, where she has contributed a regular column. She contributes extensively to BBC World Service and BBC Television Current Affairs, particularly in Foreign Affairs.

Will the release of Ingrid Bettancourt – arguably the world’s most famous hostage, and FARC’s main bargaining chip – along with 14 other hostages – mean the end of FARC and the beginning of serious peace negotiations with the Colombian government?

In what is perhaps the mortal blow in a series of declining fortunes for the 44 year old insurgency movement – the release of the hostages has left the already weakened FARC with no negotiating power and has vindicated President Uribe in his hard line policy against the movement.

FARC lost its leader – Manuel Marulanda – earlier this year, as well as suffering the assassination of two senior commanders and a withdrawal of support from former proponent Hugo Chavez. Facing constant combat, the insurgency is losing members in record numbers and popular support is dissipating.

Is this now the beginning of the end for FARC? Will we see the return to the negotiating table and the commencement of mass demobilisation?

Malcolm Deas is Director of Graduate Studies at the Latin American Centre, University Lecturer in the politics and government of Latin America, Fellow of St Antony’s College, Oxford. His Colombian articles have been published under the title Del poder y la gramática (1993) and his recent works are an essay on Colombian violence in David Apter’s collection, The Legitimisation of Violence, London, Macmillan, 1997, and Vida y opiniones de Mr William Wills, 2 vols, Bogota, Banco de la República, 1996.

Andy Higginbottom is Secretary of the Colombian Solidarity Campaign and Senior Lecturer in Politics and Human Rights at Kingston University. Andy is editor of Frontline Latin America. His essay Globalization, Violence and the Return of the Enclave to Colombia is in Development, 2005 and his Killer Coke is a chapter in Dinan and Miller (eds) 2007 Thinker, Faker, Spinner, Spy London, Pluto.

Hernando Alvarez was born in Bogota, Colombia. In 1996 he moved to London. He wrote for various magazines and newspapers while doing a Masters in History at the London School of Economics. In 2000 he joined the Latin American Section of the BBC World Service, where he is now the current affairs editor.

Alice O’Keeffe is arts editor at the New Statesman magazine and regularly reports on Latin America. She worked for the British Council in Colombia for two years 2001-2003, and has subsequently returned many times as a journalist. She reported from Bogota during the recent diplomatic crisis between Colombia and Venezuela, where she conducted extensive interviews with former combatants from the FARC and other armed groups. She has previously written reports from Brazil, Venezuela and Cuba.

Isabel Hilton has covered a wide range of Home and Foreign Affairs. She covered the Falklands War from Buenos Aires, and subsequently reported extensively from Central and South America. In 1986 Isabel Hilton joined The Independent newspaper, pre-launch, as Latin America Editor.

Hilton joined The Guardian in 1997, where she has contributed a regular column. She contributes extensively to BBC World Service and BBC Television Current Affairs, particularly in Foreign Affairs.

McMafia is a fearless, encompassing, wholly authoritative investigation of the now proven ability of organized crime worldwide to find and service markets driven by a seemingly insatiable demand for illegal wares. Whether discussing the Russian mafia, Colombian drug cartels, or Chinese labor smugglers, Misha Glenny makes clear how organized crime feeds off the poverty of the developing world, how it exploits new technology in the forms of cybercrime and identity theft, and how both global crime and terror are fueled by an identical source: the triumphant material affluence of the West.

Misha Glenny was educated at Bristol University in England and Charles University in Prague. He is also the author of The Rebirth of History, The Fall of Yugoslavia (which won the Overseas Press Club Award in 1993 for Best Book on Foreign Affairs), and The Balkans, 1804–1999. During the early 1990s he was the central Europe correspondent for the BBC World Service, and in 1993 he won a Sony Award for his coverage of Yugoslavia. He has contributed to most major US and European newspapers and current affairs magazines and is regularly consulted by US and European governments on Balkan issues. Misha Glenny lives in London.

Paul Kenyon is a highly experienced reporter and producer who has worked across BBC News and Current Affairs, and has also presented on Five Live. In 2005 he was the first reporter to film Iran’s secret nuclear sites, making an hour-long documentary which was shown around the world. His reporting for Panorama, Correspondent and This World has taken him around the world – investigating Nike in Cambodia, fugitives in Northern Cyprus and even dolphin-hunting in Japan.

McMafia is a fearless, encompassing, wholly authoritative investigation of the now proven ability of organized crime worldwide to find and service markets driven by a seemingly insatiable demand for illegal wares. Whether discussing the Russian mafia, Colombian drug cartels, or Chinese labor smugglers, Misha Glenny makes clear how organized crime feeds off the poverty of the developing world, how it exploits new technology in the forms of cybercrime and identity theft, and how both global crime and terror are fueled by an identical source: the triumphant material affluence of the West.

Misha Glenny was educated at Bristol University in England and Charles University in Prague. He is also the author of The Rebirth of History, The Fall of Yugoslavia (which won the Overseas Press Club Award in 1993 for Best Book on Foreign Affairs), and The Balkans, 1804–1999. During the early 1990s he was the central Europe correspondent for the BBC World Service, and in 1993 he won a Sony Award for his coverage of Yugoslavia. He has contributed to most major US and European newspapers and current affairs magazines and is regularly consulted by US and European governments on Balkan issues. Misha Glenny lives in London.

Paul Kenyon is a highly experienced reporter and producer who has worked across BBC News and Current Affairs, and has also presented on Five Live. In 2005 he was the first reporter to film Iran’s secret nuclear sites, making an hour-long documentary which was shown around the world. His reporting for Panorama, Correspondent and This World has taken him around the world – investigating Nike in Cambodia, fugitives in Northern Cyprus and even dolphin-hunting in Japan.

Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist, based in Lahore, who writes for The Daily Telegraph, The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune, The New York Review of Books, BBC Online, and The Nation. His previous books include Jihad, Taliban, and The Resurgence of Central Asia. He appears regularly on NPR, CNN, and the BBC World Service.

Rashid was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan in 1948 and was educated at Malvern College England, Government College Lahore and at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University. He lives in Lahore with his wife and two children.

Lyse Doucet is a presenter and correspondent for BBC World television and BBC World Service radio and is often deployed to anchor special news coverage from the field. In recent years, her work has taken her to India and Indonesia to present extensive coverage of the aftermath of the tsunami disaster, and to the West Bank city of Ramallah for the illness and death of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. She played a key role in the BBC’s coverage of the war in Iraq in 2003 and Afghanistan in 2001.